Deck of Ashes isn’t my first deckbuilding title in recent past (there have been a few), but it’s my second foray into the genre. Since Slay the Spire was one of my favorite games of the past few years, I was pretty excited to play another title in the same vein.

I also have to praise developer AY Games. It almost feels like they took visual cues from Darkest Dungeon, mixed them with mechanics from Slay the Spire, while giving them their own unique twist. The result is a pretty solid title.

The graphics

As much as i love Kill the towerDeck of Ashes really nails the aesthetic. This is a dark world where four characters have unleashed a curse on the land during a quest for power. These antiheroes are the main playable characters who seek redemption for the curse they have left on the world.

The character and enemy models are much more detailed than the card game mentioned above, which makes Deck of Ashes a joy to watch. Bright, saturated colors emphasize the dark, desolate world and give all character models a good contrast to the surroundings.

Like most roguelites, however, the story is not the focus here. The real joy is pushing boundaries and moving forward with each run. There is a lot of context and reason to move on, but that won’t be your driving force. Fortunately, each character has their own story which helps keep things fresh once you inevitably switch to another character to see how they play.

The gameplay

To start a new game, players either choose a pre-built deck or draw a new deck. On my first try, I started with a pre-built deck to learn more about the game, but when I got a little more understanding, I decided to go for a draft deck. When drawing, players can choose one card from a set of three and then choose another single card from a set of three. This continues until you have a deck of ten.

You spend a lot of time learning how cards interact with each other. So I probably wouldn’t recommend drawing until you’ve had the opportunity to learn how it works. This is a deck builder, so building a balanced deck is critical to success. If you can find good synergy between the cards, you can move forward further.

Players have a limited amount of mana that they can spend to cast cards each turn. Once that is used up, you will have to wait until your next move to spend more. While it seems like a good idea to only have really powerful cards in your deck, spending all or most of your mana on one card every turn is probably not the best call.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q29hledVBSI

To be fair with how different each character plays, it might work decently for a few runs, but I doubt you’ll find much consistency. Once you have used up all of the cards in your deck, you will need to expend some health to get cards back that have already been thrown.

There’s an Overworld map to explore when you’re not in combat. Areas discovered earn resources that can be spent on permanent upgrades or maps. Keep in mind that these upgrades and cards are only for this playthrough as this is a rogue elite. However, resources rewarded after a run can be spent on new cards that can be earned in all future runs. So keep in mind which cards worked well on each run to keep an eye on the next time.

I just wish the battles had gone a little better, especially in early runs. The battles often go back and forth. Because of this, I was afraid to bring up Deck of Ashes for the first few days I owned it.

However, once I got the hang of it, it seemed a little better. Still, everything felt very grumpy, even when I defeated enemies a little faster. Most enemies just act as damage sponges that you pump cards into, and I was often not threatened by normal enemies.

Conclusion

I liked Deck of Ashes in general. I wish the overworld were more interesting and the encounters a little less difficult, but the somber art style kept pulling me back. I think there’s a certain spot for this alongside other games like Slay the Spire, but a couple of balancing updates might be due.

Above all, the art style is more interesting than its competitor, but the blatant balance problems let it hang a little. I love card games in general and learning how different synergies work is very rewarding in itself. Despite its lack, I had a good time with Deck of Ashes.

Game Freaks 365 received a free review.

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