This game is one of the best standouts in the genre of civilization building games. The roguelike deckbuilding and option to roll back a miss click or a card that didn't do what you expected make the game very approachable for new players as well as experienced ones. The game is still improving all the time thanks to a very dedicated and responsive developer and keeps getting better.

The play through for better or worse tends to be on the more manageable scale of an afternoon rather than a several week long stretch like other games in the genre, but it is long enough to feel satisfied and never feels like it's dragging out since you have to progress or be destroyed by the barbarian hordes. The only thing that could make this game any more amazing would be multiplayer or multiple AI support. Even at it's current stage of developmet though the game is an amazing value and I can't reccomend it strongly enough.

There is the makings of a really good game here; but its not quite there yet. There is a lot of work that needs to be done around balance. I'm also not sure on the meta progression aspect for a game that takes this long to play. Meta progression in roguelites makes sense when the runs are like 10-15 minutes or even an hour. Runs here are nothing like a Civ game, but they aren't short.

The in game mechanics are really clever, though hard to explain. I had my doubts about how the RNG of a card game would meld with a strategic 4x style game; but Its not as RNG as you might think. The deck starts small and you can keep it thin. It wasn't uncommon for me to play 2/3rds or 3/4ths my entire deck every turn in the late game.
Different aspects of the game drive different outcomes. Science lets you add cards to your deck, production lets you improve cards and thin your deck. Various resources you get from cards are used to do things on the board. I'm obviously giving this is very broad strokes - but its far more deterministic than you might think. When you step back its really just a different type of resource management, its really clever.

Anyrate - I'll be following updates here closely. I really did enjoy my first run, but I'm not sure I've got that itch to jump right back in. I do think with just a few tweaks though it could be really good, the sort of "one more turn" games the sucks up dozens or even hunderds of hours.

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EDIT: Well I got the urge to play again and have now proceded up to Hex Level 5 (so 6 wins). Its a reallyi good game. Ultimately; the roguelike aspects are almost too forcable. You can easily play the strategy you want. Rerolls are cheap, deck thining is easy. You can reliably know what you are going to do every turn. It really plays like another entry in the 4x genre, but a pretty good one.