One of the better deckbuilders I've played in recent history. The gameplay (which is arguably the most important aspect of a game) is very well done and entertaining. A lot of deckbuilders recently have been harvesting the looping nature of rogue-lite games but not really nailing down any fun mechanics to make each playthrough engaging. Arcanium, while short, is very engaging with its content because the core gameplay loop is very fun.

There is only one act to play at the moment, but I still found myself playing it over and over to try out new things because it gives you a selection of heroes to choose from and you combine three of them together for what is essentially your "deck." They each have their own deck that you modify and upgrade individually. You then combine their different actions together to overcome each fight and it feels like a small team of heroes cooperating to take down foes. This setup encourages you to come up with strategies as you go along, and discover synergies with each hero that you didn't start the game off with.

The amount of cards available for each hero is wide and widens even more as you play and level up the heroes to unlock new cards and artifacts. All of this adds to the replay value and encourages you to try new combinations of heroes. I can't wait to see what the finished product of this will turn out to be.

Everything Arcanium does differently from others in its genre really stands out in a good way. I can tell a lot of labor and love has been put into this game and I've even seen what the game used to be in videos and it has definitely been refined and upgraded to a better experience and I imagine that this will continue going forward.

My favorite aspect of the game is the check on your greed they put in place. You can easily go around and explore the map to your hearts content, but this will eventually cause a lot of problems. There is a "Corruption" meter at the top and whenever you discover a new node, it increases by 1. This meter goes all the way to 10, and for each corruption you have by the time you get to the boss you essentially lose out on a reward. The faster you get to the next boss, the more cards you get to upgrade at the end of the fight. However, this means you spend less time going around and getting rewards from other nodes and the faster you get to the boss, the more enemies you have to fight before the boss even shows up in that fight. In addition, the more corruption you get, the more likely some nodes you encounter are to be "corrupted." These corrupted nodes deal damage to all of your heroes right off the bat, making it harder and harder for you to stay alive. This whole balancing act of getting rewards and making it to the boss in time feels great and adds some strategic depth to the map traversal.

I do have a few complaints about the game that are most likely going to be resolved by the time the game is finished. Currently there is a lack of content. I was able to play through everything in about 12 hours, and that's including the most difficult "Apex" difficulty for the one chapter that is available right now. Also, there are some heroes that either feel horribly inefficient when compared to other heroes and other heroes that feel so much stronger than any other hero. As I stated, these issues are minor and I'm sure they will eventually be resolved but for now, be aware that they exist. Great game overall and I'm excited to see what's in store.

One of the better deckbuilders I've played in recent history. The gameplay (which is arguably the most important aspect of a game) is very well done and entertaining. A lot of deckbuilders recently have been harvesting the looping nature of rogue-lite games but not really nailing down any fun mechanics to make each playthrough engaging. Arcanium, while short, is very engaging with its content because the core gameplay loop is very fun. There is only one act to play at the moment, but I still found myself playing it over and over to try out new things because it gives you a selection of heroes to choose from and you combine three of them together for what is essentially your "deck." They each have their own deck that you modify and upgrade individually. You then combine their different actions together to overcome each fight and it feels like a small team of heroes cooperating to take down foes. This setup encourages you to come up with strategies as you go along, and discover synergies with each hero that you didn't start the game off with. The amount of cards available for each hero is wide and widens even more as you play and level up the heroes to unlock new cards and artifacts. All of this adds to the replay value and encourages you to try new combinations of heroes. I can't wait to see what the finished product of this will turn out to be. Everything Arcanium does differently from others in its genre really stands out in a good way. I can tell a lot of labor and love has been put into this game and I've even seen what the game used to be in videos and it has definitely been refined and upgraded to a better experience and I imagine that this will continue going forward. My favorite aspect of the game is the check on your greed they put in place. You can easily go around and explore the map to your hearts content, but this will eventually cause a lot of problems. There is a "Corruption" meter at the top and whenever you discover a new node, it increases by 1. This meter goes all the way to 10, and for each corruption you have by the time you get to the boss you essentially lose out on a reward. The faster you get to the next boss, the more cards you get to upgrade at the end of the fight. However, this means you spend less time going around and getting rewards from other nodes and the faster you get to the boss, the more enemies you have to fight before the boss even shows up in that fight. In addition, the more corruption you get, the more likely some nodes you encounter are to be "corrupted." These corrupted nodes deal damage to all of your heroes right off the bat, making it harder and harder for you to stay alive. This whole balancing act of getting rewards and making it to the boss in time feels great and adds some strategic depth to the map traversal. I do have a few complaints about the game that are most likely going to be resolved by the time the game is finished. Currently there is a lack of content. I was able to play through everything in about 12 hours, and that's including the most difficult "Apex" difficulty for the one chapter that is available right now. Also, there are some heroes that either feel horribly inefficient when compared to other heroes and other heroes that feel so much stronger than any other hero. As I stated, these issues are minor and I'm sure they will eventually be resolved but for now, be aware that they exist. Great game overall and I'm excited to see what's in store.