*This review is mostly based on 8 hours playing the demo, and one 2-hour run post-release. Will update sometime.*

TL;DR: A good game but not quite ready for release, and the lack of explanations might frustrate you and make it seem harder than it is.

Does the fact that every card you play is destroyed from your deck worry you? It worried me, but it actually works because you get frequent chances to replenish your deck, and you're not playing with several unique cards but rather a fairly tight set of base effects and improved versions of them. It doesn't really matter that your sword is gone after you attack, because you probably have 4 more in your deck, you can get another 6 from the next chest you find, and you might have a magical power that gives you 2 swords for free at the start of every room.

Instead of being a detriment, it's a mechanic that adds a very interesting flow to the game and makes it feel more like you're managing resources rather than recruiting and protecting semi-permanent units like in some other card-based roguelites. With the ability to steal cards from enemies and even the environment, and the possibility of losing cards to them, it feels very similar to taking damage and healing, but with the added dimension of dictating the options you get on your turn.

With that out of the way, I am thoroughly impressed by the gameplay. 10 hours in, I have about 75% of the content unlocked and I still find new types of enemies, cards and powers that completely change my strategies and turn my priorities on their head. I keep reaching rooms that make me think "that new enemy is going to ruin my run" and narrowly adapting my strategy in time to counter them. Some demons' weaknesses are another demon's strengths, so you can't just bank on one type of card and steamroll through everything, you need to be adaptable and try to remember what's waiting for you in each room to keep the right cards in hand by the time you get there. For example, an axe is useless against a row of shielded skeletons, but it was a miracle that I drew 6 of them when I stumbled upon the hydra for the first time.

The "memories" and "imaginary friends" you permanently unlock progressively make it easier to reach farther into the game, and there is enough variety in them to experiment with very different combinations. I keep wanting to see what's in the next room and try playing with a completely different set of abilities. I'm thoroughly captivated by the game.

Now, the game isn’t perfect, so here are the things that need improved in my opinion:
- The game should still be considered in Early Access due to the amount of bugs and the unclear descriptions for a lot of things. Some parts of the menu even still say "to do" instead of having actual content.
- The game relies too much on you finding out that X card has Y side effect on enemy Z. Enemy tooltips don’t tell you everything, and some very important tips are only found on transition/loading screens. The very brief and random nature of those tips doesn’t do a good enough job of telling you how you can use your cards without you having to waste them trying everything just in case. A few examples: the fact that the whip removes shields, that pulling a trap through an enemy kills it, the way that flame demons and bomb snakes explode upon death so you can use them to your advantage, the fact that you get one card of each stack added to your hand when you open a chest, unless you already have 10+ cards in hand, etc.
- Some cards also have a lack of details. For example, the card that "fills your hand with swords" also destroys everything you were already holding, so tough luck when you play it for the first time.
- The amount of RAM the game uses is simply insane for a turn-based 2D game.

All in all, a solid game in the making, but it doesn’t yet have all the polish it should have at release.

*This review is mostly based on 8 hours playing the demo, and one 2-hour run post-release. Will update sometime.* TL;DR: A good game but not quite ready for release, and the lack of explanations might frustrate you and make it seem harder than it is. Does the fact that every card you play is destroyed from your deck worry you? It worried me, but it actually works because you get frequent chances to replenish your deck, and you're not playing with several unique cards but rather a fairly tight set of base effects and improved versions of them. It doesn't really matter that your sword is gone after you attack, because you probably have 4 more in your deck, you can get another 6 from the next chest you find, and you might have a magical power that gives you 2 swords for free at the start of every room. Instead of being a detriment, it's a mechanic that adds a very interesting flow to the game and makes it feel more like you're managing resources rather than recruiting and protecting semi-permanent units like in some other card-based roguelites. With the ability to steal cards from enemies and even the environment, and the possibility of losing cards to them, it feels very similar to taking damage and healing, but with the added dimension of dictating the options you get on your turn. With that out of the way, I am thoroughly impressed by the gameplay. 10 hours in, I have about 75% of the content unlocked and I still find new types of enemies, cards and powers that completely change my strategies and turn my priorities on their head. I keep reaching rooms that make me think "that new enemy is going to ruin my run" and narrowly adapting my strategy in time to counter them. Some demons' weaknesses are another demon's strengths, so you can't just bank on one type of card and steamroll through everything, you need to be adaptable and try to remember what's waiting for you in each room to keep the right cards in hand by the time you get there. For example, an axe is useless against a row of shielded skeletons, but it was a miracle that I drew 6 of them when I stumbled upon the hydra for the first time. The "memories" and "imaginary friends" you permanently unlock progressively make it easier to reach farther into the game, and there is enough variety in them to experiment with very different combinations. I keep wanting to see what's in the next room and try playing with a completely different set of abilities. I'm thoroughly captivated by the game. Now, the game isn’t perfect, so here are the things that need improved in my opinion: - The game should still be considered in Early Access due to the amount of bugs and the unclear descriptions for a lot of things. Some parts of the menu even still say "to do" instead of having actual content. - The game relies too much on you finding out that X card has Y side effect on enemy Z. Enemy tooltips don’t tell you everything, and some very important tips are only found on transition/loading screens. The very brief and random nature of those tips doesn’t do a good enough job of telling you how you can use your cards without you having to waste them trying everything just in case. A few examples: the fact that the whip removes shields, that pulling a trap through an enemy kills it, the way that flame demons and bomb snakes explode upon death so you can use them to your advantage, the fact that you get one card of each stack added to your hand when you open a chest, unless you already have 10+ cards in hand, etc. - Some cards also have a lack of details. For example, the card that "fills your hand with swords" also destroys everything you were already holding, so tough luck when you play it for the first time. - The amount of RAM the game uses is simply insane for a turn-based 2D game. All in all, a solid game in the making, but it doesn’t yet have all the polish it should have at release.