Command Deck

Magic sparkle dust. We don't know exactly what it is, or even how it occurs. Just that some games...just...have it. Command Deck was highlighted by a friend - a space-based deckbuilder roguelike (? - more on this later) new into Early Access. These things can be ten a penny, lazy or badly thought through and worse of all, boring. Guess what this one has? yup, magic sparkle dust! It's in very very early access, but fully rounded and playable as a complete game as it is, though there is apparently much more to come. Two things strike me particularly; the balancing is excellent between the cards and actions you can take and the enemy challenge as you progress, and the art direction is fantastic. In it's current form each run lasts around an hour. You have a few choices to make at the beginning and always have the same starter deck, but the encounters and options to get stronger - while finite if you play enough - are randomised along the way so each run feels different and you cant rely on getting a specific build or that safety net you were hoping for when you were expecting. It's to the dev's credit that the balancing remains right no matter how your run goes. With practice you'll make the endgame regularly, yet with no guarantee that you'll beat the final boss on any of the three difficulty levels. As I said, the art style is awesome, a mix of retro sci-fi UI and really lovely and modern battle graphics. Many cards played have a visual representation as you go toe to toe, and I never get bored of seeing how the baddy will explode. The non-combat encounters are varied and interesting and dependant on which race manages the area you meet in. All this adds up to a supremely satisfying game experience which just happens to be hugely more-ish, even when you've seen all the variations and beaten the game a few times. It just feels so right, and fun to play - the way it's been constructed from the UI through the gameloop and mechanics to the structuring is just a delight to experience. And it's not done yet! The devs seem really committed and ready to discuss ideas and thoughts and it's clear that this fairly shortform experience will extend in some way in time, and that's great because I would like nothing more than to enjoy this experience over a longer run with more challenge and depth. I think it's fair to offer constructive criticism to EA titles, so I'll warn that this early state may not be for everyone. It doesn't have the full depth of some similar games yet, and might get repetitive for some more quickly than it did for me. I'd also say that, while it describes itself as roguelike, it currently isn't really in that each run is fresh from the the same starting point - nothing changes or improves after a completed run. Not saying this game needs that kind of perk-per-play mechanic, in fact it would probably ruin the balance, but just beware if that's what you were expecting. But that's all the crit I can offer at this stage, it really does work well already at this early stage and is definitely worth a splurge!

It's a weird one - this game is one of the most polished, yet too-early access games I've played. So, do note - this review was written at 0.3.1 version and may be not valid in the near future (if developers actually expand and improve the game). And before i begin, i should mention some good things here - the game is polished. I mean, graphics for this type of game is top-notch, everything feels smooth, no bugs, no issues. So, why negative review? Well - there is no content. I've played for good 9 hours and the biggest problem i found - you've seen everything once you've played once. Literally. There is no meta-progression, so no point of winning, except the high score. No variation in starting deck or the ship itself - it is always the same. And no meaningful choices with "Augments" (Perks) - you just take all of them, except very few damaging ones. Deck building is not there. I mean, you simply cannot create "your" deck, since starting one is always the same, cost and the amount of cards you can remove is ridiculous (one card per map, so 5 cards total to be removed, out of starting 15, with half of them being useless), and you do not control which cards are added, except "pick 1 of 4", since it based on glorious RNG... Oh, by the way - RNG. It's yo' boi here. Enemy has 10% evasion chance and you have 20%? Guess who is missing every second shot. Not the enemy! Or which "random" card gets upgraded for free? The worst one, of course! Because of course developers have to add skewed RNG to every turn-based game these days... Which works in perfect synergy with... Balancing! Since the cards you get is RNG, you can imagine how bad it is with increasing difficulty of every map (sector, whatever). It simply doesn't exist. Example - "Monster Train", another deck-building turn-based game, has notorious difficulty spike. However, you can complete pretty much every run on every difficulty, if you know the game. Here, it is the opposite. It is a time sink, since this game usually screws you at the end, on 4th of 5th sector, meaning you just wasted your 30 IRL minutes getting there only to be completely demolished by a god of random. And now the best part. See the description of this game? "Every visit to the Outer Reaches is unique, with different map events, enemies, and rewards" - heh, no. Your "random" encounters are always the same, just in a different order. "Choose cards, recruit officers, and upgrade your ship" - again, where is it? You can select one officer before the run, and that's it. Upgrade a ship? Do you mean almost meaningless perks that change nothing of value, except few that you get at the start of every sector (i mean again, you will see all of them during your first run, and only 4 of them are viable). "Uncover a galactic mystery" - emmm, what? Which one? The one not present in the game? My point is, this is way too early of an access, with even the description pitching an idea, that doesn't exist in the game yet (or ever, depending on the developers). And right now, it is deceiving about how little content there is. If you are okay with what i've described or in desperate need of a time-sink, sure, it is decent. However i would advise to stay off for a while and wait how it goes.

This game isn't even finished yet, and it's already more addictive than crack. Unhand me, Satan!

I live for Indie games like these. I've been playing a large number of roguelite deckbuilders (seriously, I think I'm obsessed), and I realized there are a few elements that make up for a good game in this genre: - complexity and synergies - user friendliness - level of polish (including aesthetics and presentation. Things like audio clues, feedback during combat, animations, etc.) This game has all of the above, even though not in equal parts: I would say it is far from the complexity of Slay The Spire and thousands of miles away from the one of Balatro, but still complex enough to let you try different strategies and to let you feel like it's your fault you fail a run. With that said, the level of polish is high up there, together with a surprising amount of attention to detail in animations, visuals in general and audio. In most roguelite deckuilders you throw a basic attack and it never feels really good until you manage to trigger a chain of events that you strategically planned while building your deck. Take Balatro, for example: scoring a two pair is nothing special until you add a multiplier to it. Here though, try and shoot a missile, just a basic missile whenever the enemy has no shields. The missile's trajectory, the way it impacts the hull, the way the enemy ship tilts, everything feels so satisfying and beautifully thought. If you happen to finish an opponent with a laser ray, you'll see there's a chance to cut through the hull and slice the ship like a pineapple or a loaf of bread, and every visual effect is coherent depending on where you hit and how hard you do so. This is a masterfully crafted game and a work of love, and it sits comfortably in my top three roguelite deckbuilders, together with Slay The Spire and Balatro (Dicealot is also showing up but got his seat stolen by this, sorry). I need to see this game become the success it deserves to be and, as an old nerd and sci-fi lover, thanks devs.

Fun game. Worth a play for sure. Super satisfying gameplay.

Strong early-access entrant. Love the retro-spaceship aesthetic. Gameplay is engaging, though the dificultly curve probably needs a little tweaking here and there. Excited to see what new cards and mechanics will be added as development progresses

an absolute addicting joy of a Roguelike deck builder. every build is fun and viable. difficulty does spike and i feel as if its very short at the moment but hopefully more updates will fix that!!! overall really fun and addicting for its price and very satisfying to get some really strong builds.

great little deck builder game, very addictive

I just played my first hour, but holy macarony, this is one superb deck builder! If you in any way like "arcady" space ship combat and deck builders, you will enjoy this. There is no tutorial, but it took me maybe 5 minutes to understand pretty much the flow of things, both in combat and on the rogue-like node map. As with many deck builders there are situations where you have to make a decision about something, and can't see your deck to check what you have and stuff liek that, but that's just a minor nitpick. Give this a try!

Damn fine game. Its somewhat similar to things like Slay the Spire, but with its own nuance (at least in my opinion). There are many synergies and strategies, the fights are very satisfying and pleasing. Honestly my only gripe is that I want more. New ships or even more XOs (sort of characters, modifiers, or things that change the run) would be really cool. Excited to see how it develops!