Heat Death

Solid card game, worth it on sale but lacking in replayability.

I like this game a LOT and highly recommend it. A very creative take on Rogue-lite (I think) deck-builders. In early access there are currently four planets you can choose to play, each having its own style. (A fifth planet is in the works, but we know nothing about it.) The Human planet uses lots of shielding and attack satellites. The Radioactive planet has a resource (Radioactivity) that halves each turn, and you can increase it and use it to boost attacks. The Storm planet concentrates on healing and cards that are "auto", with a resource called Magnitude, which causes a heal, shield, or attack for each card played. The Ablaze planet concentrates on Burning which is an over-time debuff to enemies, though they can also Combust burning to cause it to deliver its damage all at once. A planet can summon and upgrade Satellite allies: from Station, to Moon, to Dwarf Planet, each doing more damage to the enemy, and there are all kinds of satellites ranging from buffers and shielders to debuffers and damage-dealers. Each turn you get 4 energy and different cards use different amounts of energy (0-3 at the start of the game), and at the end of your turn any unused energy is lost. In like manner, shields are reset to 0 at the start of each turn. There are Techs which are reward buffs that act through an entire game, and buffs like Firepower and Shieldpower that are dynamic and apply only to a battle. There's also Luck, which determines the odds of various kinds of rewards ranging from deck-trimming to rare cards or being able to combine cards. Combining cards can make some sweet combinations. DO READ the "Ideas" part of the in-game encyclopedia. Different kinds of cards combine in different ways and your combination determines whether the combined card costs more or less than the two cards that go into it. Card types range from attacks and buffs to incomplete cards that have a blank that you fill in with another card. Rounding out cards, there are clutter and malfunction cards that enemies can inject into your deck. And there are also cards/techs that increase your energy, sometimes dramatically. (I've had runs where it wasn't uncommon to have 9 energy at the start of a turn.) The one negative I can think of is that there's no clear in-game explanation of game mechanics. I asked on the Steam DIscussion group and the dev was quick to explain some things, so check that thread out. There are some glitches yet in the UI: HINT: don't drag non-targeted cards onto your planet since that doesn't always work, instead drag them to the empty space between your planet and your enemies and drop it there. Last, there are 12 levels of difficulty 0-11, with higher levels requiring you to unlock them. It's nice that you can see exactly what difficulty/restriction is added for each level. For example, level 1 allows you to score critical hits (you start with about a 7% chance of crits), while level 2 eliminates this. I can highly recommend the game. It's fun and has variety now, and the dev has goals like adding themed runs or areas of space rather than the current mostly-random encounter types. So I think it will only continue to improve over time, and the price is quite reasonable.

Heat Death is a surprisingly solid and stylized roguelite deckbuilder that has you playing as planets of all things. The combos you can make are better than I would've expected from such a semi-harebrained concept, and it is very satisfying when a run goes well. However, the content feels limited, and there is surely no way this is going to get expanded, even though it says it is an "early access version" on the game's bootup window still. I got this game for like $2.50 on sale, and that is a fair price.

Really cool systems that encourage you to break them from the get go. Create ludicrous combos and fuse cards into insanely powerful plays. Make swarms of satellites and moons, build turrets, fire lasers... Bizarre and awesome.

A brilliant game, with excellent style and a card fusion mechanic that encourages you to create powerful combos. If you're a fan of deckbuilding roguelikes and want something that puts a unique spin on the genre, this is the game for you.

One of the more unique deckbuilders out there. Some interesting aspects that set it apart from others: [list] [*] The game gives you frequent opportunities to combine cards together, allowing you more value for less resources used and less deck inflation as well as some emergent properties from combining cards [*] Satellites can be freely positioned by dragging them around and it has this physical and tactile feel to it. [*] Just really solid design in general. Builds are satisfying to make, cards are impactful, effects can spiral out of control into crazy strong combos. Lots of build variety for each character you can play as. Easy to not see this as "unique" but a lot of deckbuilders forget they have to be good games before looking or sounding good. [*] Not only can you choose the next node in the map, but the maps are themselves in a larger map with selectable nodes. [*] The difficulty modes are more than just "stats up" difficulties and are actually fun to adapt to, but they're also implemented in such a way that they don't just negate builds with their new rules. [/list] Though the graphics might not look like much from the storepage, the aesthetic is actually surprisingly appealing up close and very easy on the eyes. This and the vibes the game emanates in general gives a kind of zen feeling when you play this.

Nice deckbuilder in space

It's a good game

Needs some QOL and design updates, but the engine and the variations between characters are excellent. This is a rare roguelike deckbuilder/slay the spire em up that has really thought about different ways to play and is well worth getting on board early with to support its development. Two thumbs up!

August 12, 2036, the heat death of the universe. August 12, 2036, the heat death of the universe. August 12, 2036, the heat death of the universe.