HeistGeist

A beautifully stylish cyberpunk heist with deckbuilder mechanics that isn't quite like anything I've ever seen before. Excellent storytelling and amazing production values for an indie, but I feel there are issues with the main card game that could use improvement. Love: - Aesthetics: music and art are gorgeous. - Characters: Honestly, they're all great. The writing is very well done IMO. It's like watching a great heist movie. - Storytelling: Everything related to the visual novel part of the game is truly excellent. I like how the missions have you trading between characters. Meh: - Minor UX things. The typeface on steam deck is excruciatingly small even at the largest font setting. It would be nice for the cards to zoom in when you focus on them. It would also be nice to get a confirmation if you try to end your turn while you still have playable cards, because it's not so hard to fat-finger the end turn button by accident, which is potentially a death sentence. - Card games: The hacking game is fun but super easy. The shooting game that you get to rarely play is pretty great, but isn't developed. The main razorgirl combat game, though, has issues IMO. It relies heavily on looping combos; it seems the designers took that and said "well, in order to make this challenging, let's stop them from comboing." All this does is slow everything to a screeching halt. 90% of the time it's fun, but the other 10% it can feel excruciating. It's compounded by the fact that you can't see what the opponent decks are before fighting them, and you have to wait to lose if you don't want to go back to the previous checkpoint. I had one fight last over an hour, and an enemy racked up over 1700 shields (normal values are 0-20ish.) I was never in any real danger, but only had one shield-piercing card in the deck, and decided to be stubborn. As the famous fighting game adage goes, "I didn't buy this game to block." Enemies with AP gain, bleed, and shield gain all need revision IMO. - Ending: It feels like it ended just as things were coming together. It's an tribute to the designers that I was sad to see the team go. I'd love to see a sequel. Zoya was the runaway favorite, but I would love to see more of all of them. Even the dog!

~OVERALL RATING~ 77% ~ SUMMARY ~ This is a super polished, fun and fulfilling card battler. The quality is excellent, with the full story voice acted throughout, with ok visuals and a decent story. I really enjoyed the gameplay - there are truly a variety of ways to develop your characters cards, and as you progressively get access to more characters they are also fun to develop. Super glad I played this. ~ DIFFICULTY ~ 🔲 My 90 year old grandma could play it 🔲 Easy ✅ Normal 🔲 Hard 🔲 Dark Souls ~ GRAPHICS ~ MS Paint 🔲 Bad 🔲 Meh ✅ Graphics don't matter in this game 🔲 Good 🔲 Beautiful 🔲 Masterpiece ~ MUSIC ~ 🔲 Bad 🔲 Not special ✅ Good 🔲 Beautiful ~ STORY ~ 🔲 This game has no story 🔲 Like playing Angry Birds for the story 🔲 It's there for the people who want it ✅ Well written 🔲 Epic story 🔲 A Tolkienesque masterpiece ~ PRICE ~ 🔲 Free 🔲 Underpriced ✅ Perfect Price 🔲 Could be cheaper 🔲 Overpriced 🔲 Complete waste of money ~ REQUIREMENTS ~ ✅ You can run it on a microwave 🔲 Average 🔲 High end 🔲 Supercomputer ~ LENGTH ~ 🔲 Very Short (0 - 2 hours) ✅ Short (2 - 15 hours) 🔲 Average (15-30 hours) 🔲 Long (30-60 hours) 🔲 Extremely long (60-110 hours) 🔲 No ending ~ FUN ~ 🔲 I'd rather watch paint dry 🔲 Hard to enjoy 🔲 Repetitive ✅ Actually pretty amusing 🔲 The kind of fun you'll remember 🔲 Ride of your life ~ REPLAYABILITY~ ✅ It's a one-time experience 🔲 Only for achievements 🔲 If you wait a few months/years 🔲 Definitely 🔲 Infinitely replayable ~ WORTH BUYING ~ 🔲 No 🔲 Wait for sale ✅ Yes

HeistGeist is a story-driven cyberpunk role-playing game developed and published by Doublequote Studio that combines narrative-heavy design with strategic, card-based combat and hacking systems. From the very beginning, the game establishes itself as something more deliberate and character-focused than a typical deck builder or roguelike. Set in a gritty near-future version of Central Europe, it presents a world shaped by corporate dominance, surveillance, and desperation, where every job carries personal and moral consequences. Rather than relying on randomized runs or endless repetition, HeistGeist is structured as a crafted narrative experience, inviting players to immerse themselves in its world, characters, and unfolding story. You step into the role of Alexandra, a seasoned thief trying to survive the fallout of a disastrous heist that has left her hunted and fractured. Unlike many RPG protagonists, Alexandra is not a blank slate but a defined character with history, regrets, and complicated relationships. The writing places strong emphasis on dialogue, character interaction, and personal stakes, allowing the story to unfold gradually through conversations, missions, and difficult choices. These interactions feel purposeful rather than filler, often revealing layers of the world and its inhabitants while shaping how events play out later. The narrative leans heavily into classic cyberpunk themes of identity, exploitation, and resistance, grounding its futuristic setting in human struggles that feel relatable and weighty. Combat in HeistGeist is handled through a turn-based, card-driven system that prioritizes planning and synergy over brute force. Cards are categorized into combo types, encouraging players to think carefully about sequencing and deck construction. Success comes from understanding how different cards interact and building a deck that supports a coherent strategy rather than simply stacking the strongest options. This approach gives combat a puzzle-like quality, where each encounter rewards foresight and adaptability. As enemies grow more complex, players are pushed to refine their decks and consider alternative tactics, keeping combat engaging throughout the campaign. Hacking is treated as a fully realized system rather than a side mechanic, reinforcing the cyberpunk atmosphere. These sequences use their own card-based logic, challenging players to navigate hostile digital environments, break through defenses, and extract valuable data. Hacking encounters feel distinct from combat, offering a different kind of strategic challenge that emphasizes efficiency and risk management. By giving hacking equal mechanical weight, the game reinforces the idea that intelligence, preparation, and technical skill are just as important as physical confrontation in this world. Between missions, the game shifts into quieter moments of exploration, planning, and character development. Players recruit allies, manage resources, and choose which leads to pursue, all while learning more about the city and the people living in its shadows. Companions are more than passive stat boosts; they bring their own personalities, histories, and mechanical contributions, influencing both story outcomes and gameplay options. These interludes give the narrative room to breathe and make the high-stakes missions feel earned rather than rushed. Visually, HeistGeist embraces a grounded cyberpunk aesthetic that favors atmosphere over excess. Neon lights, shadowy interiors, and detailed character portraits establish a sense of place without overwhelming the screen. The art style complements the writing, reinforcing the mood of a world that is both technologically advanced and deeply broken. Sound design and music further enhance immersion, with subtle electronic tones underscoring tension during combat and quieter, reflective moments during story-driven scenes. Voice acting adds emotional texture to the dialogue, helping characters feel distinct and believable. The pacing of HeistGeist is deliberately measured, which may not appeal to players looking for constant action. The game often prioritizes narrative buildup and decision-making over rapid-fire encounters, asking players to slow down and engage with its systems and story. This approach pays off for those willing to invest the time, as choices feel meaningful and progress feels earned. However, players expecting a fast, endlessly replayable card battler may find the experience more restrained and focused than anticipated. HeistGeist ultimately succeeds by committing fully to its vision. It is not a game trying to appeal to everyone, but rather one that confidently blends narrative depth, strategic card mechanics, and cyberpunk worldbuilding into a cohesive whole. Its strength lies in how these elements support one another, creating an experience where story and gameplay are tightly interwoven. For players who enjoy character-driven RPGs, thoughtful deck construction, and immersive cyberpunk settings, HeistGeist offers a rich and memorable journey that stands out within the indie landscape as a carefully crafted, story-first experience. Rating: 8/10

This was just beautiful. Idk what to say. Every aspect of this game - characters, storyline, brilliantly sketched central European cyberpunk setting, deckbuilding, switching between different characters, fighting, and hacking - the Blue Danube echoing in the background while you run your plans by a rogue AI or confide your troubles to the sweetest fluffy dog, Slovak dishes to check out later - it all comes together to create a game I couldn't tear myself away from. Playing HeistGeist was like reading a book when you are a child - the kind where you are sad afterwards to leave the characters behind. Please write a sequel to this!

+ Good mix of combat card game and text quest. - There is little variety in musical themes, especially in combat(you get tired of it quickly.).

Such a cool little gem! A cyberpunk deckbuilding RPG with complete voice overs and a nice story. Took me 15 hours to complete and had fun all the way through. You role-play as a femake cyberpunk merc who is caught up in a messy situation. All interactions have voice over which is really cool. The "cinematics" are comic-book like drawings which I found pretty darn good (would have been nice to see lip-movement animations but I guess that's asking for too much). Aside from combat which is fun, there is also a hacking mini-game which is incredibly fun to do. Hope to see more games like this, from the studio.

The card combat can get silly if you abuse the A>B>A>B combo mechanic with draw cards, but fun silly when you start dropping finisher cards that are hitting for 10+ damage each. The narrative is where the game shines, though. The character designs and their writing are really strong. You appreciate how they all fit into the story and flesh out the world. Definitely a good pickup.

This is a story driven deckbuilding game. Initially the card battler aspect drew me in but what really makes this game shine is the fun shadowpunk narrative, likeable authentic characters, stylish art and professional voice acting. But honestly, what really motivated me to write a review was just how much love and care the developers put into the game. The game is full of personality and little details. As for the gameplay, the card battle itself is just okay. It's definitely not going to be engaging enough for fans of games like Slay the Spire, Battle Train and the sorts, but the game doesn't really go for that either. It tries new, original ideas, and it's really cool how most cards have their own animations. Unfortunately it's not very well balanced, some cards are just straight up good or bad without sinergies to compensate, or have weird effects to the point that even upgrading them can be detrimental. Enemies don't have enough variety, with simple movesets and no challenge at all, and the deckbuilding is very slow, so combat can get stale and repetitive very quickly. The lack of adjustable difficulty makes progression very straightforward, so players will be most likely playing for the plot. The hacking minigame is okay as well, nothing groundbreaking but it does offer a mild challenge while not being a hindrance or distraction during missions. The missions themselves were very creative and fun, it's really cool how you have multiple teams that progress at different speeds. Overall a very fun and engaging experience, definitely worth for the plot if you don't mind the combat.

Deckbuilder games are totally not my thing, but seeing my home city in cyberpunk coat was something I couldnt resist. And it was worth it, the story is engaging, worldbuilding unique and full of slavic/nordic mythology references nicely contrasting with hyper modern cyberpunk setting, artstyle is simply beautiful to look at, and voice acting surprisingly good. And it was nice to see all those locations I know from the real life Bratislava turned into cyberpunk data fortresses, high security corporate HQs and so on. I mean I have been on some of those places myself. It wasnt punishingly hard, especially since I never played any deckbuilder game before. So good even if such games are not your cup of tea. The story seemed to have cut off sooner than I expected - although that may just mean that we will get sequel at some point. But its still worth to give a run.

這是來自斯洛伐克小型團隊的精緻小品，本質上是劇情導向 RPG，只是將戰鬥系統以 deckbuilding 的方式呈現。整體風格是相當經典的 Cyberpunk “one last job” 劇本，頗有 Shadowrun 系列的味道，雖然劇情稱不上創新，但關卡期間節奏掌握得不錯，沉浸感佳，各組人馬分工分頭化險為夷的敘事手法很有意思，令人驚喜。 遊戲約 15–17 小時即可通關，線性劇情，重玩性低，不太適合嘗試多種 build，組合一旦成型，後期基本就是靠同樣的組合技，戰鬥略顯單調。 整體而言值得一試。如果你喜歡 cyberpunk 世界觀，又偏好慢節奏、卡牌式的戰鬥方式，可以支持這個獨立團隊喔。 補充：Steam Deck 可以順暢運行，但文字偏小，建議用電腦玩。