HELLCARD

8/10 when playing co-op 3/10 when playing solo I've recently finished my time with Slay The Spire 2 (about 75 hours, 7/10 game), and enjoyed it quite a bit. Was recommended Hellcard as a "better" alternative, and I have to say, I'm really enjoying it. Once you get used to the presentation of the game, I actually found it a lot more satisfying and fun to play than StS2. I can already tell I'll end up putting more hours into Hellcard over StS2 eventually. Bare in mind I play Co-op, as solo is massively flawed (see below). In the base game, there are 4 classes to choose from, and they all play vastly differently from each other. Each one is fun to play in its own way and to master. The key distinguisher in Hellcard for me though is the card upgrade system - each card can be upgraded (transformed) into multiple alternatives, and multiple times further into even better evolutions. Some cards just become epically satisfying to construct a build around. The game also incorporates a use of 3D space very well into its gameplay, giving far more nuance to Areas of Effect. The biggest gameplay downside to the game is some of the late game RNG - you could be having a great run, and then suddenly you'll start an encounter with a hand of cards that just can't save you from being wiped out on Turn 1. Such is the nature of it. In solo play, the game tries to compensate for the difficult nature of some of these events by giving you 2 extra party members that you control, which both have their own deck of cards to play with. But it doesn't compete with having actual friends to play co-op with and having them build their own decks, which is by far more fun and consistent - in solo, your "team mates" build and upgrade their decks without your input at all, and you eventually end up having to play their card in a setup that you've not chosen or curated. This makes it quite terrible in the long run to play solo, especially on Endless Mode. The other issues are minor gripes with the UI - clicking some of the buttons (eg to End Turn) needs to be clicked multiple times on occasion for it to register, if you didn't quite click centrally in the button enough. Also, having to pan the battlefield camera up/down/left/right to get a better view of the enemies is an unnecessarily annoying aspect of the game, when you feel like perhaps having the camera zoomed out a touch more to avoid this completely would have been far better. Another thing is when choosing what floor encounter to select, it's not easy to see at a glance what each floor has to offer - all the icons and art don't stand out too clearly. Lastly, setting up a co-op game feels stupidly tedious - you have to "create" a new character, then make a lobby, then Steam Invite your friend(s), and then when they join they have to "create" a new character too... every single time. I can't see why we can't just remain in the same lobby together after a run and keep all our characters there. Overall, if you play Hellcard with a friend, you'll have a great time despite some of the tedious frustrations. The game has more depth an nuance than StS2, but each game offers something slightly different so you can easily have a good time playing both.