Heroes of Magic & Cards

Fun roguelike game with a poker twist. Takes elements from Slay the Spire and poker card games. You have 5 abilities and they are played used cards in your hand. After winning a fight, you get various rewards including gold, new cards, and sometimes consumables. There are 3 acts with a final boss for each act. Fourth act has a final boss that can be unlocked by meeting certain conditions. [h1] Pros: [/h1] - 3 characters to try with different play styles - tank, mage, and druid. - Progression is available in terms of unlocking new abilities for each character and new relics. - This is a forgiving game since you can restart any battle including bosses. No "save scumming" needed. - Based on Steam page, this game is Steam deck compatible. [h2]Cons: [/h2] - 1 enemy debuff in act 3 was annoying to play against. There is a 30% chance to lose a card when drawn. That was the only enemy that I felt was inherently unfair. - Healing offered is too low (about 20%) and is usually only picked if you need more health to get pass the boss. Choosing the other option will offer a consumable (usually not worth it) or a new card with enchantments. - Act 3 fights tend to drag out. Enemies have over 400 health and player blocks damage until you accumulate enough damage from your abilities to kill them. [h3]Suggestions: [/h3] - Add endless mode for more variety after beating the four acts. I was not interested in trying the inferno mode, which adds modifiers for more difficulty. - Add collect all rewards so player does not need to click each reward. - Add more starting relics for each character. After reaching level 3, there were only 3 more to try out. [b] Conclusion: [/b] Fun card game that mixes poker with roguelike. 3 Characters to try out with different playstyle. My main suggestion is to add more endgame content besides the inferno mode. You can easily get 5-10 hours of playtime. If you like games like Slay the Spire and Dicey Dungeon, try the demo. [quote=author][url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/] Follow IndieGems for more reviews like this one.

Its very good if you are fan of deck builders and slay the spire. I see a few reviewers making comparisons or referencing Balatro. It is absolutely nothing like Balatro in any way. The only similarity is playing cards, but they don't work in anywhere near the same way they do in Balatro. The only similarity between this and Balatro is that there are playing cards. That's where the similarity ends. Slay the spire is the closest comparison. This game is essentially Slay the Spire but with enough difference in the mechanics for it to feel fresh. If you have played StS, you will not need anything explaining to you in this game. I grabbed it on sale and don't regret it.

三个角色都通关了一次真boss，目前来看不推荐，虽然玩着还是有一定新鲜感，玩法和boss设计也算是用心和有特色。 现在主要问题是游戏bug太多了，比如重新战斗bgm消失，德鲁伊的保持形态不变不生效，法师有一招是打敌人全体自己会受到5点伤害，但这5点伤害居然受自己力量和易伤加成，实际上自己受到的远超5点等等bug。 此外还有平衡性太差，牛头人非常难用，过牌技能少、伤害低，反而德鲁伊的鹰形态又能过牌输出又高又能群攻随便就能通关等等，有些技能什么一张牌打个位数伤害这是认真的吗，比如德鲁伊狮子的初始牌，这么低的伤害根本没法用。 还有开局52张卡无论是删卡还是成型都很慢，当然成型后爽感还是有的，但为此前期要忍受很长时间抓不到想要牌的恶心战斗，应该设计牌组数量少一点快速成型的玩法。

ポーカーの知識は「ロイヤルストレートフラッシュってなんか聞いたことあるけど強そうだな・・」ぐらいの素人だったので少し心配だったのですが杞憂でした。自分は未プレイなのですがBalatroにも近いのかな？StSフォロワーのゲームとしてはかなり面白いです。トレーラーに惹かれるものがあればぜひ体験版をやってみるのをおすすめします。日本語訳も問題なしです。

Small, short, but interesting. I enjoyed my time with the game.

Saw Kripp on twitch playing and loved it. You will enjoy the game! Game runs really well on steam deck with track pad. Well worth it.

lame. Not enough content, what little there is is executed quite poorly. Sometimes you get crazy runs, but most of the time you are just wondering why your character sucks. Not enough use of the card mechanics.

yup

Heroes of Magic & Cards is an inventive single-player roguelike deckbuilder that takes the recognizable rules of traditional playing cards and turns them into the foundation of a fantasy combat system. Developed and published by First Day Games, it combines poker-style hand construction, character abilities, deck manipulation, exploration, and randomized progression. The concept immediately separates it from deckbuilders built around conventional collectible cards because the familiar values and suits of a standard deck become meaningful tactical resources rather than simple visual decoration. Combat revolves around making effective hands while considering how those combinations interact with the abilities available to your chosen hero. Pairs, straights, matching suits, and other arrangements can influence what you are capable of doing during a turn. This creates an interesting mixture of probability and planning. Drawing the perfect cards certainly helps, but the game is not solely about getting lucky. Players are encouraged to examine what they already possess, anticipate useful combinations, and gradually adjust the deck so favorable hands become more likely. It gives every draw an element of uncertainty without making strategy feel irrelevant. One of the more interesting systems is the ability to modify individual cards through enchantments. Values can be changed, suits can be altered, and special properties can be attached to cards. Something that initially appears insignificant may therefore become essential after a few carefully selected upgrades. Changing the value of a card might improve the likelihood of forming straights, while manipulating suits can make particular combinations easier to achieve. Additional properties such as poison or cloning further expand the possibilities. Instead of simply replacing weaker cards with stronger ones, you can effectively redesign the mathematical structure of the deck around a preferred strategy. Three playable heroes contribute additional variety, with more than 90 abilities distributed across the available characters. Magical attacks such as Chain Lightning and Hellfire provide direct offensive options, while more unusual powers introduce decisions involving resources and risk. Sacrificing health to obtain additional cards, for example, can rescue an otherwise poor hand but creates consequences that may become important during subsequent encounters. The strongest abilities are therefore not necessarily buttons that should be activated whenever possible. Understanding when their benefits outweigh their costs becomes an important part of mastering the game. Relics provide another major source of build customization. Hundreds can be discovered, and some deliberately combine significant advantages with disadvantages. An item might provide healing capabilities while lowering maximum health, whereas another could favor odd-numbered cards while weakening even-numbered ones. These trade-offs encourage specialization. A relic that initially seems undesirable can become exceptionally powerful when paired with the correct enchantments and abilities. Successful runs consequently involve identifying interactions between multiple systems rather than simply selecting whichever reward has the largest numerical bonus. Progression takes place across a world map filled with encounters and opportunities to strengthen the current build before facing powerful bosses. Along the way, players can collect enchantments, relics, consumables, cards, and additional abilities. Because each reward has the potential to change the direction of a run, exploration maintains a satisfying sense of discovery. Fishing and gambling activities provide smaller diversions from combat and offer additional opportunities for rewards, helping the adventure feel like more than a continuous procession of card battles. The game's greatest strength is ultimately the amount of control it provides over a concept that naturally contains randomness. Poker depends heavily on what is drawn, and roguelikes traditionally embrace unpredictable rewards, so combining the two could easily have resulted in an experience dominated by luck. Instead, the ability to modify card values and suits, acquire specialized abilities, and construct relic synergies gives players numerous ways to influence probability. Poor draws can still happen, and players who strongly dislike random outcomes should keep that in mind, but thoughtful deck construction can make a noticeable difference in consistency. There is a learning curve created by the number of overlapping mechanics. During a run, players may need to consider hand combinations, numerical values, suits, enchantments, relic effects, hero powers, consumables, health management, and future encounters at the same time. Those looking for a straightforward poker experience could find this considerably more elaborate than expected. For fans of strategic deckbuilders, however, that complexity is precisely where much of the appeal lies. Experimenting with unconventional combinations and discovering unexpectedly powerful interactions gives repeated playthroughs a strong purpose. The pixel-art fantasy presentation suits the underlying design, giving the familiar imagery of playing cards a more adventurous context involving heroes, monsters, spells, and bosses. The visual approach does not need excessive spectacle because the strategic information remains the primary focus. Steam Achievements and Steam Cloud support are also useful additions for a game designed around repeated runs and gradual mastery. Steam Deck compatibility is officially categorized as Playable rather than fully Verified. Performance with the default graphics configuration is considered suitable, and the game can run successfully on SteamOS. However, handheld players should expect compromises. Some functionality is not fully accessible through the default controller configuration, touchscreen interaction or a community controller layout may occasionally be useful, and text entry can require manually opening the virtual keyboard. Some interface text may also appear small, while certain prompts can display keyboard, mouse, or non-Steam Deck controller icons. It is therefore functional on the Deck, but the experience is less seamless than a fully optimized handheld release. Overall, Heroes of Magic & Cards offers a clever interpretation of the roguelike deckbuilding formula. Its greatest achievement is transforming an ordinary deck of playing cards into a flexible strategic system where values, suits, combinations, enchantments, spells, and relics all influence one another. The combination of controlled probability, extensive build customization, multiple heroes, randomized discoveries, and meaningful risk-versus-reward decisions gives it substantial replay potential. It is particularly well suited to players who enjoy analyzing combinations and gradually turning unpredictable starting conditions into carefully engineered strategies. Rating: 8/10