Infest

I can only give this game a provisional recommend... only because this game attempts to try something unique, and there's still fun to be found despite its flaws. Much like other deckbuilders, this game falls under the category of "mashing together another genre with deckbuilders and see what sticks." (I've played deckbuilders that tries to combine the genre with RPG or shmup elements, and both of them doesn't end up very well) This game is a deckbuilder that features pixel simulations, or basically, Noita + Slay the Spire. Do both of them go together? Kind of. For starters, deckbuilders are turn-based, while the pixel simulation is real-time. Most of the time you'll be waiting for oil to pile up on an enemy before playing a card that ignites said oil, or repeatedly hover over a card to reset its attack prediction line until the enemy lines up with stuff you want the card to interact with. You can wait all the time you want, until the game starts a countdown and forces the currently selected card to be played, because after all, this game still has its turn-based aspect, and you can't keep stalling forever. Something that's more noticeable with how the real-time and the turn-based aspect conflicting against each other is when the enemy is attacking, because enemies can still do their intentions and then the poison that you applied at the enemy before that kills them right after they just attacked you, so you could've just waited until the poison finishes then decide to end your turn, saving you hit points. This is something I don't think the devs can address, because the game's take on simulating pixels in real-time means you can't predict what reactions are about to happen if you press end turn. And so, the game is all about waiting. Waiting for stuff to happen until it's the right time to play your card. Don't get me wrong though. Seeing the reactions happening can be fun, especially when you try to get the reactions to happen like creating walls around a ledge so the liquids can stay put. But this game is also quite inconsistent in what kind of liquids can stay on a surface. In some levels, falling liquids can easily overflow and create mountains of liquids, giving you easy access to performing reactions. In other levels, they barely pool up, and even if you manage to get it pooled by creating some kind of basin, it's not going to be that much liquid getting pooled, and you're spending quite some energy to get it working only for one enemy. Also, the reactions you'll be seeing in this game are mostly oil or plants burning, because oil and plants are very abundant throughout levels. Recent update adds electric interactions with water, but I couldn't get it to work because water when making contact with a single pixel of plant immediately creates more plant, so there's not much water staying around anyway. There are some other elements like ice or acid, but right now, they don't have that much interactivity with other elements. I really do hope the devs manage to get this game fully fleshed out. Conceptually, it's interesting, but there's still a lot of work to be done to make the turn-based and the real-time aspect work together.

Very fun game! Infest combines the roguelite deckbuilder formula with a falling sand mechanic best known from Noita. This not only allows for fun interactions between elements, but also creates something new between the turn-based character of deckbuilders and the (almost) real-time decisionmaking and timing of abilities. You might want to wait for a few seconds before you cast your firebomb because the enemy you are aiming at stands in an acid puddle and might die anyway. Do you really want to end your turn by playing the last card or do you want to give the poisoned enemy time to die? Do you want to take your time planning every possible move on your turn, knowing your own poisoning will only end when you end your turn and acting quickly might save you valuable health points? But fear not, the game can be paused at any point to make the best possible decision! All in all a great game I highly recommend! (BUT: The third boss can go love itself. I honestly hope for a balance update because that MF won't let me win.)