Urban Cards

I played many roguelikes, and out of all of them this is one I feel the most neutral about. I think it needs a bit more time in the oven. The debt system required a bit more thought, and the events in the game need a bit more of that as well. Progress towards earning new cards is unclear. Defeating an enemy with debt doesn't seem achievable but perhaps the right cards have't been unlocked for me yet? The game has a lot of positives going for it, in spite of all this. It's fun enough to play. 7.5/10

A strategy roguelike with little replayability due to it being too strategically shallow. But it also has a dazzling AD, and fun enough mechanics that it can keep entertaining you until you can no longer overlook its limitations. Took me 20 hours, the rest was me trying to close up on the achievements before it stopped being fun altogether. On the plus side, the game has a super groovy soundtrack, and a rich, lovely AD with lots of humor. From wallet-losing tourists to actual sharks wearing suits and playing the stock market, the game finds lots of light-hearted ways to explore the business world, and is worth every penny for the laughs alone. And, while I usually couldn't care less about it, the amazing voice acting is a lot of added value. Nothing like several workaholic brokers going "sleeping is overrated!" in quick succession. Now on the negative side, the game consists in a series of 2-player card game encounters, but the card game itself isn't very interactive, and lacks polishing. Notably, no matter how conservative players are, they'll eventually run out of cards in their hands, and the advantage you can get from vomiting your hand early on is way too easy to mitigate. Once you realize that, you'll start picking only high-impact cards and remove the cheap ones every chance you get, and as a result, deckbuilding isn't very stimulating. (If henchmen could target workers, aggro strategies would probably be a lot more relevant) Apart from that, the game puts a lot of emphasis on the debt mechanic, which turns out to be mostly anecdotical. Winning with it is near unfeasable (resulting in certain cards feeling like they exist just to be played against you), and losing due to it is also unlikely, due to that one event that shows up every 2 or 3 matches and lets you remove a massive amount of it. It could be an issue - and therefore add some depth to the game - if you weren't always guaranteed to have enough cash to afford it. But you do. In fact, you make so much money in this game, that you barely ever have to make a choice at all, and can usually afford to buy items you don't want just for the luxury of removing them from the pool. Lastly, there's few different events, and they're mostly... uneventful. Fun writing, though. All in all, the gameplay's not too bad, but lacks refinement. However, it's enough for a really fun couple dozen hours.

This is my least favorite deckbuilder I've played

The core idea feels genuinely fresh. I usually spend most of my time in Hearthstone and GWENT, so I’ve played more than my fair share of deckbuilders, but Urban Cards still managed to feel like something I hadn’t really seen before. It’s familiar on the surface, sure, but the way the systems and synergies come together gives it its own identity. From a balance perspective, I haven’t put a huge number of hours into it yet, but based on my experience so far it sits in a pretty solid spot. It’s not overly easy, but it’s not punishing either. There’s a clear sense of challenge, and more importantly, it’s the kind of challenge that feels engaging rather than frustrating. I did notice some people mentioning “too much RNG” in other reviews and honestly - it’s a card game, so RNG is just part of the genre. The real question is how well you can adapt to it and in my runs it always felt like I still had enough control to make meaningful decisions. Of course, not every start was perfect and there were runs where it felt like I was behind from the beginning but that’s just how card games work, it’s normal and expected. What really stood out to me is how polished the game feels moment-to-moment. The audio design is excellent - card sounds, unit actions, building effects, everything has this satisfying weight to it that makes every action feel impactful. And the card art is genuinely strong across the board. A lot of them are just really nice-looking illustrations you actually want to take a moment to look at. To keep it simple: I don’t really have major negatives to point out at this stage. If you enjoy card games, this is absolutely worth your time.

I don't know why so many negative reviews. This is a great game, with a different spin on deck building games. Definitely a lot better than a lot of roguelike card games. The devs have appeared to be tweaking it over the years so it is a lot more balanced. I find I can win the game 1 out ever three runs once you learn how the game works. There are some cards that are definitely better than others but not always in every case depends on how you build your deck. Would be kind of nice if you could see your future path so you can decide accordingly on how to handle the bosses. If you get this game on sale and you like deckbuilder games I don't see how you could go wrong with it.

”相手より先に一定金額稼ぐか、相手を破産させる”1対1のデッキ構築ローグライク x ボードゲーム 勝敗条件や、カードの効果や数値がシンプルで、自分のターンに行うアクションも「お金(コスト)を払ってカードを使う」だけなので、ボードゲームをプレイしている様なシンプル感でデッキ構築ローグライクを楽しめます。 また、基本は「お金を稼ぐ」経済系ゲームですが、敵に負債を負わせるカードや、敵の建物を攻撃する”ごろつき”カードの存在により戦闘中の選択や、対戦相手の選択などしっかり”考える楽しさ”があります。 デッキ構築ローグライクとしてはカードに”強化”は無く、削除するか追加するかだけなのですが、「とにかく労働者に金を稼がせるデッキ」「ごろつきで相手に何もさせないデッキ」「盤面はほっといて相手に負債を負わせるデッキ」などカードごとにシナジーは存在する為、色んなカードやデッキで遊ぶ楽しさもあります。

[h1][b] TLDR: Has a serious issue with boring cards and unfun mechanics. There are much better CCG games to play. [/b] [/h1] [h1]PROS: [/h1] ✅Easy to pick up and learn [h1]CONS: [/h1] ➖Not enough card variety ➖Simple and repetitive mechanics ➖Debt is annoying ➖Lack of interesting cards [h1] [b] Content (Game world/Narrative/Length) – [6/10] [/b] [/h1] Game World: Like most CCG’s, Urban Cards (UC) has a simple game world that generally consists of two variations: the overworld map and the card map. The overworld map acts very similar to Slay the Spire in that you go along a path that is made up of multiple zones with a boss at the end of each zone. The card map, where the CCG action takes place, consists of lanes, similar to Marvel Snap. There are 3 lanes on each side where you can place a business. This means that with 3 businesses total allowed to be placed, the player must fight against the NPC over who is able to place the 2nd business. Behind each business, 2 henchmen are able to be deployed, but not moved into other lanes unless specified. So each player can place up to 6 total henchmen to defend or attack the player among other effects. Lastly, the map has a row for workers which enhance money per turn. As far as I can tell, there is no limit for workers, or at least one that I’ve hit yet. Overall, I would say the map setup is different from most other CCG’s, though very similar to Marvel Snap, and its this simplicity that UC plays into its strong suit of being easy to learn. Narrative: None really, just expand your business. Length: Each game takes anywhere between 4-7 minutes, depending on how fast you move, these are relatively quick games. [h1][b] Gameplay (Mechanics/Difficulty) – [2/10] [/b] [/h1] Mechanics: UC lacks any sort of interesting mechanics that sets it apart from the dozens of other CCGs. Firstly, as a CCG you should probably have a good amount of interesting cards with various effects that impact the gameplay. This is like CCG 101 and something that UC fails at. The card diversity is incredibly small with most decks beginning with around 15 cards. You unlock cards as you go, but the cards you unlock (that I’ve discovered) don't really have many unique, interesting, or fun effects. For example, there’s not a great way to attack workers at all, so while I can destroy the enemy business building, they still have workers that are working and generating funds from….where? Another super annoying mechanic is debt. Debt persists with you throughout the game and your options to get rid of it are few while your ability to accumulate it is from literally every single match. I don’t understand why I end a map with over 100k in funds, but don’t have the option to pay off my 4.5k debt AND somehow if I get $500 more debt, I’ll lose, despite having over 100k. What? I think what UC falls victim to is taking real world concepts and making them into mechanics that don’t function the same way as their real world counterparts. Overall, I found the mechanics to be unfun, restrictive, boring, and frustrating with debt. Difficulty: UC’s difficulty ranges from stupid easy to cheating NPCs. If you counter the NPCs enough, they just stand around with a handful of cards doing nothing. While there are other NPCs like hackers that will obliterate you through the debt mechanic. Not very balanced at all. [h1] [b] Graphics (Quality/Performance) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Quality: Decent at best, nothing to really write about other than it's kinda like a cartoon. Performance: No issues with performance, but graphical options are very limited. i9-13900KF | RTX 4090 | 64GB RAM | 1440p @ 240hz | installed on SSD [h1] [b] Audio (Sound Effects/Music) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Sound Effects: Nothing noteworthy. Basic/bare minimum sound effects. Music: Nothing noteworthy and a bit repetitive after a while. [h1] [b] Replay Factor (Longevity) – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Kind of like Slay the Spire, there is some decent replay value in attempting to complete each run with each deck type. There are achievements to go after as well. I want to be clear though with the Slay the Spire comparison - the cards you get from UC are so basic and boring, that farming for card unlocks does not seem worth it in the slightest. [h1] [b] Final Verdict – [4/10] [/b] [/h1] Tough competition as a CCG game going against such a stacked deck (pun intended) of CCG games. UC lacks any sort of way to build a meaningful unique deck. The cards, concepts, and mechanics are just boring. There is absolutely no reason to play this game with things like Slay the Spire exist. [h1] [b] Recommend? [Y/N] [/b] [/h1] [h1]No[/h1] You can find my curator page here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/Synik_GR

I find this game a really great strategic card game, with cool ideas, fun cards and a lovely atmosphere. Every deck is different, so hard to get bored. So when you like chill, and ingenious card games, check this out :D

Great game overall. But could use some tweaks. Most of the time the AI decks are so OP. Making a shop or deck maker for each faction would be a better choice rather than making a huge deck of filler cards from one event you may get during the campaign. Other than that game is worth a buy, but don't buy it at $15 or $10, but it at like $5.

Felt like a rip off when I was winning very easy and the game was fun until I hit the final boss at about the point where I couldn't refund it.. then the difficulty spiked so much it felt like I'd just be grinding out unlocks just to beat one enemy every time with no real other challenge or engaging game play. Basically it's isn't fun when 90%+ of the game is irrelevant, at least to me.