Summary
- PvE deck builders provide fun without facing min-maxed opponents - great twist on traditional card games.
- Griftlands offers a unique RPG experience with space rogues, dual deck building for combat and dialogue.
- Inscryption adds eerie flair with monster cards and creepy plays, inspired by Slay The Spire and more.
Deck builders are great for gamers looking to test and build their strategic minds. In deck builders, players must not only build their decks with cards that synergize, but they must also know how to perfectly execute their chosen strategy. While many deck builders exist that pit players against other players - both virtually and in the real world - there are also many great games that allow players to take on AI enemies with their decks and even adventure through enthralling stories!
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The roguelike and strategy genres pair surprisingly well together, and these titles prove how well they blend.
PvE deck builders offer all the fun of traditional and popular digital card games by allowing players to build decks and execute their unique strategies without the stress of facing another player who has min-maxed their deck to an unbeatable state. Luckily, game developers have noticed the potential of this genre and given fans many unique twists on the gameplay.
5 Griftlands
Space Cowboy RPG With Social And Combat Decks
Griftlands
Griftlands is a deck-building rogue-like where you fight and negotiate your way through a broken-down sci-fi world. Every decision is important, be it the jobs you take, the friends you make, or the cards you collect. Death comes quickly, but each play offers new situations and strategies to explore.
Play as Sal, Rook, or Smith. Three unique character campaigns with their own specialized decks, abilities and maps to explore. Sal is an adventurer out for profit and revenge. Rook is an aging spy working his own agenda. Smith is an idle loafer who might just save the world. Each playable character's story takes place in a unique environment, with different factions and locations to explore and exploit.
Hire mercenaries, find pets, or impose upon your friends to accomplish your goals. Each character has unique negotiation and combat decks to draft from. Get powerful item cards from fallen foes, or as rewards. Test your combat decks against powerful foes with unique mechanics and attacks. Overcome obstacles with the power of your fists - or your words. You'll need to pick your cards and play them right if you're going to survive. Build two decks simultaneously, balancing the tradeoffs of each.
- Released
- July 11, 2019
- Developer(s)
- Klei Entertainment
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Linux, Microsoft Windows, macOS
- Genre(s)
- RPG, Indie Games, Adventure, Strategy
Griftlands puts players in the shoes of classic space rogues and gives them two decks to build and use. One deck for dialogue checks and persuasion and one deck for combat when that doesn't work!
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Being able to choose from three different characters and experience three different stories with their own branching lines and strategies makes Griftlands an experience that will stick. While Griftlands is technically a roguelike, with how long the runs last, tagged with a heavy story emphasis, it feels more like a traditional RPG with deck-building mechanics. It's just lacking the traditional medieval setting of traditional RPGs.
4 Inscryption
Psychological Horror Roguelike
Inscryption
Inscryption is an eery and dark roguelike game that takes a lot of inspiration from titans in the genre like Slay The Spire and even Hearthstone. Inscryption pits players against enemies with a deck of monster cards and items that they must use to impress the dark, mysterious entity watching over them.
Like most modern deck builders, Inscryption adds its own flair to the genre. Ripping out a tooth to deal damage to the opponent and sacrificing a squirrel to summon a strange larva that will eventually turn into Mothman are just a couple of the creepy plays players can expect to make during a run of Inscryption.
3 Across the Obelisk
Online Co-Op Class Based Roguelike
Across the Obelisk
- Released
- April 8, 2021
- Platform(s)
- PC
- Developer
- Dreamsite Games
- Genre(s)
- Digital Card Game, Roguelike
Across The Obelisk is one of the best strategy card games on the market due to the depth of its deck building and the variety of its available classes. Players must form a team of four adventurers and build a deck for each one with unique cards.
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Every class in Across The Obelisk feels unique and has many different build paths. Players can choose to be a single target, brute force bruiser or a DoT damage poison master safely tucked in the back line. What's really great about Across The Obelisk is that it can truly be enjoyed with friends or playing solo.
2 Monster Train
Strategically Intense Multi-Layered Combat
Monster Train
Monster Train took the world by storm and quickly became one of the best strategy games available, especially for players who enjoy deck-building and wave defense games. In Monster Train, players don't simply face one set of enemies, they take on multiple layers of enemies in gameplay that's somewhat reminiscent of tower defense games.
The clan and card combinations give Monster Train a ton of replay value and make every run feel unique. Monster Train is especially great for players who love min-maxing and building extremely broken decks that will reward them for their 4D chess playstyle.
1 Slay the Spire
Classic Roguelike With Emphasis On Deck Building
Slay the Spire
- Released
- January 23, 2019
- Developer(s)
- Mega Crit
- Platform(s)
- Android, iOS, PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
- Genre(s)
- Roguelike, Deckbuilding
Slay The Spire is the gold standard for both roguelikes and deck builders alike. The game is extremely addicting, and every class offers so many different viable builds and playstyles. Its vast mod library also adds layers of replay value that cement its place as a titan of the genre.
Slay The Spire is easy to learn and hard to master. Players can hop on for a quick run or spend hours trying to get the perfect discard deck, in order to deal 100+ damage with one card.
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