Dungeon Drafters is an absolute gem of a game.
It oozes charm from every pore of its being. Every character, card art, minigame, and puzzle feels lovingly crafted, and it coalesces into an addictive gameplay loop that I can't get enough of.
It starts out slow, and the tutorial level doesn't do a very good job of showing why the game is fun, which is why there are so many negative reviews from people who have played it less than 3 or 4 hours.
The tutorial deck is not interesting at all and the tutorial dungeon is very boring to play through. It almost made me drop the game, the only thing keeping me hooked being the incredible pixel art.
If you stick with it however, the incredibly tight and addicting gameplay will suck you in. The combat constantly feels like you're walking on a razor's edge, which makes it both very tense and rewarding.
Every move and action has to be precisely calculated and thought through, the game rewards careful observation and positioning. Since it's a rogue-like, this makes it incredibly punishing as well. One careless action can wreck hours of gameplay.
There's some really clever UX design in this game.
The UI inspect tool lets you highlight anything on screen and gives a detailled explaination about it. It's incredibly helpful, and the game doesn't overwhelm you with info during the tutorial since you can use the tool anywhere, anytime.
Another clever design choice : the game needs to let the player know precisely what each ennemy will do during the next turn in order to let the player make the best informed decision.
But since they can do complex turns and execute a lot of actions, it would be a visual mess to show everything.
So instead you have another useful tool that lets you highlight any ennemy and show you exactly what moves it can perform this turn, their priority, and its range of movement and attack.
Don't know what the symbols on the moves mean? No problem! Just bring up the UI inspect tool for more info!
I really recommand Dungeon Drafters to any fan of rogue-like deckbuilders. It doesn't have the combo potential of Slay the Spire or Balatro, the synergies are a lot more grounded, but its low number values mean that every encounter feels tense and thrilling.
Shoutout to the banger soundtrack also, the desert theme slaps.
And while you're here, take a look at some of these card arts. There's clearly a ton love, passion and effort that went into making each and every one of them.
