Roguelike deck-builder
A roguelike where you fight by playing cards from a deck you build during the run, picking random rewards after each victory. The challenge is forming working combinations without diluting the deck with weak cards, because losing sends you back to the starting deck.
Also known as: roguelike deck-building game, deck-building roguelike
This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.
History
- 2014Origin
Dream Quest (2014), a mobile game by Peter Whalen, is one of the first and already combined the genre's core elements.
Roguelike deck-building game (Wikipedia) - 2017
Slay the Spire enters early access (full release in 2019) and gives the genre its widest exposure.
Roguelike deck-building game (Wikipedia)
Reference games
2019
Slay the Spire
You climb a tower of randomly generated floors, fighting with cards. Each turn you get three energy and a fresh hand, and enemies announce their next move. After each victory you pick one of three cards for your deck. It entered early access in 2017.
2020
Cardice
A roguelike deckbuilder made for the js13kGames 2020 competition, in under 13 KB. You pick a hero, cross a map towards the boss and play cards by dragging dice onto them, which take the place of energy. After each fight you pick rewards for your deck.
2020
Monster Train
You defend a four-floor train by playing cards that summon creatures or trigger effects. Invaders climb floor by floor towards the pyre at the top, so besides building your deck you decide which floor each creature goes on.
2021
Inscryption
You play cards in a dark cabin against a mysterious opponent. Between matches you add or remove cards from your deck, many of which require sacrificing others to come into play, and you can leave the table to solve the cabin's puzzles.
2024
Balatro
You play poker hands from a 52-card deck to beat ever higher scores, with limited hands and discards. Between rounds you buy jokers that change how scoring works and cards that modify your deck. It was made by a single developer.