![]() ![]() I'm halfway through a new run on hard mode. I guess I didn't need to do any of that." "If I first attack with my flimsy Pariah", I'd think, "then I can whack down a tanky enemy in front of them - but not before I play that unit that buffs everything nearby, and not before I target that explosive barrel next to those enemies." Then my opponent would spend its turn prodding at yet another rock, and I'd think "Oh. I'd often find myself delving down that thought well, chaining convoluted plans together. Throw in cards that mess with unit positions, and you've got a recipe for rich tactical consideration. Robust units always survive if the spot behind them is free, while snipers can attack from anywhere. The most interesting abilities play with that space. Only the first unit in each row can attack and be attacked, so a beefy rock in a front line slot might need destroying before an enemy unit - presuming you don't want to be sneaky. Each fight is littered with obstacles: restrictions and opportunities that might mix up your approach. It's a varied pool, but only a few abilities stood out to me as genuinely new. There's one that buffs every other robot when it dies. Here's a robot that absorbs the first instance of damage. Most have abilities, largely familiar if you've played a card game before. Every member of your caravan is a card that can be played in combat, though you'll want to prune your actual deck down to the best of them. When you're not picking your way across the wilderness, exploring or trading or talking your way out of (or into) scrapes, you're fighting. Time after time, my robo-ponents would spare my vulnerable scary units, completely waste their cards, and spend their go pointlessly demolishing rocks on their side of the board. I'm sure luck played its part, but I'm also sure I owe much of my success to atrocious enemy AI. Maybe I got lucky, and a few early game finds set me up for an unusually unchallenging sprint through the wasteland. I waltzed to victory on my very first run. ![]() You're supposed to teeter on the brink of destruction, to panic as starvation or murderers close in. It's about managing your convey of new followers, feeding both their bodies and their spirits, and making decisions that won't wind up with your caravan in a smoking roadside heap. ![]() A successful run isn't just about defeating them, though. Between you and supposed salvation are bandits, slavers, rebels and rogue machines. You're off to find a crypt, because a robot told you to. Nowhere Prophet should have left me exalted, but unfortunately it doesn't end up going anywhere. I'm a sucker for deckbuilders, too, especially when they're also roguelikes, particularly when they're brimming with clever ideas, and notably when those are woven into encounters that demand a choice between morality and material reward. Tell me stories about those that come after: the post apocalyptic survivors of a world built atop the ruins of the last. ![]()
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