Slay the Spire is THE card game to try on pc. Absolutely start with that one, then check out the other recommendations in the thread
also on mobile and console
I love Slay the Spire, but it makes my eyes bleed on mobile. It definitely needs a bigger screen.
And it being $10 on the Play store with reviews that say it crashes and deleted the game progress if it loses focus - wowsers
Yes, this makes it nigh unplayable on Android. Also, very long load time.
I like monster train's combat better, but slay the spire has runs that are long enough to feel like you can actually take advantage of your deck building.
It's grid based tactical combat married with card game mechanics. It's very much a card game, but it's executed on a grid and you need to fight off multiple enemies using careful positioning and execution.
Fights in Tight Spaces is awesome. Randomly came across that game during a Steam sale and it was surprising and really interesting. Definitely recommend.
Whoa, that looks a lot like the Metal Gear Acid games, which I loved! Glad to have found out about this.
In the order of recommendation as a longtime fan of deck builders:
Slay the spire is a must. Cannot recommend enough. Just play it, it's the quintessential deck builder. There are plenty of mods on steam. The full version complete with achievements is on Android as well.
One Step From Eden is a favorite of mine, it blends deck building and real time combat in a system heavily inspired by the megaman battle network series. It scratches that itch like nothing else I've ever played. Steam and Switch. Again, lots of mods on steam.
Star Realms and Ascension are vs style deck builders that are played in a multi-player format like magic or hearthstone. They are unlike any other game in this list in that every match is against an opponent with the capability to play the same cards as you. Your deck is built during the game out of a shared pool, not pre-built before, so neither player has an advantage going into a match. Android and Steam, and hotseat multi-player as well as online multi-player and ai games. These two games also have actual physical tabletop releases if you really like them.
Quantum Protocol is a quaint little deck builder that is more like a puzzle game than a traditional battle style. It was kind of short but super addicting once you get into the gameplay loop. Still recommended if you like deck builders. Steam.
Dawncaster is the one on Android I'm currently playing. It's extremely similar to slay the spire. Its mechanics are surprisingly deep and it has a large pool of cards, even though the battles are only ever one on one.
Tower Tactics Liberation is a deck builder that blends into the tower defense genre, if you're into that. This one can be difficult at the higher levels though, and a single playthrough can take half a day. Steam.
Loop Hero is technically a deck builder. The best way I can describe this one is an idle battler that you build up yourself each round. Steam.
Card Quest is an older one on Steam and Android, one of the first ones I ever found. It's a pure deck builder-roguelike with minimal graphics, but addicting for the genre nonetheless.
Hope you guys find what you're looking for in this list.
Edit: added links
This is great, I'll have to check out dawncaster. I had seen it before and wasn't totally sure if it's worth diving in, but I need a new android card game right now
well there goes the rest of my life
Slay the spire is the best, I probably have 400-500 hours played in it, but as I don't see anybody else recommending it, I would check out Nowhere Prophet as well. It has some slight tactical elements but the core is a good rogue-like deck builder. It's much harder than slay the spire IMO which has meant it's not quick as pick up and play fun to me.
And likewise, I'll take your suggestion and look into Nowhere Prophet
Dicey Dungeons. Collect cards with effects, roll dice, pay dice to activate card effects. Pretty great.
It's definitely not patientgamers material but Deckbuilder roguelikes/roguelites have taken off these past few years with many more in development right now.
Some to keep an eye out for are 'Balatro' and 'Dungeons and degenerate gamblers'. Mentioning these since I believe they're both in development but have a playable free demo (which makes them somewhat ok for the patient gamer in my book)
I think it depends on the PG (patient gamer) but I think the philosophy doesn't extend to indie games as much as big budget AAA titles that get pushed out half baked and only end up being good years down the line after they've finally actually finished it. We have patience for indie devs. It's not a zero sum thing. Like, I'll hop on the next ratchet and clank game, no way I'm waiting a year to play it. But for games that I don't care so much about that start out as ps5 exclusives, I always wait for the PC port
HARD agree with you.
Indie games are completely different to me than big name titles. I have zero issues picking up an indie game on day 1-2 if it’s rated well. I’ll even PREORDER and/or donate if it’s a dev that I love (lookin at you, Mullins, you fukkin genius…)
AA/AAA games, I will almost NEVER buy in the first year. I do kinda regret not snagging Elden Ring earlier, but a year later at 30USD it was a steal.
Cyberpunk I still hafta start but apparently now is the best time to play it! Very happy I didn’t get that on launch.
Returnal is the last game I caved at launch (on the computer). Full Dualsense triggers and haptic support, ran incredibly on day one, and I got a 10USD discount from launch price (which was 60 to begin with, fuck a 70 money price)
CP2077 had a great little patient trick. I took a gamble, bought it on clearance for $17 during the whole "this game will never be playable" phase. I let it age like a fine wine, and cracked it open 3 months later when the price was back to full and people were enjoying it.
Yeah I'm much more into indie games. The only aaa game that I bought on launch was doom eternal because 2016 had no problems around launch.
Monster train
I can't believe no one has mentioned Wildfrost! Just look at the artstyle. It's incredibly cute but it also has a lot of strategic depth. Right now winning a run in the game is quite hard but in the beta branch they've just made it easier to win a normal run while also adding more challenge modifiers for those who want the challenge.
On Android I enjoy
Night of the Full Moon - Really good. Lots of game modes, frequent updates. I've paid like $10 after at least a hundred hours to unlock a few completely optional decks. Some of the cards suffer from translation issues, but it's not a big deal.
Miracle Merchant - fairly simple gameplay with no progression. Fine for a 10 minute session.
Pirates Outlaws Quite fun. A few game modes. Nice graphics.
Gwent (witcher 3 mini game) and Slay the Spire.
And now an independent game massively redesigned compared to the W3 mini game!
I just wanted to add that STS is a spectacular game and I hope you enjoy. Its a very challenging game but you learn pretty quickly.
If you run into issues and want advice there's a bunch online but I'd love to help if you need it. Best of luck to you :)
If you like 4x games Hexarchy is in development that combines deck building like Slay the Spire with Civ. You can currently request to take part in the public playtest on Steam.
Nobody's mentioned it yet, so here you go:
Across the Obelisk is like Slay The Spire in some ways, but you always have a party of 4 adventurers and they each have their own seperate decks to represent their differing abilities and classes. Early on it can feel basic, but the more you play the more cards you unlock and the gameplay and deck varieties really deepen and get engaging.
Stacklands is very unique and crazy good
Maybe a little late, but here are some of the games I've found in my quest for good singleplayer card games. Note that I play on ios or steam mostly, so when I say mobile I know it's on ios but can't confirm android for sure. Also most of these games are a single purchase, no microtransactions aside from expansions maybe.
Arcanium (steam, mobile via netflix sub) - In this game you travel around a hex-based map fighting battles and collecting stuff. You have a party of three different characters that you choose from the start, each with their own deck that you can alter at any time from a pool of cards that you've collected during the run. I really enjoy the deckbuilding in this one, but I wish the runs were a bit longer.
Lost Portal (mobile) - This game reminds me a lot of the old handheld yugioh and pokemon card games. You build a collection throughout the game by buying, crafting, or looting cards as you move through a linear series of quests on a small world map. There a a bunch of different types of cards from which you can build various decks with different themes. The cards are most similar to mtg, but there are several differences, especially with how creature combat works.
Momentum (mobile) - This game is similar to slay the spire and dawncaster, except with each attack from yourself or the enemy you need to make accurately timed taps to ensure they go well for you. It's kind of like the quicktime event rpg combat in the mario rpgs on ds and gamecube, except they are absolutely required to succeed. Very hard game, but some may enjoy it a lot.
Thronebreaker (steam, mobile) - Someone mentioned gwent in another post, but not this. This is the singleplayer gwent game, complete with card collection and deckbuilding over the course of an interesting plot with hard choices. Exactly what you would expect from a witcher game and one of my favorites.
Legends of Runeterra (pc, mobile) - Technically not a singleplayer card game (although it is the least predatory and cheapest to get into by far). It does have a singleplayer mode called path of champions that is somewhat similar to slay the spire but with the runeterra card game for fights. Speaking of which, the gameplay is sort of a middle ground between hearthstone and mtg. I personally think it is better than both, having played all 3.
Dream Quest (steam, mobile) - This is one of the the og singleplayer cardgames. It was made by Peter Whalen, who went on to be one of the top game designers at blizzard for hearthstone and later at riot for TFT. It has what I can only call ms paint graphics, but the gameplay is solid and I enjoyed it a lot.
RogueJack (mobile) - A roguelike where you go through a dungeon and fight enemies by playing blackjack with a twist. Very simple, but pretty fun and different from a lot of these games.
Alina of the Arena (Steam) - Someone mentioned fights in tight spaces, which is a game I like a lot. This one is similar, although it's a hex-based arena. You fight multiple enemies at once by playing cards through the weapon/shield in either your left or right hand, altering the cards based on what you're using.
Ratropolis (Steam) - This is a weird fusion of deckbuilding roguelike and city-building tower defense. It's very similar to the kingdom games in theat it's a 2d city builder where you defend against waves of enemies, but everything is done with cards from a deck that you build over time.
Marvel Midnight Suns (Steam) - So the combat in this game is pretty good, card-based attacks with a team of recognizable marvel heroes and plenty of tactics during the fights. The production value is very high for a spinoff card tactics game too. The problem many people have with this game is it has this weird dragon age rpg map exploration and companion relationship system that massively slows everything down. Expect to spend more time reading dialogue than everything else combined. If you would be interested in a marvel themed visual novel then I guess that would be a bonus.
Some of the games I already see mentioned in this thread that I would also recommend: Monster Train, Wildfrost, Roguebook, Fights in Tight Spaces, Dawncaster, One Step from Eden, Across the Obelisk, Night of the Full Moon, Black Book, and Cultist Simulator
I've played all of them and they're all great choices, but this post is long enough so have a look at what others said about them.
Never too late, this is the patient gamers sub after all. Thanks for the great list!
Look into a game called Aeon's End. It's a digital adaptation of a tabletop deck builder that's super fun. You can choose opponents of varying difficulties so the learning curve is pretty reasonable. One you understand the game's strategies, it's very satisfying to play at a high level.
I'll add Roguebook.
We seem to be living through a time where a lot of these games are available!
Others have mentioned good ones. Another one that just released, but is a classic remaster, is Baten Kaitos. I think it's Nintendo Switch only atm, but maybe it'll go on from there. Not strictly a card battler; has rpg elements, too.
I liked Black Book more than Inscryption. it's about a young evil witch in a fantasy version of eastern europe, and you cast spells by stringing a combination of cards together that are curses or blessings. There are some encounters that use puzzle decks, but mostly you build your own deck as you progress and get new cards.
it's heavily steeped specifically in slavic mythology, which is different from most worldbuilding using viking or celtic or the like. So you meet things like leshys instead of trolls.
Eternal card game has similarities to Magic and Hearthstone, but has more generous rewards and is designed to take advantage of the digital space.
the multiplayer is predatory still, but the single player mode in legends of runterra has actually been really fun.
Cultist Simulator is a great card game. A little odd, not like other games at all and kind of mysterious but ultimately a cool experience
Absolutely. I miss the OLD Cultist Simulator before they made changes to the success system, but it's still a really awesome game.
What changes? I played the shit out of cultist simulator around its release date but didn't complete all dlcs, always meant to come back to it at some point.
Before the Scars system was introduced, probabilities for most tests were 30%/70%/100% at the 1/5/10 threshold. After scars were added, it became 30%/70%/90% at the same threshold. This modification changed Cultist Simulator from a game of secret knowledge and skill, to a game of chance.
It most importantly affected grinds and expedition and weakened the cult choice. It affected grinds because you could no longer have a cultist be your income long-term. Craftwork? Your Shapers (exalted Forge cultist) will eventually become corpses if you keep crafting. Previously, that's just how you'd make money as the Unflinching Order. Now, the transition to writing is mandatory (since painting was nerfed to oblivion as well). If you're unlucky, you can scar so fast that your Shapers don't even earn you a nest egg before being too scarred to risk (3 of the same scar is instant death).
And then expeditions. The lategame used to be expedition rushes with your prepared cult always winning. Now, it's another coin toss. First, you find yourself just summoning up a bunch of demons and hirelings because it's too dangerous to risk scarring a cultist (and except curses, screw success rate. Just keep throwing stuff at it till you get through)... And then there's curses... unless you enter each mission situated to pull An Imminence on demand (not trivial especially considering how short-lived influences are), you are risking that chance of pulling a curse and losing a permanent attribute. The current "best practice" is to build up heart influence and "talk loop" it before entering any expedition that carries a curse.
Taking a step back... I wrote the original cult guide on reddit. One thing I loved about Cultist Simulator was how much your cult choice influenced your gameplay despite how little it technically did. The reason? The 100% success rate on ONE action, that nobody else could have. Go Forge? Safe money. Go Edge? Safe from anyone that breathes (literally, Assassins meant you could disregard notoriety entirely as long as you took the time to murder every investigator). Go Heart? Perfect shield from notoriety. Grail? Safe (imperfect, you could fail but not die) handling of people and kidnapping, etc.
Scars made "let's try it" more viable for off-cult, while reducing the 100% success rate made cult-specific builds disappear. The former sounds good (and might have been), but combined with the latter, it basically doesn't matter what cult you pick anymore.
....as for the dlcs. The stories they add are phenomenal. I really enjoyed playing all of them except Exile (which I watched on youtube because it went all-in on the chance related changes). The game is basically unplayable without Dancer because Sulochana is so important to every strategy. Why? Because you can talk to her about anything. When you use a card in a verb, its timer stops.... and that kinda reiterates all the above stuff (and that heart influence) about what I didn't like about the changes.
...and the work change.
Painting was nerfed so bad it's barely worth doing. You have to play it very carefully if you want to make any money off it. Shocker, it's partly RNG-driven. You only make money if you paint with reputation (notoriety). But painting debuffs you and you only remove them by painting with passion and rolling well.
With cult work also nerfed, that leaves Glover & Glover. Since anti-notoriety strategies are nerfed, that leaves "second highest position at Glover & Glover".
Ultimately, by midgame, nothing makes "worth it" money except the various lore treatises that your acquaintances give out.
Ultimately, here's what changed:
Card Hunter is an excellent trpg/ deck builder that has card based actions. Excellent single player with multilayer options that I haven't explored much because I generally need to be able to pause for extended periods, but it seems solid enough (no idea if there is an active community though).
You can pay to skip ahead, but I had a great time never paying for anything. Probably put 100 hrs plus in.
Slay The Spire and Monster Train are both very good, but often recommended. Other card games that are worth checking out: Gordian Quest, Vault of The Void and Across The Obelisk! The latter is a lot of fun when playing sigh up to 3 friends but it's good as a singleplayer game as well!
Hand of Fate 2 was great on switch years ago, a hybrid card / tabletop / combat game
I had a lot of fun with Hearthstone over the years and never spent a dime.
It's not a full game but check out shroom and gloom on itch.io
WBridge5 (http://www.wbridge5.com/) is a free award-winning bridge program. It won't teach you how to play the game, though.
Haven't seen it mentioned yet but "monster train" is a great second to slay the spire. Different enough gameplay to justify both.
I would actually add that I prefer it to Slay the Spire.
I feel more at fault in Monster Train when I lose. And I feel more responsible when I win. And the "two clans" thing makes it feel like I have a dozen "characters" instead of only the 4.
I've got three. The first two aren't traditional card games, but the third is absolutely a card game.
Rounds is a little 2d multiplayer game with a couple of circles that get cards to unlock new abilities every time they loose until one player wins the whole set.
There's Friends vs Friends which is similar, except you use the cards for that round only. Oh and it's furry and 3d. It's a lot faster.
Third, there's tabletop simulator. I recommend everyone gets this game as you can play any card games or board games that are on the steam shop, which is all of them.
Friends Vs Friends for something weird and fun and different
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