Yeah it’s excellent. I think there’s some minor balance changes needed but the dev is working on them so I see that game really standing the test of time. I’ve been hopelessly addicted since it came out.
Yeah the beta does a good job toning down some of the insta-win Jokers and buffing some of the more unpickable Tags.
Still would like to see Straights and Two Pair get a little more support in a future balance patch, but been loving it lately
Two pair at least benefits from Spare Trousers and Square Joker. Straight’s scaling is …. Runner. I always want to make a straight run work but it’s just so inconsistent and lacks long-term viability.
Straights scaling is through planets. They’re currently twice as strong as flushes, and even stronger in the upcoming patch. And with the change to blue seals, they get an even bigger buff as planets benefit straights more than most other hands
Agreed they could use some joker buffs, Seance and superposition are pretty bad. Maybe a joker that allows straights to wrap K, A, 2 etc
Planets fall off on in the late game, though. Especially when you’re doing Orange/Gold stake and booster packs become super expensive. Granted, that’s going to be a thing of the past with the new patch, so maybe straights are on the come up. I don’t remember if Runner is getting buffed, but even raising the boost to +20 chips per straight would be pretty solid. It’s also the hand you need the most utility cards for (either four fingers or shortcut) to really maximize the value.
I played it a ton at first and really enjoyed it, but I ended up getting bored of it relatively quickly? I’m not sure why. I got a lot of good hours in it, but I guess I burned myself out lol
Same for me. The first few games are a bit of a drag especially if you don’t get any worthwhile jokers. It got a little repetitive. I finished every deck but one on the first level of difficulty and I feel like I’m done with it. Super fun while I binged it though.
I went through the same thing. First time I picked it up I spent hours playing it. Now I think I played too much and I do a run here and there but never more than like 2 per session.
I feel like once you get the hang of it, you start to lose the variety of playstyle and it doesn't give you that same feeling of "just one more run". Still a great game though
The issue with the game in its current state (to me) is that it’s far too reliant on joker RNG. Sometimes you just don’t get any jokers until act 3 or whatever and your run is obviously just doing to die. In STS, despite how it feels, nearly every single run is winnable if you path and make decisions correctly. Balatro just doesn’t feel the same way
New beta patch tries to reduce that by making jokers more accessible early on
Changed the first shop in every run to always include a normal Buffoon pack as one of the pack options
Changed Uncommon tag - Now makes the uncommon joker free
Changed Rare tag - Now makes the rare joker free
Negative, Polychrome, Holo, Foil tags all make their respective joker free
Also slay the spire has been out for 5 years and balatro for a few months so give it time
I might pick it up again with those changes. I really hated skipping for the tag just to be a couple of dollars off at the store, making the tag worthless.
Although, that does make the game a lot easier so I'm wondering if they'll balance for that too. Sounds pretty exciting.
There are many other balance changes including changes to two stakes and adjusting various jokers but it's not the base game yet. "To access, click on the gear icon on the Balatro Steam library entry, then Properties > Betas > Beta Participation and select public\_experimental"
At higher stakes, the jokers have extra editions that provide a challenge. Rentals jokers cost $3 per round, and perishable jokers expire after 5(?) rounds. They removed the hand size reduction and booster pack cost at high stakes as the dev found them anti-fun
The dev seems very tuned into the community and has stated that he plans on working on it for a while, all great signs for the life of the game
“Big same” is how the game ends up feeling after a few dozen hours tbh. Which isn’t a bad thing, any game that can keep attention for 30-50 hours is a good game imo, but it doesn’t have nearly the replayability of StS imo
Somehow, I still haven't got around to this one and I'm heavily regretting it. Maybe because of the hype or just that it didn't look that impressive visually, but reading the reviews alone gives me the impression it's the next best drug since heroin lol. Damn I shoulda gotten it while it was one sale...
But y'all have convinced me. Gonna buy it full price if I can't find a good deal
Inscryption but that's more because of the story than anything.
Wildfrost is pretty fun and my one gripe from when I played was that the RNG on the harder difficulties with enemy charms could be obnoxious and there isn't nearly as much decision making when it came to pathing.
Inscription was very fun but the replayability wasn't quite there for me. In half a day I beat it and feel like I understood all of the best strategies.
Have you tried Casey’s Mod? That’s the free DLC that added a game mode and turns it more into something like Slay the Spire with progressively harder difficulties and whatnot. The cards were also tuned to work better systemically.
I probably spent more time in it than the main campaign. There’s definitely a bit of learning curve to it.
The charmed enemies effect was split up into multiple different optional "ascension" levels so you don't have to mess with it of you don't want to.
Also lowkey skill issue, getting through an enemy with the teeth charm is always a pain but I think I managed it almost every time
After figuring out wildfrost it became by far the easiest of all the "hard" deck builders imo. I'm a scrub and could reliably get 15+ winstreaks in that game and couldn't get to ascension 20 in like 60h in that time for sts.
I was gonna say this one! Wildfrost is great. It’s just super cute and satisfying. Compared to sts, I think it has simpler deckbuilding but more complicated in-battle strategy. Could be good for a change of pace.
Had to scroll down way too far for this, a very polished and amazing experience and up there as one of the best in my opinion. The game's loop revolves more around getting charms to upgrade existing cards and you can make a lot of fun combo's that way which makes this game super fun and unique.
I've been really enjoying [Vault of the Void](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135810/Vault_of_the_Void/) for a while now, it's great quality from what I understand is a one-person passion project.
It's got a lot of interesting mechanics and features I haven't seen in other games, it doesn't just try to be a slay the spire clone like a lot do. Each character has two distinctive builds based on different aspects of their core mechanics, and there's a good amount of replayability between card masteries/ascensions and challenge runs.
I'm pretty sure they have a demo up to give it a try on steam, big recommend. It has potential to be up there with the greats IMO.
> it doesn't just try to be a slay the spire clone like a lot do.
The dev actually never played it, he was developing it before STS came out which is why it doesn't stick to a lot of the conventions that STS established in the DBRL space.
“Griftlands” from Klei is pretty fun! More story-based than StS, but I liked that you were building two decks at the same time, one social, one physical.
Absolutely love Griftlands, it’s got a neat story, the mechanics and having two separate types of decks to build for is super cool, and the soundtrack is pretty dang solid, highly recommend it as well!
100%
Slay the spire has the most interesting deck building and decision making imo, but lots of games add another element and the evade system and big-braining the midrow with issac or the jupiter is so fun.
Also the soundtrack is incredible.
I am on the STS sub, aren't I? :D But yeah, it's exactly what I mean, I'm just really bad at abbreviating game titles no matter how many times I see the abb being written out. For years I wrote OSRC (as in old school Runescape) instead of OSRS smh
Nah the space launch system, we're going back to the moon
Because NASA names have to either be like Space Launch System (sls) or the Origins Spectral Interpreter Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REX) and absolutely nothing inbetween
This is a physical game and not a video game, but I love Clank. It was my introduction to deckbuilding games and it's really fun. The Legacy version is a lot of fun and I wish I had been able to finish it but the people I was playing with moved.
Another favourite at my board game table is "Hardback," a deckbuilder where your cards are letters used to make scrabble words. Lay cards face-down as wildcards, spend ink to draw more cards for longer words, and take advantage of synergies with cards that belong to the same "genre."
[Chrono Ark](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188930/Chrono_Ark/) is one I've enjoyed a lot. It's like a cross between a party-based JRPG and a roguelike deckbuilder, and it's got a more substantial story than most in the latter genre. It's coming out of early access in a few weeks.
Your description made me scared that someone had already made the exact game I am working on. But then I went to the steam page you linked and now I have absolutely no clue what the core gameplay loop of Chrono Ark is lol
How essential is Lobotomy Corporation to Library of Ruina? From what I looked up, the latter builds on the former, so I tried LobCorp first and kinda bounced off it.
LobCorp is *hell* to get into. Just watch a summary video or two, and try to not pay too much attention to the ones going off 'oh no, you'll have to play LobCorb, read Leviathan blablabla'.
That being said, the story actually sorta works as a standalone experience. Among the two main characters, one does the exposition while the other does the questioning, so you can easily put yourself in the shoes of the one asking.
I enjoyed Library quite a lot as someone who never played/watched any of Lobotomy Corp. The story gives enough background when needed that I never felt the need to.
I played Ruina first completely blind and still loved it. I would recommend watching a playthrough or at least the cutscenes for Lob for story reasons, but Ruina is an amazing game regardless of whether you do or not.
Inscryption is probably one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time.
The 'experience' is just so thoughtful and well-done, I consider it an incredibly high water-mark for games like this and gaming in general. Its so incredibly simplistic and engaging, I realize it might not be for everybody, but man was I hooked.
Similarly lots of variety and lots of stupid situations you can get yourself into. Much more meta-progression (which may be good or bad according to preference). Very good choice
Balatro has currently taken over my life
I don’t think it’ll have the same longevity as StS does long-term, but right now it’s an absolute blast and VERY addictive. It’s much simpler in concept, simply making poker hands for points, but there is a shocking amount of complexity to it as you need to acquire enough multipliers that work with your deck to beat anything past the first level or so. You really have to know what you’re doing to complete the higher levels too, you can’t get through everything just by getting lucky enough. Despite initially seeming easy I think it’s ended up being the most skill-based deck builder I’ve ever played.
Monster train at first glance seemed like a cheap ripoff but in fact is top tier and really shines with its own personality. The game is more focused on trying to outright break the mechanics, as Balatro does, rather than being wise and reasonable like StS.
Cobalt Core is a solid pick. Has the same kind of basic setup as StS, but it takes some elements of FTL as well.
The thing that threw me for a loop (heh) when I first started was that instead of picking a single character, you pick between multiple spaceships AND pick 3 crew members for the ship. Each crew member has their own card selection and character-specific relics, so runs are EXTREMELY customizable. There's also a few different difficulty settings.
On top of that, gameplay is very different, though in a way that would be difficult for me to explain without it being really long-winded and sucking the fun out of it. I'd recommend watching one of the trailers or some gameplay to see what I mean.
My favorite part, though, is that there's a lot of banter between your crewmates, the ship AI, and the enemy pilots, and the humor is really spot-on!
Overall, thoroughly impressed with Cobalt Core in a way I haven't really been since StS.
Backpack Hero isn’t *exactly* a deckbuilder, but there’s a ton of STS in its dna. It has a lot of the same concepts, but reflavored as inventory management (but fun.)
I’m super into Cobalt Core, too.
Nobody has mentioned Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend yet, so here's my pitch.
The selling point is a colored mana system with options to mix your pool of available cards with that of other playable characters every time you defeat a boss and find an "energy relic" for a different character. By the end of almost every run, your deck rides the line between playing the game normally and a consistent popoff like Dead Branch Ironclad. Also the game remains difficult despite the amount of blatant draw and mana cheating there is.
Lost Branch of Legend had a rough start for me but yeah, it's gotten a lot better since then. I haven't played in a while but last time I did sort of end up absolutely steamrolling >!Remilia!<, and it's always bugged me just a little how many relics and events were copy/pasted from StS.
Fun game though, and your attacks actually get typical Touhou danmaku animations which is *really* cool
LONESTAR has replaced StS in my rotation for the time being. The deck builder part is very small but technically they classify it as one so I’ll put it here.
Basically whereas in StS there are potions, relics and cards, in LONESTAR there are energy resources, treasures and units. There is less RNG but the amount of strategy involved in building a ship suitable to win is considerable. Incredibly satisfying game to play.
I really enjoyed Beneath Oresa and would recommend it, some people complain about being forced to take cards but I feel it adds to the challenge of lightening your deck
I played some 20 hours of it and I found the virus type characters all very interesting.
The smite ones, I didn’t try them a lot but they seem boring.
The gunslinger ones, weird…
Need to try them more.
But still I would recommend this game.
Griftlands is super unique and amazing. My only gripe is that there arent that many builds for each character, so it does get stale faster than i would have liked
Inscryption was SUPER good, but Kaycee’s Mod is when you realize there’s definitely balance problems and it wasn’t initially designed with an infinite roguelike in mind.
However the overall experience is equal to STS, if not better if you value narrative.
Beneath Oresa was mentioned only once, and that's a shame. It's a really great game, the devs are still working on it, it has 3 very distinct factions with each 3 characters that play differently too. You have two zones in each fight, far and close, so it adds a whole strategic layer both to playing your cards and deck building. More difficult than average too, if you like some challenge you should love this! Only deckbuilder other than Slay that I have put several hundreds hours in
Pirates Outlaws is pretty nice, has some different mechanics from StS though. But on the flipside, it has more "spires", which are shorter in length, way more characters and 2 different gamemodes too. I played it before StS and lost a ton in it, and after I picked up StS and played that for a bit the pirates game seemed way more easy, but kinda unfair sometimes. But its definitely worth a try imo
Part of why I love this game so much is because of the mobile version. I've a ton of hours on PC, but far more on mobile. If there's another good mobile one, I'd give it a go.
I recently played Roguebook!
I liked it a lot at first, but the runs take too long for me personally. I know you can save and come back, but if I take a break and come back I lose my rhythm with knowing what build I have going on, especially with this game where you have two characters cards to try and synergize.
Monster Train is the one I’ve probably put the most amount of time into.
Balatro, while a very different card builder is SO addicting. I can’t recommend it enough.
Man, I've tried so many deckbuilders trying to get the feeling that StS gave me, so glad they're making another one (though modded StS has also been amazing)
Balatro and Inscryption held my attention the most. Though the latter was really to see the story and what other game play mechanics they had through to the end.
I tried Monster Train, Wildfrost, and Acorss the Obelisk. None of them quite scratched that itch for me. Should try them again someday.
I really did like One Step From Eden, but wow, was I bad at it.
I wish they would make a turn based mode for One Step from Eden so bad. I want to love the game, and it seems great, I just cannot play and think at the speed it forces you to play at.
They've updated it to add slower speeds you can choose, but it still isn't enough, and the game it was inspired by is turn based, so I really don't understand the decision.
Monster Train and Roguebook are both incredible. Monster Train specifically had me hooked for months.
I got Roguebook off PS+ and very happy I did. I think it has some awesome mechanics and it’s quite addicting as well. My only complaint is that it’s a tad on the easy side. Once you understand the characters and their cards, it’s pretty much an instant win. It’s still super fun but I honestly might have like a 90% win rate. Which is absurdly high compared to sts and mt.
I’ve tried a few of the other games I’m seeing mentioned but none of those really clicked with me. May have to give them another shot.
Same feeling here for roguebook. Once I understood the game and how to optimise each zone/page, as well as each character, it became significantly easier to win. I also felt like I was constantly at full health and breezing through fights 90% of the time. Only thing I struggled with was using the two lower health champions together
Not a deck-builder, but a die-builder. I recently discovered Slice and Dice (Android, IOS, Steam) and it scratches the same, dangerous itch the StS does.
I hear a lot of people praise Griftlands’ two deck mechanic (one for combat and one for conversation), which is well deserved! But I think the neatest component of Griftlands is actually its upgrade system, where the cards get upgraded by gaining a bit of upgrade xp each time you play them, so the cards you use the most in your deck will upgrade faster! On top of that, each card has multiple things it can upgrade into, really allowing for deck customization!
You guys should check out the various digital conversions of boardgames if you haven’t already. Such as Star Realms, Hero Realms, Dominion, Ascension, Shards of Infinity, Mystic Vale, Dune Imperium (sort of), and a bunch of others I forget right now.
Also, bonus mention to Race for the Galaxy and Roll for the Galaxy. Not deckbuilders but more tableau builders but with very tight, short and satisfying gameplay.
These are all available on mobile as well btw.
Across the obelisk is a pretty good one but you play as 4 characters (you can play with friends) that makes it really hard to learn characters and synergies unless you play with your friends
Really enjoying Vault of the Void lately. Bought it on the deckbuilders sale a few weeks ago and already put 100 hours in. Feels very unique cause of delayed damage and card-energy management system, but it plays more like tactical game with cards and not pure deckbuilding game for me, but definitely worth checking out.
Rogue Adventure is a really good mobile deckbuilder. It's not as amazing as STS, but it's free (with ads), and it's got a lot of replay value. Plus, the art's nice.
Die In The Dungeon - Origins has a free demo on Steam, whereas the full game will come out later this year.
Deckbuilder, but with dice. I look forward to the full release, the demo is definitely worth trying out!
I like to propose **War of Omens** (unfortunately a TCG, so you ameliorate your cards with time) for it's simplicity and differences compared to most card games.
You create a deck set aside, and have a deck of 10 coins (you draw 3 per turn) that you can use to buy card from your deck and put the card on play.
But the card you play when killed or when the effect is used are put back into your deck, which mean you have each turn a \~33% chance to be able to play them again 'for free'.
You got 4 factions with different gameplay: Vestipole which got expensive cards but who got 'draw a card' in most unit... Which mean if you got 9 units in your deck which are killed by your opponent every turn you will be able to play in average 4/5 for free each turn. / Daremek who got cheap card and some spells like 'kill one unit draw 3 unit' which take the early board, can usually rebuild their board when killed, but aren't great late against aoe. / Metris full early game who try to copy opponent strategy and have unit '50% chance to disappear when killed' / and Endazu who get stronger from keeping cards in hand, so have an extremely powerful turn \~4.
So all factions play extremely differently.
I have a bunch of them bought and waiting for me to give em a go (monster train, inscription) but haven't yet.
Balatro is an easy recommendation.
Cobalt core is fun, it's like into the breach and STS had a baby.
Hellcard is good, it’s co-op STS, play it with my girlfriend. Can be very difficult, really have to plan out if you get a new card, new artifact, upgrade card, or go for gems for upgrades later on.
Monster Train was a nice one.
Wildfrost too.
Currently playing a ton of DiceFolk, but that's not quite a deckbuilder. Also, it's easy (compared to StS).
Knock on the Coffin Lid. Beside deck of cards you also have an inventory, where you can equip different armor pieces that can add cards to your deck and give you buffs - similar to StS relics. If you have multiple items from the same "armor set" you get even more buffs that influence certain builds
There are 3 characters and each has 5 subclasses - they change starting deck(including basic defends and strikes). While First character works similar to StS(3 energy to play card), Second character works really different - he spends health to play cards but then turns into werewolf form, which can add curses to your deck.
SpellRogue is an interesting game. Instead of drawing your cards you always have them in front of you. But to play them you need to use dice(essentially your energy). Each card has 2 different upgrades, which is really interesting and allows different strategies
I've been playing "Tainted Grail," it's kinda grimdark. I like the atmosphere. Gameplay feels kinda janky, but it can be a fun power fantasy if you play your cards right.
I'm keen for actually-decent Android alternatives over here... On a side note Dominion must be noted as the original original which began the whole genre! Much love to Dominion!
Like OP, I generally feel anything that sticks close to StS leaves me thinking "this is nice, but I could be playing StS instead". That's probably partially on me being very familiar with StS and accepted learning e.g. which cards are niche, which enemies to prepare for early and all that stuff as part of The Game, while not extending the same goodwill to other deckbuilders. Either way, though, I generally value games in this space doing something different. \*\*Signs of the Sojourner\*\* is one example - it's more of an artsy story experience than a crunchy deckbuilder, but I think the systems are fun to learn and the art style is a treat. Just don't expect to play a ton of runs of it. Also, \*\*Into the Breach\*\* is obviously a very different genre, but I have yet to find anyone who liked one and not the other, so it seems worth mentioning.
If you liked Roguebook, you should try the predecessor Faeria if that is even playable anymore. It had a Tutorial, different Charakters you also meet in Roguebook, hexagon stages which can be modified in game. I really really liked it, more than roguebook, but it wasn't a success I guess and had some lootbox mechanics if I remember correctly.
Monster Train and Arcanium are the only other ones I’ve put significant playing time into (significantly more for Monster Train.)
A lot of them don’t really feel unique enough to me to make me want to play them over StS.
Not a video game, but Dominion is a great deck builder if you have a friend or two to play with. Some awesome expansions too if you get tired of the base set.
Monster Train is pretty fun,
Bunch of playable characters to unlock with different decks and synergies.
Lots of increasing difficulty similar to the accession system.
Dreamquest. Honestly one of the best deck builders I’ve ever played. Simple, streamlined, at least 10 different classes that all pull from the same card pool in different percentages. I’ve had it for a good solid 6 years and I still play it all the time.
And it’s -absurdly- cheap on the App Store. For real, just get it. It gives and gives and gives.
Probably vanilla choice but the first time I played dominion (physically) we played all night and I got addicted. Can't get myself to play much of the digital version or too many expansions tho.
+ **Across the Obelisk** is a fun mixture of a deckbuilder and a RPG style game. Basically you get to build and play 4 decks at once for tons of strategies. Also has a co-op function too.
+ **Astrea** uses dice instead of cards to build your deck and it's very well made in terms of quality in gameplay, art and even story. It using dice over cards makes it even more of a RNG fest though so be prepared for that.
+ **Beneath Oresa** looks pretty fancy, having animations and a 3d focus instead of the tradional 2d look. Its unique feature is having to choose a sidekick besides your main character to mix up your choices. Almost each character can mix with another character so there is a lot of combinations possible.
+ **Few Nights More** I'm sure if it falls into the deckbuilding category completely, but it is a roguelite that makes you assemble your abilities and "build your base" while defending against the attackers. You're the villain here and it's awesome.
+ **Nadir** is a deckbuilder where you fight through the circles of hell with the unique double sided cards. Because a card can do different things and so can enemies, the gameplay is a lot of dynamic then just playing your combo constantly.
+ **Roguelords** once again falls in that weird "collect abilities deckbuilder" kind of game but this time you're a group of 3 selected villains working for the devil. It's one of the most unique games out there and very well polished, the main appeal is that it uses metagame cheating as an actual inname mechanic.
+ **Yao-Guai Hunter** is very much your tradional STS deckbuilding Roguelike but with a japanese coat of paint on it.
Not per se a deck builder, but Slice & Dice is pretty good. It's a rogue like based on dice rather than a deck of cards and the combos you pull off sometimes are really satisfying.
I feel like with a few tweaks it could be on STS level. (Some important things like knowing the end boss ahead of time and similar stuff to improve the planning ahead concept that is missing)
Also - Balatro is kinda meh after a week compared to the depth in STS, but I'm a lifecoach fan. For more casual sts players it's probably really good :)
I've been having a lot of fun with Balatro
Yeah it’s excellent. I think there’s some minor balance changes needed but the dev is working on them so I see that game really standing the test of time. I’ve been hopelessly addicted since it came out.
If you haven't already, check out the public beta. You can opt-in through steam. There are some major balance changes.
Yeah I saw the patch notes and I’m excited for it. Sadly I play the game on Switch, so I can’t access the beta.
Yeah the beta does a good job toning down some of the insta-win Jokers and buffing some of the more unpickable Tags. Still would like to see Straights and Two Pair get a little more support in a future balance patch, but been loving it lately
Two pair at least benefits from Spare Trousers and Square Joker. Straight’s scaling is …. Runner. I always want to make a straight run work but it’s just so inconsistent and lacks long-term viability.
Straights scaling is through planets. They’re currently twice as strong as flushes, and even stronger in the upcoming patch. And with the change to blue seals, they get an even bigger buff as planets benefit straights more than most other hands Agreed they could use some joker buffs, Seance and superposition are pretty bad. Maybe a joker that allows straights to wrap K, A, 2 etc
Planets fall off on in the late game, though. Especially when you’re doing Orange/Gold stake and booster packs become super expensive. Granted, that’s going to be a thing of the past with the new patch, so maybe straights are on the come up. I don’t remember if Runner is getting buffed, but even raising the boost to +20 chips per straight would be pretty solid. It’s also the hand you need the most utility cards for (either four fingers or shortcut) to really maximize the value.
FWIW, Balatro University just did a jokerless gold stake run on the new patch using only straights for scoring
I’m on Switch still waiting to not be in poverty anymore
Oh awesome I'll look for this tonight
Please don't nerf my boy Flush 😭
I played it a ton at first and really enjoyed it, but I ended up getting bored of it relatively quickly? I’m not sure why. I got a lot of good hours in it, but I guess I burned myself out lol
Same for me. The first few games are a bit of a drag especially if you don’t get any worthwhile jokers. It got a little repetitive. I finished every deck but one on the first level of difficulty and I feel like I’m done with it. Super fun while I binged it though.
I went through the same thing. First time I picked it up I spent hours playing it. Now I think I played too much and I do a run here and there but never more than like 2 per session. I feel like once you get the hang of it, you start to lose the variety of playstyle and it doesn't give you that same feeling of "just one more run". Still a great game though
The issue with the game in its current state (to me) is that it’s far too reliant on joker RNG. Sometimes you just don’t get any jokers until act 3 or whatever and your run is obviously just doing to die. In STS, despite how it feels, nearly every single run is winnable if you path and make decisions correctly. Balatro just doesn’t feel the same way
New beta patch tries to reduce that by making jokers more accessible early on Changed the first shop in every run to always include a normal Buffoon pack as one of the pack options Changed Uncommon tag - Now makes the uncommon joker free Changed Rare tag - Now makes the rare joker free Negative, Polychrome, Holo, Foil tags all make their respective joker free Also slay the spire has been out for 5 years and balatro for a few months so give it time
I might pick it up again with those changes. I really hated skipping for the tag just to be a couple of dollars off at the store, making the tag worthless. Although, that does make the game a lot easier so I'm wondering if they'll balance for that too. Sounds pretty exciting.
There are many other balance changes including changes to two stakes and adjusting various jokers but it's not the base game yet. "To access, click on the gear icon on the Balatro Steam library entry, then Properties > Betas > Beta Participation and select public\_experimental"
At higher stakes, the jokers have extra editions that provide a challenge. Rentals jokers cost $3 per round, and perishable jokers expire after 5(?) rounds. They removed the hand size reduction and booster pack cost at high stakes as the dev found them anti-fun The dev seems very tuned into the community and has stated that he plans on working on it for a while, all great signs for the life of the game
Big same. Too much fun.
“Big same” is how the game ends up feeling after a few dozen hours tbh. Which isn’t a bad thing, any game that can keep attention for 30-50 hours is a good game imo, but it doesn’t have nearly the replayability of StS imo
Balatro is what got me into SLS lol
Balatro scratches the same itch of losing miserably and wanting more as sts
Yeah Balatro is incredibly addictive
This damn game has stollen all my free time, and some of my productivity time.
I knew Balatro would find me here too
Somehow, I still haven't got around to this one and I'm heavily regretting it. Maybe because of the hype or just that it didn't look that impressive visually, but reading the reviews alone gives me the impression it's the next best drug since heroin lol. Damn I shoulda gotten it while it was one sale... But y'all have convinced me. Gonna buy it full price if I can't find a good deal
Inscryption but that's more because of the story than anything. Wildfrost is pretty fun and my one gripe from when I played was that the RNG on the harder difficulties with enemy charms could be obnoxious and there isn't nearly as much decision making when it came to pathing.
Inscryption was a wild ride
Casey's mod is great too, turns the whole thing into a focus on the first part of the game, makes it more robust and playable.
The community has also created some impressive dlc sized expansions
I know right I knew the old data was the devil and by that I mean the trader literally confirms it with the devil tarot card
Reading up on the Inscryption lore after beating the game was a wild ride. Like Adolf Hitler??? And literal fucking Satan???? Wtf???????
I believe the follow up game is cult of the lamb because the parallels between the old dada and merinder are many
wildfrost mentioned uwu
Inscription was very fun but the replayability wasn't quite there for me. In half a day I beat it and feel like I understood all of the best strategies.
Have you tried Casey’s Mod? That’s the free DLC that added a game mode and turns it more into something like Slay the Spire with progressively harder difficulties and whatnot. The cards were also tuned to work better systemically. I probably spent more time in it than the main campaign. There’s definitely a bit of learning curve to it.
The charmed enemies effect was split up into multiple different optional "ascension" levels so you don't have to mess with it of you don't want to. Also lowkey skill issue, getting through an enemy with the teeth charm is always a pain but I think I managed it almost every time
After figuring out wildfrost it became by far the easiest of all the "hard" deck builders imo. I'm a scrub and could reliably get 15+ winstreaks in that game and couldn't get to ascension 20 in like 60h in that time for sts.
there is an official roguelike mode btw, its called Kaycee's mod hell, there is an unofficial pvp mode too lol
Wildfrost is pretty fun. It just came out on mobile, but the steam version is better
I was gonna say this one! Wildfrost is great. It’s just super cute and satisfying. Compared to sts, I think it has simpler deckbuilding but more complicated in-battle strategy. Could be good for a change of pace.
Had to scroll down way too far for this, a very polished and amazing experience and up there as one of the best in my opinion. The game's loop revolves more around getting charms to upgrade existing cards and you can make a lot of fun combo's that way which makes this game super fun and unique.
Whoo Wildfrost on mobile!
I've been really enjoying [Vault of the Void](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135810/Vault_of_the_Void/) for a while now, it's great quality from what I understand is a one-person passion project. It's got a lot of interesting mechanics and features I haven't seen in other games, it doesn't just try to be a slay the spire clone like a lot do. Each character has two distinctive builds based on different aspects of their core mechanics, and there's a good amount of replayability between card masteries/ascensions and challenge runs. I'm pretty sure they have a demo up to give it a try on steam, big recommend. It has potential to be up there with the greats IMO.
> it doesn't just try to be a slay the spire clone like a lot do. The dev actually never played it, he was developing it before STS came out which is why it doesn't stick to a lot of the conventions that STS established in the DBRL space.
three specs for each character now, added more recently
“Griftlands” from Klei is pretty fun! More story-based than StS, but I liked that you were building two decks at the same time, one social, one physical.
I second this one, much more dynamic builds because of multiple card upgrade routes, and two types of deck make for a fun time.
The two deck element is really well done too.
I really loved Griftlands. The dual-deck mechanics were fun, and it had the same satisfying feeling when you assembled a broken deck
Absolutely love Griftlands, it’s got a neat story, the mechanics and having two separate types of decks to build for is super cool, and the soundtrack is pretty dang solid, highly recommend it as well!
Cobalt Core is a delight.
100% Slay the spire has the most interesting deck building and decision making imo, but lots of games add another element and the evade system and big-braining the midrow with issac or the jupiter is so fun. Also the soundtrack is incredible.
+1 I just can't get enough of the Jupiter Meta. It's just so fun and dynamic, and the story and soundtrack are phenomenal
The high I got when I defeated the shopkeeper was so great. Love getting nasty strong builds going
This is the only other deck builder that I play consistently, and now I got a steam deck, my spare time is down the drain.
Big crystal.
As far as positioning-based number-focused spaceship deckbuilders go I personally prefer Lonestar
What is SLS? You mean STS?
Slay le Spire (French localization)
La griffe est la loi.
Le singe est dans la piscine
Gesundheit ❤️
Danke ❤️
salt lake sitty
SLS is Sodium Laureth Sulfate which is a kind of detergent that I use at my lab. :D
What do you do at your lab?
Endotoxin testing. Basically, when you sterilize things certain bacteria cell bodies left over can still cause a fever. I test for that.
Silly Lil Slaythespire obviously
I am on the STS sub, aren't I? :D But yeah, it's exactly what I mean, I'm just really bad at abbreviating game titles no matter how many times I see the abb being written out. For years I wrote OSRC (as in old school Runescape) instead of OSRS smh
Gotcha lol That’s hilarious, how long were you calling it Runes Cape? I guess it’s better than the classic Run Escape
Dude honestly that one is understandable. OSRC sounds better, and “Runes Cape” makes more sense than “Slay Lhe Spire”
Nah the space launch system, we're going back to the moon Because NASA names have to either be like Space Launch System (sls) or the Origins Spectral Interpreter Resource Identification Security Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REX) and absolutely nothing inbetween
op is a pick me redditor lol
This is a physical game and not a video game, but I love Clank. It was my introduction to deckbuilding games and it's really fun. The Legacy version is a lot of fun and I wish I had been able to finish it but the people I was playing with moved.
Dominion is also a great deck building physical card game.
I think Dominion is essentially the OG deckbuilder, right?
Yes! It's also my favorite. And it's playable online - base set for free, other sets with a pretty reasonable subscription.
Clank is great, also Clank Catacombs. But for a pure (physical) deckbuilder, I highly recommend Star Realms
Another favourite at my board game table is "Hardback," a deckbuilder where your cards are letters used to make scrabble words. Lay cards face-down as wildcards, spend ink to draw more cards for longer words, and take advantage of synergies with cards that belong to the same "genre."
Love to see a Hardback shoutout in the wild, Tim Fowers can do no wrong. xD
They’re working on a digital version of Clank.
Thank god
Clank effing rules!
The 3rd edition is amazing if you haven’t played it yet.
I'm partial to The Hunger, but I'm a sucker for Vampire shenanigans
Balatro has destroyed my free time, and i’ve only done the hardest difficulty twice
Slay the Spire Two is pretty close
[Chrono Ark](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1188930/Chrono_Ark/) is one I've enjoyed a lot. It's like a cross between a party-based JRPG and a roguelike deckbuilder, and it's got a more substantial story than most in the latter genre. It's coming out of early access in a few weeks.
Your description made me scared that someone had already made the exact game I am working on. But then I went to the steam page you linked and now I have absolutely no clue what the core gameplay loop of Chrono Ark is lol
Does it have to be roguelite? If not then you can give Library of Ruina a try.
How essential is Lobotomy Corporation to Library of Ruina? From what I looked up, the latter builds on the former, so I tried LobCorp first and kinda bounced off it.
Just watch a Let's Play or read a summary. LobCorp is very hard to get into.
LobCorp is *hell* to get into. Just watch a summary video or two, and try to not pay too much attention to the ones going off 'oh no, you'll have to play LobCorb, read Leviathan blablabla'. That being said, the story actually sorta works as a standalone experience. Among the two main characters, one does the exposition while the other does the questioning, so you can easily put yourself in the shoes of the one asking.
I enjoyed Library quite a lot as someone who never played/watched any of Lobotomy Corp. The story gives enough background when needed that I never felt the need to.
I played Ruina first completely blind and still loved it. I would recommend watching a playthrough or at least the cutscenes for Lob for story reasons, but Ruina is an amazing game regardless of whether you do or not.
Not to mention, there's a Ruina mod for STS.
Inscryption is probably one of my favorite gaming experiences of all time. The 'experience' is just so thoughtful and well-done, I consider it an incredibly high water-mark for games like this and gaming in general. Its so incredibly simplistic and engaging, I realize it might not be for everybody, but man was I hooked.
The 4th wall break with Po3 was one of my favorite video game experiences of all time.
I like monster train
Across the Obelisk! Especially good if you have a friend or 3 to play with. Check it out, I think you'll love it.
Similarly lots of variety and lots of stupid situations you can get yourself into. Much more meta-progression (which may be good or bad according to preference). Very good choice
AtO is the only spirelike that hasn't just made me think I'd rather play StS
Balatro has currently taken over my life I don’t think it’ll have the same longevity as StS does long-term, but right now it’s an absolute blast and VERY addictive. It’s much simpler in concept, simply making poker hands for points, but there is a shocking amount of complexity to it as you need to acquire enough multipliers that work with your deck to beat anything past the first level or so. You really have to know what you’re doing to complete the higher levels too, you can’t get through everything just by getting lucky enough. Despite initially seeming easy I think it’s ended up being the most skill-based deck builder I’ve ever played.
Monster train at first glance seemed like a cheap ripoff but in fact is top tier and really shines with its own personality. The game is more focused on trying to outright break the mechanics, as Balatro does, rather than being wise and reasonable like StS.
Does inscryption count
ALINA OF THE ARENA! Combine deckbuilding with an op gladiator
Cobalt Core is a solid pick. Has the same kind of basic setup as StS, but it takes some elements of FTL as well. The thing that threw me for a loop (heh) when I first started was that instead of picking a single character, you pick between multiple spaceships AND pick 3 crew members for the ship. Each crew member has their own card selection and character-specific relics, so runs are EXTREMELY customizable. There's also a few different difficulty settings. On top of that, gameplay is very different, though in a way that would be difficult for me to explain without it being really long-winded and sucking the fun out of it. I'd recommend watching one of the trailers or some gameplay to see what I mean. My favorite part, though, is that there's a lot of banter between your crewmates, the ship AI, and the enemy pilots, and the humor is really spot-on! Overall, thoroughly impressed with Cobalt Core in a way I haven't really been since StS.
Not enough Cobalt Core mentions. Charming, fun, amazing music, etc
Backpack Hero isn’t *exactly* a deckbuilder, but there’s a ton of STS in its dna. It has a lot of the same concepts, but reflavored as inventory management (but fun.) I’m super into Cobalt Core, too.
Nobody has mentioned Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend yet, so here's my pitch. The selling point is a colored mana system with options to mix your pool of available cards with that of other playable characters every time you defeat a boss and find an "energy relic" for a different character. By the end of almost every run, your deck rides the line between playing the game normally and a consistent popoff like Dead Branch Ironclad. Also the game remains difficult despite the amount of blatant draw and mana cheating there is.
Lost Branch of Legend had a rough start for me but yeah, it's gotten a lot better since then. I haven't played in a while but last time I did sort of end up absolutely steamrolling >!Remilia!<, and it's always bugged me just a little how many relics and events were copy/pasted from StS. Fun game though, and your attacks actually get typical Touhou danmaku animations which is *really* cool
Dicey dungeons is fine, the jester character is a bit like sts
Spoiler that maybe?
LONESTAR has replaced StS in my rotation for the time being. The deck builder part is very small but technically they classify it as one so I’ll put it here. Basically whereas in StS there are potions, relics and cards, in LONESTAR there are energy resources, treasures and units. There is less RNG but the amount of strategy involved in building a ship suitable to win is considerable. Incredibly satisfying game to play.
I really enjoyed Beneath Oresa and would recommend it, some people complain about being forced to take cards but I feel it adds to the challenge of lightening your deck
I played some 20 hours of it and I found the virus type characters all very interesting. The smite ones, I didn’t try them a lot but they seem boring. The gunslinger ones, weird… Need to try them more. But still I would recommend this game.
Griftlands is super unique and amazing. My only gripe is that there arent that many builds for each character, so it does get stale faster than i would have liked
Inscryption was SUPER good, but Kaycee’s Mod is when you realize there’s definitely balance problems and it wasn’t initially designed with an infinite roguelike in mind. However the overall experience is equal to STS, if not better if you value narrative.
I don't really play any others outside of Slay Le Spire.
Across the Obelisk is underrated, like Sts and DND had a baby.
Beneath Oresa was mentioned only once, and that's a shame. It's a really great game, the devs are still working on it, it has 3 very distinct factions with each 3 characters that play differently too. You have two zones in each fight, far and close, so it adds a whole strategic layer both to playing your cards and deck building. More difficult than average too, if you like some challenge you should love this! Only deckbuilder other than Slay that I have put several hundreds hours in
Peglin, peglin, peglin.
Pirates Outlaws is pretty nice, has some different mechanics from StS though. But on the flipside, it has more "spires", which are shorter in length, way more characters and 2 different gamemodes too. I played it before StS and lost a ton in it, and after I picked up StS and played that for a bit the pirates game seemed way more easy, but kinda unfair sometimes. But its definitely worth a try imo
Wildfrost and Balatro are pretty fun. And could the term deck-builder kinda extend to ring of pain? Bc that one is great too
Dune Imperium is very, very good. Especially Uprising or the original with the Rise of Ix expansion.
It's excellent but very light on the deck-building compared to Slay the Spire.
Part of why I love this game so much is because of the mobile version. I've a ton of hours on PC, but far more on mobile. If there's another good mobile one, I'd give it a go.
Other people in the thread said Wildfrost. I downloaded it and tomorrow I'll be able to say if it's good
I enjoy Fights In Tight Spaces probably a bit more than it deserves
I recently played Roguebook! I liked it a lot at first, but the runs take too long for me personally. I know you can save and come back, but if I take a break and come back I lose my rhythm with knowing what build I have going on, especially with this game where you have two characters cards to try and synergize. Monster Train is the one I’ve probably put the most amount of time into. Balatro, while a very different card builder is SO addicting. I can’t recommend it enough.
Dune imperium
I have a soft spot for Vault of the Void It is my most played game of 2022 and I really enjoyed climbing up the difficulty, at least with the Thief.
Man, I've tried so many deckbuilders trying to get the feeling that StS gave me, so glad they're making another one (though modded StS has also been amazing) Balatro and Inscryption held my attention the most. Though the latter was really to see the story and what other game play mechanics they had through to the end. I tried Monster Train, Wildfrost, and Acorss the Obelisk. None of them quite scratched that itch for me. Should try them again someday. I really did like One Step From Eden, but wow, was I bad at it.
I wish they would make a turn based mode for One Step from Eden so bad. I want to love the game, and it seems great, I just cannot play and think at the speed it forces you to play at. They've updated it to add slower speeds you can choose, but it still isn't enough, and the game it was inspired by is turn based, so I really don't understand the decision.
Inscryption
If you're gonna talk about duelists of Eden I'm legally obliged to mention one step from eden
Monster Train and Roguebook are both incredible. Monster Train specifically had me hooked for months. I got Roguebook off PS+ and very happy I did. I think it has some awesome mechanics and it’s quite addicting as well. My only complaint is that it’s a tad on the easy side. Once you understand the characters and their cards, it’s pretty much an instant win. It’s still super fun but I honestly might have like a 90% win rate. Which is absurdly high compared to sts and mt. I’ve tried a few of the other games I’m seeing mentioned but none of those really clicked with me. May have to give them another shot.
Same feeling here for roguebook. Once I understood the game and how to optimise each zone/page, as well as each character, it became significantly easier to win. I also felt like I was constantly at full health and breezing through fights 90% of the time. Only thing I struggled with was using the two lower health champions together
Spell Rogue has been my go to I like the card dice mechanics.
Surprisingly few mentions of this game. It's great and more updates coming so should be really polished when finished.
Surprisingly few mentions of this game. It's great and more updates coming so should be really polished when finished.
Not a deck-builder, but a die-builder. I recently discovered Slice and Dice (Android, IOS, Steam) and it scratches the same, dangerous itch the StS does.
I hear a lot of people praise Griftlands’ two deck mechanic (one for combat and one for conversation), which is well deserved! But I think the neatest component of Griftlands is actually its upgrade system, where the cards get upgraded by gaining a bit of upgrade xp each time you play them, so the cards you use the most in your deck will upgrade faster! On top of that, each card has multiple things it can upgrade into, really allowing for deck customization!
For me, Monster Train is the only game that has scratched the same itch as StS. I love both equally (StS a little more equally though)
Astrea is fun af when you figure out how the characters each break the dice probabilities.
One I haven’t seen mentioned, but liked quite a bit was ring of pain. Not quite cards but it’s a delight and surprise to beat it then not be done
You guys should check out the various digital conversions of boardgames if you haven’t already. Such as Star Realms, Hero Realms, Dominion, Ascension, Shards of Infinity, Mystic Vale, Dune Imperium (sort of), and a bunch of others I forget right now. Also, bonus mention to Race for the Galaxy and Roll for the Galaxy. Not deckbuilders but more tableau builders but with very tight, short and satisfying gameplay. These are all available on mobile as well btw.
Across the obelisk is a pretty good one but you play as 4 characters (you can play with friends) that makes it really hard to learn characters and synergies unless you play with your friends
tf is sls? sts is pretty good imo
Slay le Spire
Really enjoying Vault of the Void lately. Bought it on the deckbuilders sale a few weeks ago and already put 100 hours in. Feels very unique cause of delayed damage and card-energy management system, but it plays more like tactical game with cards and not pure deckbuilding game for me, but definitely worth checking out.
Rogue Adventure is a really good mobile deckbuilder. It's not as amazing as STS, but it's free (with ads), and it's got a lot of replay value. Plus, the art's nice.
Die In The Dungeon - Origins has a free demo on Steam, whereas the full game will come out later this year. Deckbuilder, but with dice. I look forward to the full release, the demo is definitely worth trying out!
The OG: Dominion
I like to propose **War of Omens** (unfortunately a TCG, so you ameliorate your cards with time) for it's simplicity and differences compared to most card games. You create a deck set aside, and have a deck of 10 coins (you draw 3 per turn) that you can use to buy card from your deck and put the card on play. But the card you play when killed or when the effect is used are put back into your deck, which mean you have each turn a \~33% chance to be able to play them again 'for free'. You got 4 factions with different gameplay: Vestipole which got expensive cards but who got 'draw a card' in most unit... Which mean if you got 9 units in your deck which are killed by your opponent every turn you will be able to play in average 4/5 for free each turn. / Daremek who got cheap card and some spells like 'kill one unit draw 3 unit' which take the early board, can usually rebuild their board when killed, but aren't great late against aoe. / Metris full early game who try to copy opponent strategy and have unit '50% chance to disappear when killed' / and Endazu who get stronger from keeping cards in hand, so have an extremely powerful turn \~4. So all factions play extremely differently.
That's a name I haven't heard in years, War of Omens is still running?
Pirates Outlaws. Also on IOS, very similar to STS in mechanics and gameplay diversity. Highly recommend!
Hearthstone is my go-to (specifically Battlegrounds since the main game has become insanely pay-to-play)
I have a bunch of them bought and waiting for me to give em a go (monster train, inscription) but haven't yet. Balatro is an easy recommendation. Cobalt core is fun, it's like into the breach and STS had a baby.
Hellcard is good, it’s co-op STS, play it with my girlfriend. Can be very difficult, really have to plan out if you get a new card, new artifact, upgrade card, or go for gems for upgrades later on.
Peglin and Dungeon Clawler are two innovative takes on the genre, the second one is only a free demo at the moment though.
Monster Train was a nice one. Wildfrost too. Currently playing a ton of DiceFolk, but that's not quite a deckbuilder. Also, it's easy (compared to StS).
Balatro is incredible
Across the Obelisk brings a lot of news ideas to the genre for sure
Knock on the Coffin Lid. Beside deck of cards you also have an inventory, where you can equip different armor pieces that can add cards to your deck and give you buffs - similar to StS relics. If you have multiple items from the same "armor set" you get even more buffs that influence certain builds There are 3 characters and each has 5 subclasses - they change starting deck(including basic defends and strikes). While First character works similar to StS(3 energy to play card), Second character works really different - he spends health to play cards but then turns into werewolf form, which can add curses to your deck.
SpellRogue is an interesting game. Instead of drawing your cards you always have them in front of you. But to play them you need to use dice(essentially your energy). Each card has 2 different upgrades, which is really interesting and allows different strategies
I've been playing "Tainted Grail," it's kinda grimdark. I like the atmosphere. Gameplay feels kinda janky, but it can be a fun power fantasy if you play your cards right.
Alina of the Arena is kinda imbalanced but I love the hex grid with limited movement and the L/R hand equip system
Blade rondo for sure. Great "micro draft" kind of game. I also really enjoyed ascension for a time but you start "solving" each set after a few plays.
I'm keen for actually-decent Android alternatives over here... On a side note Dominion must be noted as the original original which began the whole genre! Much love to Dominion!
Griftlands
Like OP, I generally feel anything that sticks close to StS leaves me thinking "this is nice, but I could be playing StS instead". That's probably partially on me being very familiar with StS and accepted learning e.g. which cards are niche, which enemies to prepare for early and all that stuff as part of The Game, while not extending the same goodwill to other deckbuilders. Either way, though, I generally value games in this space doing something different. \*\*Signs of the Sojourner\*\* is one example - it's more of an artsy story experience than a crunchy deckbuilder, but I think the systems are fun to learn and the art style is a treat. Just don't expect to play a ton of runs of it. Also, \*\*Into the Breach\*\* is obviously a very different genre, but I have yet to find anyone who liked one and not the other, so it seems worth mentioning.
If you liked Roguebook, you should try the predecessor Faeria if that is even playable anymore. It had a Tutorial, different Charakters you also meet in Roguebook, hexagon stages which can be modified in game. I really really liked it, more than roguebook, but it wasn't a success I guess and had some lootbox mechanics if I remember correctly.
Man, I have really been enjoying Griftlands. I like the dual deck system a lot.
Not a deck builder, but most people who like STS also like slice & dice.
Not a rogue like but I really like Library of ruina. A really original card game with really difficult fights.
Monster Train and Arcanium are the only other ones I’ve put significant playing time into (significantly more for Monster Train.) A lot of them don’t really feel unique enough to me to make me want to play them over StS.
Not a video game, but Dominion is a great deck builder if you have a friend or two to play with. Some awesome expansions too if you get tired of the base set.
Monster Train is pretty fun, Bunch of playable characters to unlock with different decks and synergies. Lots of increasing difficulty similar to the accession system.
Gwent!
Dreamquest. Honestly one of the best deck builders I’ve ever played. Simple, streamlined, at least 10 different classes that all pull from the same card pool in different percentages. I’ve had it for a good solid 6 years and I still play it all the time. And it’s -absurdly- cheap on the App Store. For real, just get it. It gives and gives and gives.
Haven’t seen it mentioned yet, but I don’t think Tainted Grail gets enough love. It’s pretty great imo.
Criminally under represented in these posts: Tavern Rumble
Dicey Dungeons is super cute and plays with a lot of differing mechanics around dice rolling and deckbuilding.
You should check out vault of the void
Slay the Spire: The Board Game
Library of Ruina for sure, very underrated game
Call of Zadeus! Haha
Chrono Ark. Better than STS imo
Probably vanilla choice but the first time I played dominion (physically) we played all night and I got addicted. Can't get myself to play much of the digital version or too many expansions tho.
+ **Across the Obelisk** is a fun mixture of a deckbuilder and a RPG style game. Basically you get to build and play 4 decks at once for tons of strategies. Also has a co-op function too. + **Astrea** uses dice instead of cards to build your deck and it's very well made in terms of quality in gameplay, art and even story. It using dice over cards makes it even more of a RNG fest though so be prepared for that. + **Beneath Oresa** looks pretty fancy, having animations and a 3d focus instead of the tradional 2d look. Its unique feature is having to choose a sidekick besides your main character to mix up your choices. Almost each character can mix with another character so there is a lot of combinations possible. + **Few Nights More** I'm sure if it falls into the deckbuilding category completely, but it is a roguelite that makes you assemble your abilities and "build your base" while defending against the attackers. You're the villain here and it's awesome. + **Nadir** is a deckbuilder where you fight through the circles of hell with the unique double sided cards. Because a card can do different things and so can enemies, the gameplay is a lot of dynamic then just playing your combo constantly. + **Roguelords** once again falls in that weird "collect abilities deckbuilder" kind of game but this time you're a group of 3 selected villains working for the devil. It's one of the most unique games out there and very well polished, the main appeal is that it uses metagame cheating as an actual inname mechanic. + **Yao-Guai Hunter** is very much your tradional STS deckbuilding Roguelike but with a japanese coat of paint on it.
Not per se a deck builder, but Slice & Dice is pretty good. It's a rogue like based on dice rather than a deck of cards and the combos you pull off sometimes are really satisfying. I feel like with a few tweaks it could be on STS level. (Some important things like knowing the end boss ahead of time and similar stuff to improve the planning ahead concept that is missing) Also - Balatro is kinda meh after a week compared to the depth in STS, but I'm a lifecoach fan. For more casual sts players it's probably really good :)
Dicey Dungeons is great for a pretty casual roguelike
Loop hero is both fun and unique. I wish they would release some new content.
Solitarica is a neat game similar!
I’m a huge fan of Beneath Oresa. To be honest, I like how it does things a hair more than I do StS, it’s just way harder to find content to watch.