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Card-en-Ciel

Card-en-Ciel is a fun dungeon-crawling deck-building roguelite that will provide hours of addictive gameplay that is easy to pick up and learn. While the system seems in-depth and daunting, its thoughtful design appeals to gamers or any skill level.
Card-en-Ciel Game Cover
86%Game Brain Score
gameplay, music
grinding, stability
93% User Score Based on 198 reviews
Critic Score 69%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchXbox Series X|SPCPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox OneXboxWindowsPlayStationNintendo Switch 2
Card-en-Ciel Game Cover

About

Card-en-Ciel is a single player and multiplayer tactical role playing shooter game with a anime theme. It was developed by INTI CREATES CO., LTD. and was released on October 23, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Card-en-Ciel is a roguelite card-battling RPG featuring over 300 different cards and 50 unique vocal songs! Play as Neon, the "Gaming Chair Detective" famous for solving net-crimes, as he encounters a strange new case when he dives into an in-development game world.

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93%
Audience ScoreBased on 198 reviews
gameplay31 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions

  • Unique and deep deck-building roguelike gameplay with strategic use of cards for both movement and attacks.
  • Excellent soundtrack featuring a large variety of vocal tracks by muses, adding a dynamic and enjoyable audio experience.
  • Charming and engaging presentation with well-voiced characters, fun card personalities, and references to other Inti Creates games.
  • Story and dialogue are weak, often generic or cringey, and heavy on anime tropes which may not appeal to all players.
  • Repetitive and simple dungeon layouts lead to monotonous exploration despite interesting combat mechanics.
  • Score-based ranking system encourages skipping battles and prioritizing low turn counts, which can hinder deck-building and replayability.
  • gameplay
    104 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is a deeply strategic, mechanically rich roguelike deckbuilder that blends card management with movement and unique dungeon-specific mechanics, offering fresh, complex combos and synergies that evolve with increasing difficulty. It is praised for its engaging, tactical depth, smooth execution, and constant introduction of new challenges that keep the experience varied and rewarding, although some players find the abundance of mechanics initially overwhelming. Overall, it provides a highly enjoyable, innovative gameplay loop that is the primary draw of the game, especially for fans of tactical card games and anime-inspired aesthetics.

    • “So far each card has an SP value to play them, as well as allowing you to move up, down, left, right instead of playing the card, and this adds a dynamic to the fighting mechanic.”
    • “The mechanics are designed to make it easy for you to create satisfying synergies - and you will have to engineer them on the fly, since quite a few things are random in this game.”
    • “Brain-wracking at times, but the game more than rewards you for taking the time to embrace and study the new gameplay mechanics like the "diva system", opening the way for amazing combos and making you feel strong in the process.”
    • “Mechanics-wise, I do think that it gets really cluttered; there's a lot going on and some of the mechanics aren't particularly clear in how they work. Tooltips can get so long they go off screen.”
    • “The amp mechanic deck is different from everything else I've played, so things got slowed down a lot.”
    • “Enjoying the gameplay, but annoyed with the scoring system and how strict it is.”
  • music
    63 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's music is widely praised as a standout feature, featuring a large, diverse soundtrack of over 50 idol-themed tracks, many tied to unique "muse" characters that dynamically change the music during gameplay. While some songs are recycled from previous Inti Creates titles, players appreciate the high-quality, catchy anime-style and K-pop influences, with the music enhancing the game's charm and combat feel. The inability to manually select active muse songs and initial difficulty finding the soundtrack were noted drawbacks, though the eventual soundtrack release was welcomed.

    • “The amount of bops in the soundtrack is insane, it's hard not to like all of them.”
    • “I really love how when a muse becomes active you get a high quality song specific to that muse.”
    • “Activating the muses also changes the music, which makes it extra satisfying when you know you're about to summon a bop upon the enemy.”
    • “I do have one criticism of the game though; please please please give us the ability to choose which muse song plays. I want to hear certain songs, but one of my other 20 muses takes over instead.”
    • “The music is the standout part of the game, and the 50 muse songs really go hard, but sneakily about 30 of those songs were already finished and composed for previous Inti Creates titles across Gal*Gun, Azure Striker Gunvolt, etc. The new songs are great, but they aren't all new, so it's not really fair to boast that this game has "50 songs" implying that you've never heard Indigo Destiny or Love Hearts before.”
    • “Especially when you activate an ultimate and the music starts playing (this is another love it or hate it thing that will either make you very happy vibing with the beat or ready to throw your computer out the window because you can't stand that damn cutesy music and theme going off for the 26th time because you drew into a good combo). That being said, if you don't really like anime or fan servicey things, you're not gonna be having a good time either.”
  • story
    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this roguelike deckbuilder is generally considered serviceable but not a major highlight, featuring typical anime tropes, light romance, and simple plotlines with minimal depth or world-building. While not groundbreaking or particularly immersive, it provides enough entertaining dialogue and character interactions to complement the gameplay without demanding much focus. Overall, the story adds some purpose and charm but remains fairly generic and secondary to the game’s mechanics and replayability.

    • “Not just in gameplay, but even in the story, everything has a unique aspect.”
    • “The story and pacing is very good.”
    • “Having an actual story to go through is really nice too, just to have a progression closer to a traditional game where things get tougher as you go, rather than pure roguelite where you just grind out losses until you figure everything out.”
    • “Solid 3/10 story.”
    • “Fun game but the story and dialogue is actually so bad I can only play this game for like 2 minutes.”
    • “It is a simple and fun card game but it gets repetitive very quickly, the story is as generic as it can get and it has some very cliché fan service.”
  • graphics
    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics feature a distinctive anime-inspired art style with fantastic sprites and artwork that many find charming, though the "waifu moe" aesthetic may not appeal to everyone. Visuals are generally praised for their quality and unique vibe, complemented by a strong musical soundtrack and vocal tracks. While not universally considered stellar, the graphics effectively enhance the game's overall engaging and playful presentation.

    • “Presentation is loaded with the usual Inti Creates charm: fantastic sprite and artwork, loads of vocal music tracks, and plenty of cameos of Inti's other works.”
    • “I was surprised by this game; the combat, the music, the gameloop, voice acting, and overall vibe and art style really stand out.”
    • “Really fun and unique deckbuilder roguelike game, I really love the art style and the music is fantastic.”
    • “But unfortunately, I hate the waifu moe art style.”
    • “Most of the graphics are fine but not stellar.”
    • “The aesthetic isn't for everyone.”
  • humor
    11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is a mix of clever, self-aware jokes and playful jabs at gaming genres, with witty dialogue tied to collected cards and fictional in-game worlds. While some find its weeb and trope-heavy humor cringe-worthy, it remains tongue-in-cheek and enjoyable, balancing laughs with occasional discomfort. Overall, the humor is a standout feature that adds charm and entertainment throughout the experience.

    • “Story is a very brief 10 hours but the dialogue is surprisingly funny, with each card you collect triggering different interactions during and before an encounter.”
    • “Some of the individual dialogue about each game's world is hilarious, with special mention to "Love Above the Rooftops," which is the fake game I most wish was real from this entire experience.”
    • “Do be warned, it's very cringe and tropey to an almost uncomfortable degree, but it's also very self-aware and tongue-in-cheek to the point that I'm laughing at least as often as I'm cringing—a good ratio.”
  • replayability
    7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers strong replayability, especially for fans of card battler and collectible card games, with enjoyable gameplay loops and increasing difficulty levels providing ongoing challenges. While some find the dialogue clichéd, the core mechanics and high score pursuits contribute to lasting engagement. Overall, replay value is considered a key strength of the game.

    • “Underneath a lot of anime trope-heavy, often cringe-inducing dialogue, there's a surprisingly good card battler with a good amount of replayability.”
    • “High replayability and so far it seems like it'll last you a long while if you're willing to do dungeons again on higher difficulties.”
    • “Where it excels is in replayability and aiming for high scores.”
    • “I highly recommend, but I don't think the replayability is going to be too high.”
  • grinding
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game requires strategic thinking rather than mindless repetition, but the experience can feel repetitive and tedious for those not interested in grinding for achievements or future content. More varied dungeon designs could help alleviate the monotony for some players.

    • “Double the hours in from the previous post and I thought to give you the cons: the experience is repetitive; so if you're not into the grinding niche play and playing for the sake of achievements and future dungeons, this may not be for you.”
    • “If the dungeon layouts or backgrounds were more interesting, I’d be able to deal with the tediousness at points, since as a deckbuilder roguelike I really did have fun with the game.”
    • “Rules require strategic thinking rather than rushing or grinding.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development features top-notch design, with well-crafted characters that mostly move beyond typical anime styles, though some anime influences remain subtly present.

  • emotional
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users find the emotional aspect of the game to be heartwarming and deliberately crafted, emphasizing a simple yet touching narrative about love overcoming obstacles.

  • stability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from frequent freezing and crashing during play, causing players to lose progress and restart from the beginning of dungeons. Stability issues significantly impact the overall experience.

    • “The game is good but it frequently freezes and crashes in the middle of play, forcing me to redo the entire dungeon from the beginning.”
  • monetization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization is subtle and integrated as in-universe advertisements before fights and in dungeons, featuring fictional characters and games rather than overt real-world ads, making it a fairly unobtrusive aspect of the game.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Card-en-Ciel is a tactical role playing shooter game with anime theme.

Card-en-Ciel is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

Card-en-Ciel was released on October 23, 2024.

Card-en-Ciel was developed by INTI CREATES CO., LTD..

Card-en-Ciel has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Card-en-Ciel is a single player game with multiplayer support.

Similar games include Cross Blitz, Iris and the Giant, Monster Train, Cobalt Core, Gordian Quest and others.