Crash The Core

About

Crash The Core is a single player tactical role playing game. It was developed by Jerome Labelle and was released on November 26, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

A roguelike deck builder where you manage a spy agency gathering intel about the secret location of a planet's core system or uncover a conspiracy to take over the galaxy! With a unique battlefield system and a spy agency management metagame that makes your later runs more varied and strategic.

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70%

Audience ScoreBased on 46 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

Engaging and fun roguelike deckbuilder with interesting mechanics like summons, gadgets, and weapon cards that add unique strategic layers.
Affordable price point offers good value, especially for players new to the genre or looking for a smaller scale, accessible deckbuilding experience.
Developer is responsive and actively fixing bugs and improving the game, showing promise for future updates and content expansions.

Lacks polish and feels somewhat unrefined with UI issues, frequent bugs, and awkward controls that hinder smooth gameplay.
Content variety is limited, with repetitive enemies, events, and shop items leading to low replayability and shallow strategic depth.
Some mechanics are poorly explained or missing key quality-of-life features like saving progress, tutorial clarity, and inventory management.

gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
60%
11%
The gameplay offers a blend of familiar deckbuilding roguelike mechanics with some unique elements like summons, gadgets, and starter deck customization, delivering an engaging but somewhat simple and less deep experience compared to genre leaders. While the mechanics are generally well-designed and show clear care and innovation, many features lack clear explanations or polish, leading to occasional confusion and minor frustrations. Overall, it presents a promising core gameplay loop that could benefit greatly from further refinement and depth.
- “For the 5, I get to try and solve a set of interesting card mechanics, a dynamic battle system with cool synergies, and get lost in the music, sounds, and card art.”
- “The mechanics have so much focus and coherence and there has obviously been so much love, careful consideration and dedication put into it by its creator, who is, I believe, a one-man band.”
- “And much as its strength lies in the distillation of the purest essence of that classic deck-building rogue-like, it does bring some new stuff to the table and effectively steals other elements from some of its more expensive peers, whilst still managing to keep the mechanics graceful, simple yet with room for complex strategy and different builds etc.”
- “It's the bland oatmeal of deckbuilders, offering nothing but a lukewarm mush of mechanics that fail to ignite even the faintest spark of interest or excitement.”
- “Some gameplay features aren't explained well or aren't explained at all, for example the fact that weapon cards remain in your hand, you can only hold 5 items, or that summon damage/block does not apply to starter summons. Additionally, some text has errors and typos.”
- “Some gameplay mechanics feel out of place or lack necessary quality of life improvements. For example, there is no reason for the salvage mechanic to not be automatic when you end a turn.”
graphics
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
34%
33%
The graphics are inconsistent, with some artwork feeling repetitive or like placeholders, lacking cohesion with the game's story and overall theme. While some players appreciate the simple, nostalgic, and rustic aesthetic that fits the game’s atmosphere, others feel the visual quality and UI could be more polished and varied. The developer is responsive to feedback and making improvements, especially in visual progression elements.
- “Loved the artwork and how it's simple but you can still play it for hours.”
- “The graphics and music reflect the game perfectly: rustic, warm, cute and weird by turns, conjuring up a rose-tinted atmosphere of a period in gaming where share-ware was king, whilst having enough modernity to come across like a game crafted in an alternate future where the solo bedroom game programmer cottage-industry was never marginalized by market forces and predatory business models and instead continued on in all its low-budget, high-obsession glory.”
- “This game takes a lot of everything and while not very consistent in its visuals (some are good, some look more like placeholders), the dev is actively listening to feedback and does changes and bug fixes quickly.”
- “Most of the graphics clash with each other and with the story/setting.”
- “Enemy card artwork is often repeated and could use more variety.”
- “There doesn't seem to be any consistency in the artwork nor is there an overall game theme.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
17%
33%
The music is generally praised for its atmospheric and nostalgic qualities, effectively complementing the game's rustic and quirky aesthetic. However, some users find it repetitive and low-effort, suggesting that more variety or an improved soundtrack would enhance the experience.
- “The graphics and music reflect the game perfectly: rustic, warm, cute and weird by turns, conjuring up a rose tinted atmosphere of a period in gaming where share-ware was king, whilst having enough modernity to come across like a game crafted in an alternate future where the solo bedroom game programmer cottage-industry was never marginalized by market forces and predatory business models and instead continued on in all its low-budget, high-obsession glory.”
- “For the 5, I get to try and solve a set of interesting card mechanics, a dynamic battle system with cool synergies, and get lost in the music, sounds, and card art.”
- “The art is lovely, the music and sound effects atmospheric, but the voices are pretty bad.”
- “Low effort and repetitive music had me mute game audio halfway through the run.”
- “Some variety or a better soundtrack would be nice.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
100%
The story features branching mission paths that offer player choice, but it suffers from inconsistencies between the graphics and the setting. Additionally, progression issues such as metacurrency not carrying over between missions detract from the overall experience.
- “I like that you get to choose which path you go down while doing missions.”
- “Most of the graphics clash with each other and with the story/setting.”
- “I thought you would get to choose which path you go down while doing missions.”
- “When we cleared the first mission, none of the metacurrency carried over (which I remedied by editing a save file, but c'mon...)”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game has noticeable grinding in its progression, which can feel tedious over time, especially when repeatedly managing unusable cards. While it lacks some polish compared to similar titles, it offers decent value for its price.
- “Overall it lacks the polish of certain other games (Slay etc) and is a bit grindy with progression, but it's a rough diamond, especially for the price.”
- “Right-clicking every card that you can no longer play every turn gets tedious after a while.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is warmly nostalgic and charming, with lovely art and evocative music that blend rustic and quirky elements. While the graphics and sound effectively capture a unique, retro-inspired mood, the voice acting falls short of the overall immersive experience.
- “The graphics and music reflect the game perfectly: rustic, warm, cute and weird by turns, conjuring up a rose-tinted atmosphere of a period in gaming where shareware was king, whilst having enough modernity to come across like a game crafted in an alternate future where the solo bedroom game programmer cottage-industry was never marginalized by market forces and predatory business models and instead continued on in all its low-budget, high-obsession glory.”
- “The art is lovely, the music and sound effects atmospheric, but the voices are pretty bad.”