Death Roads: Tournament
- November 15, 2023
- The Knights of Unity
- 18h median play time
Get on Steam"Death Roads: Tournament" is a single-player strategy game with exceptional mechanics, outstanding graphics, and good music. In this game, you join a cutthroat competition where you must eliminate opponents in car battles using cards and turn-based gameplay. Before starting, choose your driver, car, and sponsor, and remember to shift gears while driving to increase power. Failure is not an option, as you'll have to start over!
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game combines elements of Mad Max and card-based mechanics, creating a unique and engaging experience.
- The tactical movement and positioning mechanics add depth to the gameplay, making each encounter feel dynamic and exciting.
- The art style and soundtrack are well-executed, enhancing the overall atmosphere of the game.
- The game suffers from balancing issues, particularly with health and damage, making it feel punishing and frustrating at times.
- RNG plays a significant role in gameplay, leading to situations where players can feel helpless against enemy actions.
- Progression can be slow, with unlocks taking a long time, which may deter players from continuing after multiple failed runs.
- gameplay240 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 57 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this deck-building roguelike is characterized by its unique mechanics, including car and driver cards that influence combat and strategy, as well as a skidding mechanic that adds complexity. While many players appreciate the depth and addictive nature of the gameplay, some criticize its balance issues, repetitive enemy encounters, and the lack of clear explanations for certain mechanics. Overall, the game offers a fun and engaging experience, but it may require patience to navigate its intricacies and occasional frustrations.
“I really like this game, the concept is fantastic and the mechanics are deep enough to really sink your teeth into.”
“The gameplay is a tactical deck builder where you have two types of cards, car cards that are dictated by your vehicle and the kind of gear it has equipped and driver cards that are based on what driver you select at the start (only one available at first but more unlock as you play).”
“Death Roads: Tournament is a fun deckbuilder with a great atmosphere and several unique and clever gaming mechanics.”
“Despite a really cool theme and some interesting mechanics, this is the dullest, most repetitive, boring, and overall 'meh' card battler in recent years.”
“The core gameplay loop is designed to frustrate the player.”
“There is no cohesion with your cards and decks through gameplay, and it just feels really bad to play as you get whittled down every combat and are forced to go to heal stations while never actually improving your own vehicle.”
- music86 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 44 % neutral mentions
- 12 % negative mentions
The music in the game is generally well-received, with many praising its fitting metal soundtrack and dynamic transitions that enhance the overall atmosphere. However, several reviewers noted that the limited number of tracks can lead to repetitiveness, especially during extended play sessions, suggesting a desire for more variety. Overall, while the music complements the game's aesthetic and mechanics, its lack of diversity is a common drawback mentioned by players.
“With its stunning graphics and a pretty metal soundtrack.”
“The atmosphere is cool as well - the music, art and the general feeling references the classics very nicely.”
“Amazing aesthetics and the music is perfect.”
“My literal only drawback is that the 2 music tracks get extremely grating after the 50th time hearing them.”
“The music and sound effects are pretty poor and really need to be improved.”
“Finally, the music gets old very quickly; they need more variety.”
- graphics82 mentions
- 61 % positive mentions
- 35 % neutral mentions
- 4 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals and unique aesthetic, often described as comic book-like and reminiscent of a post-apocalyptic setting. Players appreciate the engaging art style and the overall atmosphere, noting that the visuals complement the gameplay effectively, despite some minor issues with character art and UI clarity. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point, especially for an indie title, enhancing the game's appeal and immersion.
“With its stunning graphics and a pretty metal soundtrack.”
“Graphics look gorgeous.”
“Fantastic and mostly unforgiving card racer, the visuals and SFX are absolutely fantastic.”
“Ai artwork is of course terrible and embarrassing... enemy AI is also pretty bad, especially when you get far enough from them (there is also a bug when the enemy doesn't pass his turn and you have to quit the game...)”
“The mechanics seem slightly too complicated and not always well explained; compared to the very best games of this genre, the UI doesn't always make clear the effects of your choices - in particular, the screen area given over to displaying components you can pick up is very small on a laptop screen, making it awkward to compare them.”
“Now this is turn-based strategy, so there won't be any graphic sequences that knock your socks off, but the graphics are solid for what it is, and I like the gritty style.”
- replayability28 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 46 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability due to its diverse driver and car combinations, as well as the strategic depth of its campaign, which encourages players to unlock new content. However, some players feel that the time investment required to unlock characters and the presence of punishing RNG can detract from the overall experience, suggesting that additional content and balance adjustments could enhance replay value. Overall, while many find the game enjoyable and rewarding, there are calls for improvements to sustain long-term engagement.
“Each driver and car combo plays differently for a lot of replayability.”
“Strategy is surprisingly complex and replayability is baked into the campaign... in true old school fashion you have to unlock the new cars and drivers.”
“This game has great replay value because of the many different drivers (8+) and cars (8+).”
“I wish there was more replayability.”
“Overall, I think it may have released out of early access a bit early and could really use more content added to it to help with replayability.”
“Each run takes twice as long as it should, there's a lot of punishing RNG, it's prohibitively time-consuming to unlock all the characters, and it doesn't have anywhere near the replayability as something like Slay the Spire - but those first few times when you figure out how to beat the game are really rewarding.”
- story22 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The game's story is widely criticized for being underdeveloped and lacking meaningful choices, leaving players feeling that something essential is missing. Reviewers express a desire for more narrative depth, branching paths, and a satisfying conclusion, suggesting that the current content feels repetitive and insufficient. While the mechanics and artistic style are praised, the overall experience suffers from a lack of engaging storytelling.
“In between the encounters, you will move across the world map in a way that will be familiar to anyone who has played a game like FTL or Slay the Spire, where you often have a choice of paths and the different nodes will be combat encounters, random story encounters that can offer positive or negative effects, repair places, etc.”
“This has the potential to be a really, really good game if they add content and expand the story.”
“If this game could finish working out the kinks and maybe add more of a story, this could be a great game!”
“The story is really lacking.”
“It needs more story narratives and map branching choices as well as a more detailed game over, like a story-line ending or wrap-up.”
“Great mechanics, and artistic style but not much story aside from what you see in the prologue.”
- atmosphere18 mentions
- 89 % positive mentions
- 11 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its engaging art and sound design, reminiscent of classic tabletop experiences. Reviewers highlight the combination of cool music, appealing graphics, and a refreshing setting that enhances the overall gameplay, making it a standout in the tactical deck-builder genre. The atmosphere is described as immersive and well-crafted, contributing significantly to the game's replayability and enjoyment.
“It's hard, it's replayable, it's value for money, it's got great sound design and atmosphere, it hits all the right spots.”
“The atmosphere is cool as well - the music, art, and the general feeling reference the classics very nicely.”
“The game's looks, atmosphere, and setting are all great.”
- grinding18 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive, requiring significant effort to unlock new cards, drivers, and cars, which can lead to frustration. While some appreciate the rewarding feeling of overcoming initial challenges through grinding, many feel that the XP system demands too much time for minimal returns, detracting from the overall enjoyment. Overall, the grindiness is seen as a balancing issue that may need addressing in future updates.
“The XP system requires a ridiculous amount of grinding to unlock new cars/components, etc. Even winning the game doesn't give you a fair amount of XP compared to how much you need per level.”
“A lot of grinding with little return.”
“So close to being a positive review, but it's way too grindy.”
- stability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 75 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's stability is generally solid, with most players reporting smooth performance and enjoyable gameplay. However, there are minor glitches, such as card animation issues that can occasionally freeze the game and some spelling errors that need addressing. These issues are considered minor annoyances rather than major hindrances to the overall experience.
“The game runs great, has a very fun and well-made aesthetic, and features a well-thought-out customization system with different drivers, cars, car parts, and cards that I imagine in the late game really let you pull off some fun stuff. It hits most of the genre's classics well (events, customization, etc.).”
“I did notice a couple of glitches, like some spelling that needs to be corrected and one gadget (flask of oblivion) that needs to be fixed.”
“There are a couple of little issues (card animation glitches that can freeze the game, especially if the AI dies before it resolves all cards in a skid), but they are minor annoyances.”
“If that buggy has a rocket on its back and front guns, stay at its side.”
- humor6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in "Death Roads Tournament" is characterized by its clever commentary on toxic relationships, likening them to the game's challenges. Players find amusement in the quirky interactions, such as bumping into enemies, and suggest that features like a card to change the music would enhance the comedic experience. Overall, the game successfully blends humor with its gameplay elements.
“Heck, a card to change the music would be hilarious.”
“Bumping into enemies - humorous check.”
- optimization2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game has received feedback indicating that it is visually appealing, but it suffers from optimization issues that hinder smooth performance.
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
While some users express dissatisfaction with the character design, they emphasize that the overall fun of the game compensates for this shortcoming, suggesting that character development may not be a strong point but does not detract significantly from the gameplay experience.
