Deck of Ashes
- June 9, 2020
- AYGames
- 6h median play time
Get on Steam
Get on Xbox Games Store"Deck of Ashes is a tactical card combat adventure game, where you lead a group of antiheroes through a cursed fantasy world. Each decision made while exploring and managing your camp affects your survival, as you gather resources, craft cards, and battle enemies to rid the world of the Ash Curse. With permanent death looming, choose wisely to prevent a swift and untimely demise."
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game features a unique ash deck mechanic that adds depth to the gameplay, requiring players to manage their health and card usage strategically.
- The art style and atmosphere are engaging, reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon, which enhances the overall experience.
- The developers are responsive to community feedback and actively work on updates and improvements, showing commitment to the game's growth.
- The game suffers from pacing issues, with battles feeling slow and tedious due to lengthy animations and a lack of options to speed up gameplay.
- The resource management system can be frustrating, as players often find themselves locked out of upgrades and essential cards due to RNG mechanics.
- There are significant balance issues, particularly with certain cards and mechanics that can lead to unfun experiences, such as being overwhelmed by ailments or having a deck filled with unplayable cards.
- gameplay145 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 62 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of "Deck of Ashes" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding the mechanics either tedious or unbalanced. While some appreciate the unique ash mechanic and character diversity, others criticize the frequent combat, sluggish pacing, and lack of engaging card variety, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, the game shows potential with its innovative ideas, but many feel it requires further refinement to enhance the overall enjoyment and flow of gameplay.
“Honestly, the mechanics and the cards and everything is really fun.”
“The gameplay feels like a cross between Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon.”
“Great game, takes ideas from Slay the Spire, and brings their own new mechanics to make a great rogue-like deck builder.”
“Both ash and resource mechanics are a chore, punishing several playstyles and basically forcing you to only pick and play high mana/damage per card.”
“There are massive lag spikes when calculating turn changes, and pressing buttons doesn't feel like you're pressing them until seconds later, creating a jarring effect on your gameplay where you try to combo out and everything is just delayed.”
“The gameplay is clunky, and the UI is even clunkier.”
- story66 mentions
- 47 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is generally well-received, with many players appreciating the unique world-building, character backstories, and the depth that unfolds through multiple playthroughs. However, some find the narrative repetitive and grindy, with mixed opinions on the voice acting and overall execution. While the storyline has potential and intriguing twists, it is noted that it could benefit from further development and polish.
“Finally, there is a cool little backstory that cements all that together.”
“The story is quite interesting; I liked that each character has their own motivation, and there is no annoying 'great mission.'”
“The storyline of the available character I thought was really well done, and the twist was good.”
“Story is insta-skip after 5 minutes.”
“The concept of the game is good, the story is okay, but it gets pretty boring/grindy/slow after a while.”
“The storyline is bleak and dialogue is repetitive, combat itself isn't even satisfying when you win.”
- graphics49 mentions
- 59 % positive mentions
- 41 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game feature a unique and dark art style that resonates well with its setting, drawing comparisons to titles like "Darkest Dungeon." While many players appreciate the atmospheric visuals and character designs, some criticize the animations and overall polish, noting that the graphics can feel unrefined at times. Overall, the artwork is a highlight for many, contributing significantly to the game's immersive experience, despite some mixed opinions on its execution.
“The art style is kind of 'love it or hate it', but I find it very fitting to the setting.”
“Beautiful hand-drawn style visuals, nice deck archetypes, and engaging (short and sweet) plotline.”
“The dark tone of the game is really nice, and the graphics on the creatures and backgrounds make it work really well.”
“The graphics, animations, and art are pretty unpolished.”
“Coarse, frail, and cheap-looking artwork.”
“Really dull artwork.”
- grinding17 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, often spending excessive time on resource collection without meaningful progression. While some appreciate the card variety and potential for deck building, the overall experience is marred by long playtimes and mechanics that feel more like chores than engaging gameplay. Players are cautioned that the grind can detract from enjoyment, especially when unlocking features and managing resources becomes a frustrating cycle.
“It took 6 hours just to beat the first two chapters (not sure yet how long it is), on a single character without any restarts, and most of that time was spent grinding resources.”
“The concept of the game is good, the story is okay, but it gets pretty boring, grindy, and slow after a while.”
“Very tedious, and just not fun.”
- music12 mentions
- 42 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players find it memorable and well-integrated with the gameplay, others feel it lacks impact and is easily forgettable. Overall, the soundtrack is appreciated for enhancing the game's atmosphere, with some describing it as fitting and enjoyable, though not particularly groundbreaking.
“Great soundtracks, too!”
“Soundtrack is awesome!”
“Music-wise it's suitably middle-earthy if not ground-breaking but not intrusive or irritating.”
“I don't recall any music; maybe it wasn't very noticeable. Nothing memorable here for sure.”
“The sound or music bar would not go down.”
“Music-wise, it's suitably middle-earthy if not groundbreaking, but not intrusive or irritating.”
- stability9 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game's stability is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, UI issues, and inconsistent functionality, such as disappearing backgrounds and erratic card behaviors. Many players feel the game remains unfinished and unbalanced, particularly on macOS, and express frustration over the lack of updates or support since its release. While some still find enjoyment despite these issues, the overall consensus highlights significant stability problems.
“I mean come on, even the descriptions don't work or are buggy. When you reshuffle your hand, it forgets the statuses you get. The descriptions of cards don't make sense and don't seem to work, and the UI is probably the worst.”
“Bad: the UI is a mess and it's still kind of buggy. Sometimes the background doesn't even appear during battles, and it's just a black screen, which is weird since the game came out a year ago.”
“This game is still pretty buggy and not getting any support or updates, so it's stuck with it.”
- replayability8 mentions
- 25 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's replayability is mixed; while some players appreciate the variety in character builds and the challenge of higher difficulty settings, others find it repetitive and lacking in diversity after a few playthroughs. The potential for increased replayability exists with future updates and additional characters, but current experiences suggest a somewhat limited replay value.
“The art is frankly awesome, there's plenty of card variety, and there are indeed multiple viable ways to build your deck with each character. With currently four characters and a fifth on the way, there's plenty of variance and replayability.”
“I picked it up after leaving it alone for most of 2019, and they have pumped out updates like no tomorrow. It’s such a challenge already and has amazing replayability.”
“But there is a deeply satisfying play loop in this game due to its unique mechanics that give it the possibility of having enormous replayability and unique long campaigns with uncertain success.”
“Sadly, becomes very repetitive very early and has almost no replayability.”
“Because of this, it takes the strategy and replayability out of the game.”
“Replayability so far is not looking so hot - I've played the first chapter three times, and in all of them the deck felt pretty samey, and it was hard to get something that didn't stink by the end of the chapter.”
- atmosphere7 mentions
- 71 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised, featuring exceptional artwork, voice acting, and a compelling dark theme that enhances the overall experience. Many players appreciate the unique ideas and immersive qualities, making it a standout aspect of the game despite mixed feelings about gameplay. Overall, the atmosphere is consistently rated as a highlight, with some users giving it a perfect score.
“I really wanted to like this game; it has some unique ideas and a great atmosphere that I'd love to sink many hours into.”
“Great atmosphere, voice acting, art style, and costume design.”
“You will find that there are a ton of things to unlock, and I personally love the voice acting and atmosphere, not to mention the incredible artwork.”
“I didn't like Darkest Dungeon, at least gameplay-wise, but I did like the art style and atmosphere.”
- optimization5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 60 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
Overall, the optimization of the game has received negative feedback, with users reporting poor performance, including stuttering and freezing during battles. Many players are experiencing significant performance issues, leading to uncertainty about whether these problems stem from their systems or the game's optimization itself. Additionally, the font choices have also been criticized, contributing to an overall unsatisfactory experience.
“Stuttering and slow/slight freezing when loading for battles.”
“I have big performance issues on my laptop.”
“I cannot judge if it is because of my system or the game performance, but I read here already that some users complain about the performance.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is hit-or-miss, with some players finding certain lines, like a jester's taunt, to be poorly executed yet amusing in their badness. While the intro sets an expectation for a comedic experience, the game ultimately delivers a solid gameplay experience instead. However, players appreciate the potential for humorous interactions through broken combos and the inclusion of funny achievements.
“One of them has a line like 'Make me laugh, funny guy!' when taunting a jester, and it's just so bad, lol.”
“The intro cinematic had me expecting a joke of a game where everything is just so bad it's worth playing because it's funny, but it turns out it was just really misleading. While it's not a perfect game, it's an extremely solid one.”
“It's also funny that they have achievements for this.”
- character development2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted for its appealing designs and variety, but ultimately feels lacking due to a grind-heavy experience and an unsatisfying final boss. While some characters, like the transformer, show potential, they often fail to engage players meaningfully.
“The character designs are impressive, especially the character who transforms, adding a unique element to the gameplay.”
“The variety in character options and designs enhances the overall experience, making each playthrough feel distinct.”
“The art style and character development contribute significantly to the game's atmosphere, providing a rich visual experience.”
