Deck of Ashes

64%
Game Brain Score Based on 367 reviews
  • gameplay
  • story
  • graphics
Deck of Ashes Game Cover
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"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."

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

64%
Audience ScoreBased on 367 reviews
gameplay53 positive mentions
grinding20 negative mentions
  • The game features a unique ash deck mechanic that adds depth to card management and strategy.
  • The art style and character designs are visually appealing, creating an engaging dark fantasy atmosphere.
  • The developers are responsive to community feedback and actively work on updates and improvements.
  • The game suffers from pacing issues, with slow combat and tedious mechanics that can detract from the overall experience.
  • There are significant balance issues, making some strategies overpowered while others feel ineffective.
  • The UI and overall user experience are clunky, leading to frustration during gameplay.
  • gameplay198 mentions

    The gameplay of "Deck of Ashes" has received mixed reviews, with some players appreciating its unique mechanics, such as the ash deck that requires players to manage resources carefully, while others find the mechanics tedious and unbalanced. Many critiques highlight issues with combat pacing, clunky UI, and a lack of depth in card variety, leading to a repetitive experience. Overall, while the game offers interesting ideas and a dark fantasy aesthetic, it struggles with execution and polish, leaving some players feeling frustrated rather than engaged.

    • “Honestly, the mechanics and the cards and everything is really fun.”
    • “The gameplay is fun and interesting without being too difficult, and I really liked that the game has some unique mechanics that really helped it stand out in this day and age of 'Slay the Spire' clones.”
    • “The card combos and mechanics are very fun.”
    • “The gameplay is repetitive and without depth.”
    • “The gameplay feels like a cross between Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon.”
    • “The ash mechanic is not fun; it's very tedious and feels like a chore.”
  • story101 mentions

    The game's story is generally well-received, featuring engaging world-building and character backstories that enhance replayability through different character perspectives. While some players find the narrative compelling and appreciate the unique plot twists, others criticize it for being shallow or repetitive, with a lack of depth in character development and side quests. Overall, the story adds a significant layer to the gameplay experience, despite some inconsistencies and areas for improvement.

    • “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.'”
    • “Surprisingly enough for a roguelike, Deck of Ashes has a fully fledged story, not just a bit of setup.”
    • “Story is insta-skip after 5 minutes.”
    • “There's no real characterization or NPCs with stories or side quests or choices, and the events are boring.”
    • “The plot is utter drivel; the final boss pulls all kinds of tricks so that it's basically the designer's villain vs the designer's magic artifact, a fight to which you're largely a witness.”
  • graphics76 mentions

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a unique, dark art style reminiscent of "Darkest Dungeon," which many players find fitting and atmospheric, enhancing the overall experience. While the artwork and character designs receive praise for their beauty and creativity, animations and some graphical elements are noted as unpolished or lacking, particularly outside of combat. Overall, the visuals are appreciated for their aesthetic appeal, though opinions vary on their execution and quality.

    • “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 graphics complement the gameplay mechanic of sacrificing by being darker in tone while yet still beautiful.”
    • “It lacks in basically all areas except artwork and feels very unfinished.”
    • “The graphics/animations/art is pretty unpolished.”
    • “Coarse, frail and cheap looking artwork.”
  • grinding20 mentions

    The grinding aspect of the game is widely criticized for being tedious, repetitive, and unbalanced, with players spending excessive time on resource collection and card management. Many reviewers found the gameplay to become boring and frustrating, particularly due to the lengthy campaign and the need to unlock features through grindy mechanics. While some appreciated the card variety and potential for deck building, the overall sentiment leans towards grinding being a significant detractor from the game's enjoyment.

    • “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.”
    • “While generally well made, between the extreme length, which gets super tedious past the first act as there is little meaning left in the run, the ease of putting together an unstoppable deck that tends to be quite obvious, and then regardless of what efforts you have put into the run the final boss just deletes everything and makes you fight her with a crazy card she gives you rendering all your efforts moot, I just did not really enjoy it nor have an interest in further playthroughs, especially after reading that it was more of the same.”
  • music19 mentions

    The music in the game is generally described as pleasant and atmospheric, effectively complementing the gameplay without being intrusive. While some players find the soundtrack engaging and fitting, others note that it can feel repetitive and lacks memorability. Overall, it enhances the experience but may not stand out as particularly groundbreaking.

    • “Great soundtracks, too!”
    • “I love the music, especially during boss fights - I can literally feel the tension in the air.”
    • “Sounds - 8/10 the music and sound effects add so much to the game.”
    • “I don't recall any music; maybe it wasn't very noticeable. Nothing memorable here for sure.”
    • “The soundtrack is pretty decent, though without much that stands out.”
    • “It's the kind of music usually found in more dramatic games where, quality aside, the music tends to be repetitive and 'atmospheric' over anything else.”
  • stability13 mentions

    The game's stability is widely criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs, UI issues, and unbalanced gameplay. Many players experience significant glitches, such as missing backgrounds and erratic controller support, leading to a perception of the game as a "buggy mess." While some find enjoyment despite these issues, the overall consensus is that the game requires substantial improvements and updates to address its stability problems.

    • “I mean come on, even the descriptions don't work or are buggy, because 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 kinda 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.”
  • replayability13 mentions

    The game's replayability is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the variety of characters and deck-building options that contribute to a high replay value, others find it repetitive and lacking in depth after a few playthroughs. The introduction of new characters and mechanics is expected to enhance replayability further, but current experiences vary widely, with some players feeling that the gameplay becomes stale quickly. Overall, the potential for replayability is there, but it may depend on individual play styles and preferences.

    • “A lot of replay value, and it has a good storyline.”
    • “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, and there are currently four characters with a fifth on the way so there's plenty of variance and replayability.”
    • “Content-wise, the game is going to get one more character with its own unique mechanics and cards, thus extending the game's already great replayability, that is already rather long thanks to the different levels of difficulty.”
    • “Sadly, it 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 same, and it was hard to get something that didn't stink by the end of the chapter.”
  • atmosphere8 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive qualities, including impressive artwork, engaging voice acting, and a dark thematic style that enhances the overall experience. Many players appreciate the unique ideas and the depth of the atmosphere, despite some criticism regarding repetitive music. Overall, the game's atmosphere is a standout feature that draws players in and encourages exploration.

    • “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.”
  • optimization6 mentions

    The optimization of the game has received significant criticism, with users reporting poor performance, stuttering, and freezing during gameplay, particularly when loading battles. Many players express frustration over these issues, suggesting that the game's optimization is lacking, even on capable systems. Overall, the consensus indicates that performance problems detract from the gaming experience.

    • “Stuttering and slow/slight freezing when loading for battles.”
    • “The game is stuttering when loading a new hand, even though my PC is more than able to play other games perfectly fine.”
    • “I have big performance issues on my laptop.”
  • humor5 mentions

    The humor in the game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the funny deckbuilding mechanics and quirky story elements, others find certain jokes and taunts to be poorly executed. The initial expectations of a comedic experience are somewhat misleading, as the game ultimately focuses more on solid gameplay than consistent humor. However, the potential for amusingly broken combos adds a layer of fun that players enjoy, alongside humorous achievements.

    • “Funny deckbuilding game, nice story.”
    • “One of them has a line like 'Make me laugh, funny guy!' when taunting a jester, but 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 because while it's not a perfect game, it's an extremely solid one.”
  • character development2 mentions

    Character development in the game features appealing designs and a variety of options, but ultimately feels lacking due to repetitive gameplay and an unsatisfying final boss encounter. While some characters have interesting abilities, they often go unnoticed and fail to impact the overall experience.

    • “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 immersive atmosphere.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization model has been criticized for incorporating pay-to-win (P2W) microtransactions, leading some reviewers to downgrade their ratings to negative as a result.

    • “This goes against my policy of giving games with pay-to-win microtransactions a positive review, so I'm changing my review to negative.”
    • “The monetization in this game is excessive and feels exploitative.”
    • “I can't enjoy the game when it constantly pushes me to spend money to progress.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

6hMedian play time
14hAverage play time
3-34hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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