Deckline

About

Deckline is a single player casual strategy game with horror and thriller themes. It was developed by Room Games and was released on May 7, 2025. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Deckline is a single-player horror strategy game set in a bleak 1990s Eastern European war zone, where you and your squad play a last game of Durak amidst despair. Featuring dynamic, randomized gameplay and chilling visuals, it captures the grim atmosphere of war through immersive design and an evocative soundscape. With unlimited replayability, players face death and memories in a haunting struggle for survival.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

75%

Audience ScoreBased on 79 reviews

atmosphere16 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The atmosphere is immersive and well-crafted, enhancing the overall experience of the game.
The card game Durak is fun and easy to learn, making it accessible for newcomers.
The game is inexpensive and offers replayability, making it a decent value for casual play.

The game is very short, with a lack of substantial content and no real progression or story.
Some achievements are overly grindy, requiring players to win and lose excessively, which can be frustrating.
The gameplay can feel repetitive and lacks quality-of-life features, making it less engaging over time.

atmosphere
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
37%
10%
The atmosphere in the game is widely praised for its immersive and haunting qualities, characterized by stark lighting, oppressive soundscapes, and a grimy visual style that enhances the emotional weight of the experience. While many players appreciate the atmospheric depth, some feel it overshadows the gameplay, which is often described as simplistic or repetitive. Overall, the game's ability to create a tense and unsettling environment is its standout feature, making it particularly appealing to fans of atmospheric indie games.
- “Deckline is a game that takes a deceptively simple premise and reshapes it into something unnervingly atmospheric, using the familiar structure of a card game as the anchor for a far more unsettling experience.”
- “The stark lighting, the flickering bulbs that hint at imminent failure, and the oppressive soundscape work together to build an atmosphere thick with fear and melancholy.”
- “The atmosphere is beautifully crafted, and if you stay too long, you might find yourself going mad in that bunker.”
- “The constant explosions, lights going out, and coughing that initially create the atmosphere quickly become tiresome and irritating.”
- “A good little game with the uncomfortably depressing atmosphere.”
- “I personally like this game but it's a bit simplistic and lacks the atmosphere that was portrayed in the trailer.”
story
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
68%
14%
The game's story is minimal and largely underwhelming, consisting of a brief introduction and a couple of short endings, which can be completed in about 15 minutes. While some players appreciate the dark themes of the narrative, many criticize the lack of depth and meaningful content, feeling that it detracts from the overall experience. Overall, the story feels more like an afterthought, with players often opting to skip it in favor of the gameplay.
- “Rather than dropping you into an elaborate battlefield or a narrative-heavy war story, the game confines you to a dimly lit bunker where a handful of soldiers, already worn down by conflict, sit together for what may be their final moments.”
- “I think this game is well worth your money, a short and simple card game that carries an interesting and dark story (albeit a little short) about war and its tragedy.”
- “To offer some variety, Deckline includes multiple modes: a story-focused playthrough with different endings and a more competitive, infinite mode that emphasizes scoring and global rankings.”
- “The 'story' is practically non-existent and can be completed within 15 minutes due to the card game being very quick.”
- “Can't give this a positive review due to the game description listing 'story mode with several diverse endings, and an infinite competitive mode,' while in-game there is just a start button that leads you to a few lines of intro dialogue and a game of durak against an NPC.”
- “The 'story' is infinitesimally small and the card game is missing even the most basic quality-of-life features like being able to rearrange the cards within your hand to see suits/ranks better.”
gameplay
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
70%
18%
The gameplay of "deckline" is characterized by its minimalist approach, focusing on replayable card mechanics without significant innovation or narrative depth. While some players appreciate the straightforward mechanics and atmospheric setting, many find the gameplay repetitive and lacking in variety, with limited progression and no substantial twists. Overall, the experience is described as gripping yet constrained, appealing primarily to those who enjoy simple card games rather than those seeking deeper engagement or complexity.
- “Ultimately, Deckline stands out not because it innovates in card mechanics, but because it uses those mechanics as the foundation for a stark depiction of wartime desperation.”
- “Those looking for deeper mechanical variety or narrative exploration may find its boundaries limiting, but even then, the experience it offers is distinct — a compact, gripping moment carved out of a world falling apart.”
- “However, even these modes maintain the game’s minimalist approach, keeping the focus on replayable card mechanics rather than expanding the world or its lore.”
- “The setup and gameplay of Deckline is solid enough, but as it stands, I just don't believe that it makes good on its promises as something more than an atmospheric durak sim.”
- “Unfortunately, I would say the gameplay is too repetitive.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The graphics of the game are praised for their atmospheric quality, featuring a low-light environment and grimy visuals that enhance the overall experience. The aesthetic is described as wonderful and engaging, contributing to the game's strong atmosphere, while the neat menu design and in-game tracking of progress further complement the visual appeal. Overall, the graphics effectively support the game's themes and add to its entertainment value.
- “The visuals and atmosphere that accompany the game are also neat and help it stand out.”
- “The aesthetic is wonderful, and the entire concept that draws you to that terrifying image of a bombing is overwhelmingly good.”
- “The atmosphere is very strong, created by a low light environment, thundering war sounds in the background, and grimy visuals.”
- “The visuals and atmosphere that accompany the game are neat but do not elevate the overall experience.”
- “While the game has some aesthetic appeal, it ultimately falls short in delivering a visually impressive experience.”
replayability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Overall, the game offers a minimalist design that emphasizes replayable card mechanics, providing a sense of endless replayability despite a short story and limited content. While some players find the replay value lacking after initial victories, the low price point and focus on win/loss ratios contribute to its appeal for repeated play.
- “Endless replayability.”
- “The game is pretty short but has unlimited replayability.”
- “Game is great but the story is short and honestly not a lot of content besides the replayability with the win/loss ratio.”
- “However, even these modes maintain the game’s minimalist approach, keeping the focus on replayable card mechanics rather than expanding the world or its lore.”
- “After you get your first victory, there isn't much replayability, but also - it's $3.”
- “The game is great, but the story is short and honestly, there's not a lot of content besides the replayability with the win/loss ratio.”
grinding
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express frustration with certain achievements in the game, noting that they require excessive grinding to complete, which can detract from the overall enjoyment.
- “My main issue is that some of the achievements are too grindy.”
- “The grinding feels endless and takes away from the enjoyment of the game.”
- “I find the repetitive tasks required for leveling up to be incredibly tedious.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the game runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, with no stability issues encountered during gameplay.
- “Just one more run! I'm playing on Steam Deck, and it runs great. I haven't had any issues.”
- “The game is incredibly stable; I've experienced no crashes or bugs during my playthrough.”
- “I appreciate how smooth the gameplay is; it feels very polished and reliable.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's simplicity enhances its emotional impact, allowing the atmosphere to dominate and infuse every element of gameplay with significant emotional weight.
- “The simplicity becomes a strength, allowing the atmosphere to take center stage, and the emotional weight of the setting to seep into every aspect of play.”