Heretic's Fork

About

Heretic's Fork is a single player survival turn-based strategy game. It was developed by 9FingerGames and was released on September 13, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

"Heretic's Fork" is a roguelike deckbuilding horde survival tower defense game where you pick a demon and use their card deck to build a tower and keep hordes of sinners from escaping hell. Gain the favor of the gods to pull new cards from your deck, unlock new cards for future runs, and create unique synergies to break the game. Fight to punish heretics and return them to their torment.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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87%

Audience ScoreBased on 2,182 reviews

music343 positive mentions

grinding43 negative mentions

Unique blend of tower defense and deck-building mechanics that keeps gameplay fresh.
Great soundtrack featuring a mix of metal and dark synthwave that enhances the overall experience.
Engaging aesthetic with a humorous narrative set in a hellish corporate environment.

Gameplay can become repetitive and lacks depth, leading to a feeling of monotony after a few runs.
The card pool expands too much as you progress, making it harder to draw useful cards for specific builds.
Frequent crashes during longer runs, especially in endless mode, can lead to lost progress and frustration.

music
551 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
37%
1%
The music in the game has received overwhelmingly positive feedback, with many users praising its killer soundtrack that features a mix of metal, industrial, and dark synthwave genres. Reviewers highlight how the music enhances the overall atmosphere and enjoyment of the gameplay, making it a standout feature that elevates the experience. While some mention minor issues with volume consistency and a few tracks being less appealing, the general consensus is that the soundtrack is a major draw for players, often described as "amazing," "banger," and "perfectly fitting" for the game's theme.
- “The game has a pretty unique and interesting game menu that is paired with some fitting music.”
- “The soundtrack is amazing and exactly what you'd want from a hell-based mob mow'em down rogue-lite tower defense game!”
- “The music is a mix of dark, industrial, and heavy metal, and some of its more extreme sub-genres.”
- “The music, even the music is kinda dull, despite trying to be kinda metal.”
- “If the business plan for a game is to compete with Spotify, which is free and has effectively unlimited music, all of which is better than the music here, it's failed before it even started.”
- “While I love the story, the music, and the art style, the meat and potatoes of the game sucks.”
gameplay
477 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
52%
9%
The gameplay of "Heretic's Fork" is a blend of tower defense and deck-building mechanics that many players find initially engaging and addictive, particularly due to its unique card merging system and strategic depth. However, numerous reviews highlight a lack of variety and depth in the gameplay loop, leading to repetitiveness and boredom after a few hours. While the game features a charming aesthetic and a captivating soundtrack, many players feel that the mechanics could benefit from further refinement and additional content to enhance replayability and maintain interest over longer play sessions.
- “The gameplay is simple enough to jump into without much thought, making it perfect for those times when you want to unwind.”
- “The blend of deckbuilding and tower defense creates a unique and engaging gameplay loop that keeps you hooked.”
- “The sheer size and variety of the card collection - as well as each playable character offering wildly different gameplay styles to experiment with - lets the player find cool synergies and keeps the gameplay fresh for a surprising amount of time.”
- “Unfortunately, I got bored on my first run; the gameplay and unlocks aren't enough to keep me wanting to play more.”
- “The actual gameplay is a C- and feels like playing someone’s high school project.”
- “The gameplay loop is very shallow with a lot of downtime.”
graphics
229 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
45%
2%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their unique and vibrant art style, which combines a retro aesthetic with dark, hellish themes, creating an engaging atmosphere. While many players appreciate the visuals and the accompanying soundtrack, some note inconsistencies in sprite quality and a lack of variety in enemy designs. Overall, the aesthetic is a significant draw for players, enhancing the gameplay experience despite some criticisms regarding depth and balance.
- “The game's striking art style and vibrant graphics immediately draw you into the dark world of hell.”
- “The art style is amazing, but the gameplay... it gets boring after a few shifts, it's pretty much the same every time - combine cards to get higher tier cards, play them, and repeat until you die or win.”
- “The visuals and colors are vibrant and the sound design is great as well.”
- “The art style manages to be inconsistent within the same piece!”
- “In an indie game with those graphics, really?”
- “Visually, this is a hamfisted mess, a dog's breakfast of bad visuals, and this kind of laziness and poor quality should never be foisted on gamers.”
story
123 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
63%
6%
The game's story is generally described as light and humorous, serving primarily as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a central focus. While some players appreciate the creative elements and the engaging email mechanic that adds depth, many feel the narrative lacks complexity and depth, leaving them wanting more. Overall, the story is seen as a fun addition that enhances the experience, but it could benefit from further development and expansion.
- “The overall story is creative and I loved the fun email mechanic.”
- “The underlying story is intriguing, offering a narrative hook to keep you invested.”
- “What I really did not expect from this game was to have some sort of story which had incredible storytelling and the ending was amazing.”
- “The story is lame.”
- “The story was a bit lacking in my opinion.”
- “Finally, I think a story expansion would do this game loads of good, because the main story is a little bit weak and left me wanting after I had completed it.”
humor
87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
99%
3%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its quirky, dark, and whimsical nature, blending elements of corporate satire with absurdity, such as humorous emails and a mock office environment in hell. Players appreciate the clever writing, nostalgic references, and the overall charm that enhances the gameplay experience, although some find the humor can become repetitive over time. Overall, the game's comedic elements contribute significantly to its appeal, making it a memorable and entertaining experience.
- “The game's quirky humor and unique visual style add a layer of charm and personality, making the experience enjoyable and memorable.”
- “From your sarcastic demon assistant Clippy (yes, really) to the pop-up notifications about 'infernal paperwork,' the humor keeps things light even when the sinner hordes are knocking down your door.”
- “There's a lot of humor in the blending of corporate and hellish culture, with demons emailing you about the latest company initiative or getting weird demon malware from the IT department.”
- “I'll try not to spoil a lot, but sometimes you get an email after a run: some of them are funny (or supposed to be funny, as I found myself skimming over the last few ones I got) while others are 'story relevant' kind of.”
- “The humor in the game feels forced at times, making it hard to connect with the jokes.”
- “I expected more laughs, but most of the attempts at humor fell flat and felt out of place.”
replayability
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
61%
10%
The game's replayability is a mixed bag, with many players enjoying the variety of strategies, upgrades, and achievements that encourage experimentation. However, some reviewers noted a lack of long-term replay value due to repetitive levels and overpowered mechanics, suggesting that while the game can be fun initially, it may not sustain interest over time. Overall, it offers solid replayability for strategy enthusiasts, but improvements in variety and balance could enhance the experience further.
- “Unlock new cards, employees, and abilities as you progress, adding depth and replayability to the game.”
- “Tons of replayability to experiment with different tactics, the ultimate tower defense sandbox game <3”
- “There's a lot of replayability and different ways to play, and different achievements to unlock cards, so it can be challenging and fun to figure out how you need to play it to accomplish the specific goal.”
- “The music is great and I like the visuals, but it lacks that 'endless replayability' one often hopes for from this genre.”
- “I do think, however, the stages could do with more variety or signs of progress as the game wants to be replayable, but you keep seeing the same levels again and again.”
- “Is not a rogue-lite game, so the replayability is very limited.”
grinding
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
7%
93%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessive and tedious, particularly in the late game where unlocking new cards and upgrades can feel like a frustrating chore rather than a rewarding experience. While some enjoy the grind as part of the genre's expectations, many express dissatisfaction with the lack of meaningful progression and the bloating of their decks, which complicates gameplay and diminishes enjoyment. Overall, the grinding can detract from the fun, especially as players feel they are investing time without significant payoff.
- “Achievements are all reasonable and not grindy.”
- “I only lost the very first run I did; after that, I literally didn't take damage until I got all the admin keys, thinking 'surely this will unlock a harder difficulty.' It did unlock torment mode, but I have no idea what it does because I'm not grinding 5k cash per card to unlock a harder difficulty when the default is already brain-dead simple.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “I love deckbuilding, I love tower defense, but I don't love this game because it failed at doing both. It's very shallow, with lots of grinding—it's all style, no substance.”
- “The difficulty doesn't scale up as you progress, so the game becomes a tedious grind before you'll even come close to unlocking all the upgrades.”
- “Grinding is expected in this genre, yes, but when the gameplay is so boring, then I won't... sorry.”
atmosphere
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
61%
29%
10%
The atmosphere of the game is widely praised for its immersive and captivating qualities, enhanced by stunning visuals, diverse music, and a well-crafted art direction that effectively builds a fantasy world. While many players appreciate the engaging gameplay loop and the overall aesthetic, some express concerns about the replayability and certain sound design choices that detract from the experience. Overall, the game successfully creates a unique and atmospheric environment that keeps players engaged, despite some minor flaws.
- “The whole atmosphere and art direction builds up this fantasy very nicely, with the intro of you logging into the system and then having the whole game menu being a fully interactive desktop.”
- “The atmosphere is on point.”
- “The surrounding atmosphere, story, and interactables also give the game a consistent tone and an immersive experience.”
- “I found the sound design to also be poor and annoying to listen to throughout the entire thing - I think this may be an intentional choice for the hellish atmosphere, but it really doesn't make me want to play the game.”
- “Also there's some graphical glitching where upper segments of the tower appear behind lower ones, or something; looks wrong and messes with the atmosphere.”
- “I really wanted to like this game, and the atmosphere and character and music shine through, but I just can't recommend it.”
optimization
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting severe performance issues, particularly in endless mode, where frame rates drop significantly and crashes occur. Many users note that the game's mechanics and visuals suffer due to poor optimization, leading to a frustrating experience that feels unpolished and reminiscent of a beta version. Overall, while the game has potential, its optimization problems detract from the enjoyment and gameplay quality.
- “There's very few barriers, opportunity costs, or anti-synergies that might lend you to shy away from just playing any given item or active ability card, or even a mechanism to lean into some particular flavor of card, so choices feel more like moment-to-moment math optimization problems than long-term deckbuilding strategy.”
- “Performance or gameplay surpasses the passing mark and stands out from the average.”
- “The game is extremely fun in concept, but the issues with performance become an issue in endless mode.”
- “The game's target acquisition logic is highly rigid and often results in incredibly inefficient performance.”
- “The only challenge is endless mode, and even so it challenges only your performance; at some point my machine got down to 3-5 fps, and I just had to sell all my towers to get out of there.”
- “It feels like a beta for a flash game with a lot of heart put into the design and theme, but almost no QA or optimization.”
stability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
70%
The game exhibits significant stability issues, including frequent bugs, crashes, and glitches that hinder gameplay, such as card functionality problems and freezing during card selection. While some players appreciate the overall concept and performance on certain platforms, the persistent technical problems detract from the experience, leading many to feel that it is not worth the full price until these issues are addressed.
- “Runs great on Proton Experimental!”
- “This game is great, runs smoothly, and has lots of builds to play around with.”
- “Good game but please god fix the crashes and freezes.”
- “I think it's too buggy to justify full price.”
- “Cool concept, and there's a seed of something interesting here, but it's just so, so buggy.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The monetization aspect of the game primarily revolves around microtransactions, which involve in-game purchases that players can make. This approach has been consistently highlighted in user reviews.
- “Microtransactions are well-balanced and don't feel intrusive.”
- “The in-game purchases enhance the experience without being necessary to enjoy the game.”
- “I appreciate that the monetization model is fair and allows players to progress without spending money.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is largely undermined by its lack of player engagement, as users suggest that it can be completed with minimal interaction, leading to a disconnection from the narrative and emotional experience.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
While the artwork and character designs are praised, players note that character development is hindered by bugs, such as malfunctioning cards and localization issues, which detract from the overall experience. Additionally, the game's balance is criticized, impacting the effectiveness of character progression.
- “The character development feels shallow and lacks meaningful progression, making it hard to connect with the characters.”
- “While the character designs are visually appealing, the lack of depth in their backstories and growth is disappointing.”
- “The game has potential, but the character development is hindered by bugs and balance issues that detract from the overall experience.”