Holder of Place

About

Holder of Place is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Ardent Fields and was released on November 26, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

In Holder of Place, a young dragon has unleashed a primordial gloom over a long-dead kingdom, and you must gather companions to halt its spread. This roguelike auto-battler card game challenges you to strategically recruit followers, build synergies, and face relentless waves of monsters. Venture deep into a fading realm, endure fierce battles, and confront the dragon itself.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

90%

Audience ScoreBased on 157 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

optimization2 negative mentions

The game features stunning visuals and a unique art style that enhances the overall atmosphere, making it a joy to experience.
It offers deep strategic gameplay with a variety of character classes and synergies, allowing for creative build crafting and replayability.
The writing and lore are engaging, providing a rich narrative that adds depth to the gameplay experience.

The game suffers from balance issues, with some classes and strategies being significantly more powerful than others, leading to a lack of variety in viable builds.
Many players find the game to be short on content, with limited replayability after completing the main objectives and achievements.
There are several quality-of-life issues, such as slow animations and the inability to access the journal during runs, which can detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
40%
7%
The gameplay of this game is characterized by a satisfying auto-battler loop that combines simple mechanics with deep strategic elements, allowing for a variety of unique playstyles and synergies. Players appreciate the immersive atmosphere and art style, though some note that the difficulty scaling and replayability could be improved. Overall, the game offers an enjoyable experience with a solid core gameplay loop, despite some criticisms regarding content length and complexity.
- “This game paints a beautiful and incredibly interesting world, worth experiencing in its own right, while also being a mechanically deep enough roguelike to make discovering new things very fun.”
- “Lovely atmosphere and satisfying gameplay coupled with simple and elegant mechanics that bring a huge number of synergies and strategies to explore.”
- “The gameplay strikes a good balance of straightforward, easy to understand mechanics, and a well of depth and considerations.”
- “When you're a newbie, you can't remember everything and it's an auto-battler, a strategy game. Not having the information I've already discovered, which I can see in the menu but not within the run, is weird, especially with the collector and its mechanic.”
- “To go through all this gameplay development just to end up with 10 hours of content was a waste of time.”
- “There's probably 35 hours of total gameplay if you are a masochist and want to own all relic options in the reliquary, but I found some of them to be incredibly unenjoyable to play with.”
graphics
31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
68%
22%
10%
The graphics of the game have received widespread acclaim for their stunning and unique art style, blending sci-fi and fantasy aesthetics that create a captivating atmosphere. Reviewers highlight the exceptional artwork, immersive visuals, and pleasing sound design, which together enhance the overall gaming experience. While some mention a desire for more content, the visuals are consistently praised as a standout feature that elevates the gameplay.
- “However, in my opinion, the best part of this game is its visuals.”
- “The game has a very unusual mix of sci-fi and fantasy aesthetics and a lot of different designs that I find very beautiful.”
- “Beautiful neogothic-cyber-fantasy visuals combined with atmospheric music create a world and experience that is unique and mesmerizing.”
- “It's just a Rubik's cube with barebone graphics.”
- “Hands down, I am sad that the extra units, sea-kissed, and hollowed, don't have artwork like other units.”
- “The music and visuals are impeccable, which you can already see.”
atmosphere
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
25%
15%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its compelling style, unique art direction, and immersive tone, drawing inspiration from various artistic influences. Players appreciate the depth and detail in the environment, enhanced by exceptional music and lore, although some note that the pacing can feel slow during transitions. Overall, the combination of beautiful visuals and a dark, engaging atmosphere creates a captivating experience for fans of autobattler and deckbuilder genres.
- “Incredible level of attention to details, vibe is a unique bleakness with a touch of inspiration from Tsutomu Nihei's tower dungeon on the art and story's direction, so the atmosphere is just filled with endless depth.”
- “Hugely immersive atmosphere and tone, loads of ways to build your team and go infinite, all the starting characters switch up the game in meaningful and unique ways, and a surprising amount of lore for a little roguelike.”
- “Beautiful neogothic-cyber-fantasy visuals combined with atmospheric music create a world and experience that is unique and mesmerizing.”
- “The atmosphere and oppressive nature of the narrative dig in as you press on.”
- “There should be an option to fast forward the 'walking' in between events. If you really think it is important for the atmosphere, add the option after someone completes a few runs.”
- “I enjoy the simplicity of the gameplay and its atmosphere/art direction.”
music
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
29%
18%
The music in the game is widely praised for its exceptional quality, atmospheric design, and ability to enhance the overall experience, with many reviewers highlighting its variety and emotional impact. While some noted that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, the majority agree that it complements the game's art style and ambiance beautifully, creating a unique and immersive environment. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature that significantly contributes to the game's appeal.
- “The vibe of this game along with the art style is so unique and absolutely beautiful, the music is a masterpiece and the sound design is satisfying.”
- “Beautiful neogothic-cyber-fantasy visuals combined with atmospheric music create a world and experience that is unique and mesmerizing.”
- “Great art, nice combat loop, and good music/sound design.”
- “On the negative side, other than the bosses, the enemies are boring stat blobs, the soundtrack is very repetitive, and events don't scale/change throughout the game, so you can get things like a +1 attack to 2 followers event while having 100/100 followers.”
- “Soundtrack when.”
- “Also shoutout to that banger soundtrack that was on the demo when I first started playing; it hit harder than a sack of bricks onto my balls.”
story
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
40%
20%
The game's story is praised for its beautiful and tragic narrative, primarily revealed through collectible journal fragments, which adds depth and immersion to the gameplay. Reviewers appreciate the unique atmosphere and worldbuilding, noting that while the story is not essential to understand the game, it enhances the experience significantly. Overall, the writing is described as fantastic, with a minimalist yet engaging approach that complements the core gameplay.
- “The writing is fantastic; I found myself actually getting interested in the lore and wanting to discover the story, which is rare for a game like this.”
- “Incredible level of attention to detail; the vibe is a unique bleakness with a touch of inspiration from Tsutomu Nihei's tower dungeon on the art and story's direction, so the atmosphere is just filled with endless depth.”
- “The game's story, mostly discovered through journal fragments you collect, is a simple but beautiful tragedy.”
- “Story is pretty bleak, as the title art suggests, so not the best to play if already in a melancholic mood.”
- “The story almost feels like 'Slay the Princess'; a twisting narrative that you figure out alongside the character.”
replayability
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
17%
25%
The game's replayability is generally viewed as strong, with many players appreciating the variety of options, unlockable characters, and randomized challenges that encourage multiple playthroughs. While some critiques mention a lack of depth after initial completion, the core gameplay loop and unique interactions keep players engaged. Overall, it offers a mix of addictive elements and strategic challenges that enhance its replay value.
- “Holder of Place is a simple game at an affordable price tag, with a good number of different options for replay value.”
- “So many fun combos to discover and the randomized challenges you can do make for a lot of interesting replayability.”
- “The replay value is a lot with the unlockable characters and notes to collect that make even failed runs feel a little rewarding.”
- “Very shallow in terms of replayability.”
- “Enjoyable auto-battler with about 20 hours of gameplay to get all achievements; not too much replayability offered after this.”
- “Replayability after the first 20+ hours becomes a race to rebuild the same hand over and over again.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users report that the game runs smoothly on Linux without the need for additional compatibility layers like Wine, indicating strong stability across platforms.
- “This runs great on Linux without Wine or anything for whatever reason.”
- “The game has been incredibly stable, with no crashes or major bugs during my playtime.”
- “I've experienced smooth gameplay throughout, which really enhances the overall experience.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's optimization has been criticized for performance issues, particularly in later stages where significant delays occur after battles, and frame rates drop during complex multi-effect combos. However, players who appreciate roguelikes and systems-driven gameplay may still find enjoyment despite these technical shortcomings.
- “If you enjoy roguelikes, deck building, or systems-driven games where creativity and optimization matter, you’ll have a great time here.”
- “There are also performance issues that have arisen as you get into the much later depths, with the game just doing nothing for a solid 20 seconds after the fight is over.”
- “Performance tanks on multi-effect combos.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the creativity and comedic interactions of its characters, making for a delightfully entertaining experience. Players appreciate the absurdity of the various builds, which contribute to the game's overall hilarity and enjoyment, making it a worthwhile purchase.
- “Fate's beloved and collector: both characters are ridiculously creative and funny.”
- “The game is so simple but offers you a lot of crazy builds that make the game hilariously entertaining; it's worth buying.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be both engaging and tedious; while the variety of achievements and challenges initially offers excitement, the slow progression ultimately leads to boredom over time.
- “Was interesting for the first few hours, but then I got bored when I realized the progression was extremely slow and grindy.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviewers appreciate the game's character development, highlighting the engaging atmosphere, stunning art and character designs, and a well-crafted sci-fi aesthetic. The presence of rich lore adds depth, encouraging players to explore and uncover more about the characters and their backgrounds.
- “The atmosphere, beautiful art, and character designs, along with the sleek sci-fi UI design and minimalist yet satisfying audio design, all click just right for me. Not to mention the lore that's definitely there, and I'm still working on uncovering it!”