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Holder of Place

Holder of Place Game Cover
92%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
grinding
92% User Score Based on 182 reviews

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PCWindows
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Holder of Place Game Cover

About

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

In a long dead kingdom, a young dragon has unleashed a primordial gloom that swallows anything it touches. Your quarry lies now in the heart of the kingdom; Can you endure the monsters that lurk and halt the spread of the dark? Gather your companions. Hold tight your faith. Acquire new strengths and venture into the endless night.  Holder of Place is a roguelike auto-battler card game. Each …

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Holder of Place screenshot
Holder of Place screenshot
Holder of Place screenshot
Holder of Place screenshot
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92%
Audience ScoreBased on 182 reviews
gameplay27 positive mentions
grinding2 negative mentions
  • Unique and captivating art style with superb atmosphere and audio design that deeply immerses players in the game world.
  • Engaging and well-balanced autobattler gameplay emphasizing strategic planning, synergy, and varied build combinations with multiple distinct characters to explore.
  • Rich lore and worldbuilding presented subtly through journals and fragmented storytelling, greatly enhancing the player experience and immersion.
  • Game length and content are relatively limited, leading to a short overall experience with some repetition after completion.
  • Balance issues exist where some units and strategies are markedly stronger than others, reducing viable variety and experimentation.
  • Lack of quality-of-life features such as mid-run saving and access to the journal during runs, along with slow animations and occasional performance problems.
  • gameplay
    60 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay offers a satisfying and strategic auto-battler experience centered on unit combinations, positioning, and meaningful decision-making within a cohesive and atmospheric world. While not highly complex or groundbreaking, its elegant mechanics, diverse character playstyles, and synergistic depth provide engaging runs with rewarding builds, though content length and some difficulty scaling receive minor criticism. Overall, it combines straightforward, accessible gameplay with rich strategic layers, appealing especially to fans of tactical planning and synergy exploration.

    • “While it draws from familiar foundations—assembling units, arranging formations, and letting combat resolve automatically—it distinguishes itself through a strong sense of cohesion between its mechanics and its world.”
    • “Deciding which units to combine, how to arrange them, and when to replace them becomes the central challenge, turning each run into a series of meaningful decisions rather than reactive gameplay.”
    • “Lovely atmosphere and satisfying gameplay coupled with simple and elegant mechanics that bring a huge number of synergies and strategies to explore.”
    • “Some units are extremely strong and require little to no setup to make them work, while many of them are just not good at any point of the game, and some may occasionally get to shine but require very specific conditions to be useful, which are really hard to meet before the pretty short gameplay loop comes to an end.”
    • “When you're a newbie, you can't remember everything and it's an autobattler, a strategy game; not having the information I've already discovered visible within the run is weird, especially with the collector and its mechanic.”
    • “You're basically buffing your minions 1 HP/attack at a time; it would be fine, but there really are no complex mechanics that create massive chains of interactions.”
  • graphics
    36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features a stunning and unique art style that blends sci-fi, fantasy, and neogothic-cyber aesthetics to create a melancholic, immersive atmosphere. Reviewers consistently praise its beautiful visuals, exceptional character designs, and cohesive presentation, often highlighting how the graphics enhance the overall mood and setting. The combination of polished artwork, UI, and atmospheric elements makes for a visually captivating experience that stands out in the genre.

    • “Visually, the game leans into a subdued and melancholic aesthetic that sets it apart from many others in the genre.”
    • “Beautiful neogothic-cyber-fantasy visuals combined with atmospheric music create a world and experience that is unique and mesmerizing.”
    • “Holy s**t this is like crack, it's got that gorgeous art style that is really uncomparable, combined with the fun gameplay of auto battlers, and the gorgeous dreary aesthetic of Darkest Dungeons, combined with beautiful unique characters.”
    • “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.”
    • “Cozy music, speed-up options, decent graphics and an okay amount of content.”
  • story
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in this roguelike is widely praised for being immersive, well-written, and integral to the gameplay, offering a bleak yet beautiful narrative explored through journal fragments and environmental details. Players appreciate its depth, tragedy, and rich worldbuilding, which provide strong motivation to continue playing despite its relatively short 10-15 hour main arc. Overall, the story stands out as a compelling and thoughtful aspect that enhances the roguelike experience beyond typical genre expectations.

    • “Along the way, fragments of story and environmental details hint at a larger world shaped by decay and uncertainty.”
    • “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.”
    • “The game's story, mostly discovered through journal fragments you collect, is a simple but beautiful tragedy.”
    • “The main story only took me and my friend around 15 hours each to finish. While that is a a long time for some people, we play videogames a lot so it's relatively short compared to other roguelikes we've seen.”
    • “You should realistically complete the story within about 10 hours.”
    • “When I tell you a roguelike has story, usually it's something that is slapped on at the end.”
  • atmosphere
    27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its cohesive, haunting, and immersive tone, skillfully supported by stunning art, atmospheric music, and thoughtful UI design. It creates a unique blend of dark, neogothic-cyber-fantasy style that complements the strategic, roguelike gameplay without overwhelming complexity. While some note pacing issues with transitions, the overall atmosphere is compelling and enhances the player’s engagement with the world and lore.

    • “Holder of place, developed by Ardent Fields and published by Alibi Games, is a roguelike auto-battler that builds its identity around careful planning, synergy, and a quietly haunting atmosphere.”
    • “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.”
    • “Beautiful neogothic-cyber-fantasy visuals combined with atmospheric music create a world and experience that is unique and mesmerising.”
    • “- 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.”
    • “While the presentation is not technically elaborate, it is cohesive and effective, creating an atmosphere that feels consistent with the game’s mechanics and pacing.”
    • “The atmosphere and oppressive nature of the narrative dig in as you press on.”
  • music
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its atmospheric, cozy, and unique qualities that seamlessly complement the stunning art and UI, creating an immersive and captivating experience. While some find the soundtrack occasionally repetitive, overall it is considered a standout feature that enhances the game's vibe and ambiance.

    • “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 mesmerising.”
    • “The stunning art, clean UI, and atmospheric music tie everything together perfectly.”
    • “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.”
  • replayability
    16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers solid replayability driven by its unique setting, strategic depth, and varied challenges, keeping gameplay engaging beyond initial completion. While it may lack a vast content pool or deep long-term variety, features like randomized challenges, unlockable characters, and different strategies provide a rewarding and addictive experience for many players. However, some find replay value shallow after extensive playtime, as repetition can set in.

    • “One of the game’s strongest qualities is its replayability.”
    • “So many fun combos to discover and the randomized challenges you can do make for a lot of interesting replayability.”
    • “Matching your strategy to a combination of these changes while accounting for the specific abilities of the various bosses that appear in hunts creates a very replayable challenge.”
    • “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.”
  • optimization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Optimization issues are noticeable in late-game stages, with significant performance drops such as long pauses after fights and slowed gameplay during complex combo effects. While the game encourages creative optimization, its technical performance could hinder the experience in intensive scenarios.

    • “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.”
    • “There are performance issues that arise in much later depths, with the game freezing for a solid 20 seconds after the fight is over.”
    • “Performance significantly drops during multi-effect combos.”
  • humor
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's humor is highlighted by its creatively absurd characters and the fun, quirky builds players can create, resulting in a delightfully silly and entertaining experience.

    • “Fate's beloved & 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 stupidly funny; it's worth buying.”
  • grinding
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers a variety of interesting and challenging grindy achievements, providing diverse goals to strive for. However, the slow progression and extensive grinding can become tedious and lead 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.”
  • stability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game demonstrates excellent stability on Linux, running smoothly without the need for Wine or additional compatibility layers.

  • character development
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development is supported by immersive atmosphere, striking art and design, and subtle audio that enhance the game's rich lore, encouraging players to actively uncover and engage with the story.

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20h Median play time
22h Average play time
10-35h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Holder of Place is a tactical strategy game with fantasy, dark fantasy and science fiction themes.

Holder of Place is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 22 hours playing Holder of Place.

Holder of Place was released on November 26, 2025.

Holder of Place was developed by Ardent Fields.

Holder of Place has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked Holder of Place for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Holder of Place is a single player game.

Similar games include SpellRogue, Pyrene, Cross Blitz, StarVaders, Cobalt Core and others.