Quantum Protocol

About

Quantum Protocol is a single player tactical turn-based strategy game with fantasy, comedy, anime and science fiction themes. It was developed by Kaio Meris and was released on November 4, 2020. It received very positive reviews from players.

A visual novel deckbuilding card game where it's always your turn. Play as the master hackers of Quantum and take on the most dangerous malware in the world. Every action matters. Make plays, upgrade your deck, and break the enemy board!

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91%

Audience ScoreBased on 243 reviews

gameplay37 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Unique and innovative gameplay that blends deckbuilding and puzzle elements, requiring strategic planning and careful sequencing of moves.
Diverse and well-designed decks each with distinct playstyles and synergies, offering a lot of replayability and depth.
High-quality art, music, and UI that complement the cyberpunk/anime theme and help immerse the player in the game world.

Steep learning curve with complex mechanics, card effects, and keywords that can overwhelm new players, especially early on.
Lack of traditional deckbuilding freedom; decks come prebuilt and deck modifications during runs feel limited and RNG-dependent.
High difficulty and unforgiving design, with long levels and boss fights lacking checkpoints, which can make failure frustrating and cause significant replay time.

gameplay
150 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
73%
2%
The gameplay of Quantum Protocol is deeply strategic, featuring intricate and unique deck-building mechanics that emphasize tactical positioning, resource management, and puzzle-like decision-making. While it has a steep learning curve, the game offers a rewarding and engaging experience through diverse decks, innovative mechanics like row execution and deck reconfiguration mid-battle, and a smooth, well-paced difficulty progression. Most reviewers highlight the gameplay as the primary strength, praising its originality, challenge, and addictiveness, making it a must-try for fans of complex card and roguelike strategy games.
- “The result is a deckbuilder that's unlike any other I know of, where the mechanics are fresh, the gameplay is tense, and each action matters.”
- “The core gameplay itself revolves around breaking the enemy's formation by placing and using your own cards into the right position at the right time.”
- “The gameplay mechanics has a pretty rough learning curve, but once you get over that hump the game starts to open up and shine wonderfully as a deckbuilder roguelite.”
- “This gameplay is only compounded at boss fights, which regularly gets me in situations where both my board and my hand are empty, and my deck is locked for 4-5 turns.”
- “Instead, like a poorly-taught school class, I had to endure boring lessons on each mechanic before finally having to use all of them at once.”
story
135 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
78%
3%
The story in this game is generally described as light, simple, and somewhat shallow, serving mainly as a vehicle to introduce and support the gameplay rather than being deeply engaging or complex. While some find the dialogue corny or clichéd, others appreciate its charm, humor, and the way it connects characters and missions through visual novel-style segments. Overall, the story is considered enjoyable but not the game's highlight, with most depth and challenge emerging in post-story roguelike content.
- “Quantum Protocol is ultimately quite shy about its depth, teaching you its mechanics without ever insisting on holding your hand toward fixed solutions (aside from the puzzles in the story trying to make sure you get how a mechanic works). It asks you to make your own observations and see what works through the safe practice environment of its story, then the challenging but fair and impossibly addicting roguelite mode of ascendancy.”
- “The corny, cutesy story, while riddled with stilted dialogue and anime tropes, still manages to be heartfelt and gives you just enough connection to the characters and world, without overstaying its welcome.”
- “Great card-based gameplay with lots of control over how exactly you develop your deck and significant focus on positioning activated cards on the playing field, fantastic visuals, solid music, and, while it's not necessarily out of this world, an engaging story presented via fairly short, but numerous visual novel segments.”
- “By the way, the story is garbage; however, the dialogue is quite alright. If you give the game a try, just don't expect anything too deep or meaningful.”
- “The story is bare-bones and disjointed, told in dialogue only by a constantly growing cast of characters that’s honestly hard to keep track of.”
- “Considering the story’s weakness and the high gameplay-to-story ratio, I can’t recommend Quantum Protocol to visual novel fans looking for a decent story with a bit of gameplay.”
music
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
29%
7%
The music in the game is widely praised for being energetic, catchy, and fitting perfectly with the gameplay and visuals, often described as superb or amazing with chiptune and techno influences. While some note the soundtrack can become repetitive or an earworm due to limited tracks, most players find it enhances the overall experience and atmosphere significantly. The soundtrack is so well-regarded that it has even been made available for purchase.
- “The music is amazing, like Necrodancer levels of good in my opinion. The character art and backgrounds all look amazing, the visual novel part is funny, and the gameplay is very satisfying and unique enough that an experienced roguelike player has something to learn.”
- “Very fun and interesting take on the deck-building genre, and I cannot stress enough, one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a game.”
- “A fun card game that'll push you as far as you want to be pushed, with music I personally enjoyed enough to express interest in the soundtrack, plus a friendly community on Discord where you can find people to talk to or get help.”
- “Psa, play with the music off, the soundtrack is a hell of an earworm because there's basically only one song.”
- “It simply has to compete with the outstanding game mechanics, crisp UI, and small but fitting soundtrack.”
- “Sound: the background music tracks dip into the chiptune realm and match the atmosphere pretty well, usually flavored around the respective stage's overall theme.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
58%
34%
8%
The game's graphics are generally praised for their clean, attractive anime-style visuals, detailed character art, and well-designed backgrounds that complement the gameplay and story. While some users find the in-battle visuals simpler or inconsistent compared to other artwork, the overall aesthetic is considered charming and fitting, enhancing the immersive experience. The combination of stylish art and solid UI supports an engaging card game environment appreciated by most players.
- “An excellent and creative twist on the card game with proactive and snappy gameplay, interesting storyline and characters, and gorgeous graphics.”
- “The artwork is lovely, and the anime-style character art and detailed sci-fi backgrounds mesh well with the more minimal pixel artwork on the cards.”
- “The other elements of the game are overall good - UX is solid, visuals are clean and even attractive in that utilitarian way, and the music and sound design greatly add to the experience.”
- “Kinda lacking in the graphics department in my opinion but still a good game overall.”
- “Also leans too hard on GPU for a game with 2D graphics.”
- “Unfortunately, this is in stark contrast to the in-battle visuals which are serviceable, but very simple, and not close enough to matching the artwork that came before it.”
replayability
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
44%
34%
22%
The game offers high replayability through its ascension system, diverse character decks, and a postgame roguelike mode with randomized levels and challenging bosses. The combination of unique deck strategies, random card drops, and multiple progression layers ensures varied gameplay experiences. While some randomized dungeons are less engaging than constructed ones, overall the game's structure and variety strongly encourage repeated play.
- “And once you finally, finally manage to bust through the obscenely hard final dungeon, the game offers an exceptionally replayable mode that feels like a mini roguelike, with randomized waves, more control over your deckbuilding, insane bosses, and some absolutely delicious rewards if you manage to pull off a win.”
- “This makes it so that the dungeon levels, which are the main parts of the game, have added replayability due to the random nature of card drops, and the numerous deck types you can build using the various character's card sets, or after progressing the game enough, potentially mixing archetypes from characters.”
- “My current early impression is that the random dungeons aren't as interesting as the constructed ones, and this may impact the game's replay value.”
- “Then you reach the postgame, and it's like all of those story missions were just an extended tutorial teaching you all the fundamentals so it can kick off the training wheels and really let you start jamming freestyle in a replayable roguelike environment.”
humor
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is consistently praised as funny and enjoyable, often balancing charm with wit without feeling cringy. Players appreciate the engaging, amusing dialogue that complements the interesting story and unique setting. Overall, the humor adds a lighthearted and entertaining touch to the experience.
- “The gameplay is smooth and engaging, the art is beautiful, and the dialog is hilarious.”
- “The music is amazing, like Necrodancer levels of good IMO, the character art and the backgrounds all look amazing, the visual novel part is nothing mindblowing but it is funny, and the gameplay is very satisfying and unique enough that an experienced roguelike player has something to learn.”
- “The dialogue is funny, and the story is pretty interesting.”
atmosphere
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by a refined, unobtrusive UI that complements its sci-fi setting, while the chiptune-inspired background music effectively matches each stage's theme, adding personality and cohesion to the world and characters.
- “Menu and UI design is refined and subtle, not getting in the way and fitting into the whole sci-fi atmosphere.”
- “The background music tracks dip into the chiptune realm and match the atmosphere pretty well, usually flavored around the respective stage's overall theme.”
- “It does what it does very well: setting up the atmosphere of the game and giving personality to the characters and the world while bridging the paths between the battles.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The story evokes genuine emotional reactions, blending heartfelt moments with corny, cutesy elements and familiar anime tropes. Despite some stilted dialogue, it establishes a meaningful connection to the characters and world without dragging on.
- “It's definitely one of the stories of all time, a certain character genuinely made me feel secondhand embarrassment when she [spoiler] decided to hack the production servers of her mom's company just to prove a point.”
- “The corny, cutesy story, while riddled with stilted dialogue and anime tropes, still manages to be heartfelt and gives you just enough connection to the characters and world, without overstaying its welcome.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game can feel tedious and frustrating, especially when players are not invested in the story. Replaying multiple waves after repeated failures may detract from the overall enjoyment and challenge.
- “If you're not invested in the story, the side-missions and puzzles might feel tedious.”
- “Even when losing due to my own poor strategy (often, to be honest), having to continually replay a dozen waves I had done to get to the final boss who I couldn’t figure out ended up feeling more tedious and frustrating than a fun challenge.”
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is praised for its vibrant and distinct character designs, each full of personality and style, making the characters feel lively and engaging.