Roguebook

85%
Game Brain Score Based on 1,590 reviews
  • gameplay
  • graphics
  • replayability
Roguebook Game Cover
It was Roguebook which kick-started my obsession with Slay the Spire last year.
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"Roguebook is a single-player Fantasy Turn Based Strategy game with a good plot and great gameplay, featuring marvelous visuals and ingenious music. It offers six hero pairs, each with unique abilities and card collections, for lots of replayability. However, the game is poorly optimized, has lots of bugs and grinding, which might deter some players."

  • Mac OS
  • Nintendo Switch
  • PC
  • Play​station 4
  • Play​station 5
  • Windows
  • Xbox One
  • Xbox Series X|S
  • Linux
  • Play​Station
  • Xbox
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

85%
Audience ScoreBased on 1,590 reviews
gameplay190 positive mentions
grinding46 negative mentions
  • Roguebook offers a fresh take on the deck-building roguelike genre with its unique map exploration mechanics and two-character system.
  • The game features beautiful artwork and animations, creating an engaging atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
  • The combination of characters and their synergies allows for diverse strategies and replayability, making each run feel unique.
  • The game suffers from frequent bugs and crashes, which can disrupt gameplay and lead to lost progress.
  • There is a lack of card removal options, which can lead to bloated decks and diminish the strategic depth of deck-building.
  • The difficulty balance can be inconsistent, with some runs feeling too easy while others can be frustratingly hard due to RNG.
  • gameplay471 mentions

    The gameplay of Roguebook is a blend of familiar deck-building mechanics reminiscent of titles like Slay the Spire, enhanced by unique features such as a hex-based exploration system and a dual-hero mechanic that encourages strategic positioning and synergies. While many players appreciate the depth and variety offered by the game's mechanics, some criticize the pacing and balance, noting that certain elements can feel cumbersome or unoriginal. Overall, the game is praised for its engaging gameplay loop, beautiful art, and innovative mechanics, making it a solid addition to the roguelike deck-building genre.

    • “Roguebook is a delightful addition to the roguelike deck-building genre, offering a fresh take on familiar mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay is super fun, lots of configurations/characters, building a solid deck feels good and finding the OP combos entertaining.”
    • “The exploration mechanic is super rewarding if you take the time to think out the usage of your inks and paintbrushes.”
    • “The gameplay is basically ctrl c + ctrl v.”
    • “The mechanics are boring and absolutely uninspired.”
    • “It ends up being more boring than interesting in actual gameplay.”
  • graphics178 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely praised for their charming hand-drawn art style, vibrant colors, and overall aesthetic appeal, which fits well with the storybook theme. While many reviewers appreciate the beautiful visuals and animations, some note issues such as graphical bugs and longer load times. Overall, the art style is considered a standout feature, enhancing the game's atmosphere despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “The hand-drawn art style is charming and fits perfectly with the game's storybook theme.”
    • “Gorgeous graphics, beautiful music and sound work, engaging strategy, and fun exploration mechanics.”
    • “The graphics are vibrant and well done, the orchestral soundtrack is really fitting to this kind of game and the story, although very simplistic, doesn't overstay its welcome.”
    • “I do have to say it crashes a lot and has some graphical bugs which are annoying.”
    • “There aren't any graphical options I can really do to tweak it, so it's just annoying to have it stutter sometimes.”
    • “The current release has UI bugs and performance-wise is very demanding for the graphics it has; hope the game gets better in the next patches.”
  • replayability89 mentions

    Overall, the game's replayability is a mixed bag; while many players appreciate the strategic depth, character combinations, and procedural elements that enhance replay value, others feel it falls short compared to similar titles like "Slay the Spire." Some reviews highlight a wealth of content and mechanics that encourage multiple playthroughs, while others criticize the lack of meaningful challenges and the potential for repetitiveness. Ultimately, the game's replayability is seen as decent but not exceptional, with room for improvement through future updates and additional content.

    • “Developed by Abrakam Entertainment and co-designed by Richard Garfield, the creator of Magic: The Gathering, this game brings a wealth of strategic depth and replayability to the table.”
    • “The four different characters can be combined in any pairing you like, which gives this immense replayability as you try out strategies to see how the pair can work together.”
    • “The characters are very unique and interesting, and the procedural maps make it infinitely replayable.”
    • “The truth is it has a lot of fun ideas and is a decent deck building game, but the replayability isn't as good as other games of this nature (like Slay the Spire) and its annoying painting system doesn't allow you to really explore each map as much as you would like.”
    • “The problem is it just doesn't have enough to make it replayable at the moment.”
    • “The challenges are very easy and the replayability is gone.”
  • story75 mentions

    The game's story is generally viewed as simplistic and underdeveloped, lacking depth and a cohesive narrative, which leaves players feeling that it is an unfinished project. While the charming art style and whimsical themes enhance the experience, many reviewers express a desire for more substantial world-building and storytelling elements. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the gameplay rather than a driving force, with some players appreciating the character interactions and snippets of lore but ultimately finding it lacking in engagement and replayability.

    • “The hand-drawn art style is charming and fits perfectly with the game's storybook theme.”
    • “The story is interesting, the characters are fun to play, and the many card/character combinations keep me coming back again and again to try out different strategies.”
    • “First off, the art design is lovely; much like Faeria, it oozes with storybook charm, bright colors, and really beautiful character designs.”
    • “The art, music, and story are all subpar.”
    • “The story is very lackluster; there's a bit of explanation of the setting at the tutorial, and that's the end of it.”
    • “The lack of lore and story (gated behind weird difficulty) is making this hard to play as well.”
  • music65 mentions

    The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising its orchestral quality and immersive soundscapes, while others find it generic, repetitive, or forgettable. Many players appreciate the music's ability to enhance the overall atmosphere, though a significant number express disappointment, suggesting it lacks distinctiveness compared to other titles. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's aesthetic for some, it fails to impress others who seek more memorable compositions.

    • “The orchestral soundtrack is really fitting to this kind of game and the story, although very simplistic, doesn't overstay its welcome.”
    • “The music is especially powerful on this front: there was a moment in my first run where I closed my eyes and I was transported back to the rogue encampment in Diablo II.”
    • “Great gameplay, great music, great art.”
    • “The art, music, and story are also all subpar.”
    • “1/10 music... lazy and whimsical.”
    • “What I'm not too impressed by is the music; I'm sure the composer worked really hard on it, but it's mostly just generic-sounding and forgettable orchestral tracks.”
  • grinding47 mentions

    Overall, players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and unbalanced, often feeling like a chore rather than an engaging part of the experience. Many reviews highlight that the meta-progression system requires excessive grinding to unlock essential features, leading to frustration and a sense of repetitiveness. While some players appreciate the aesthetic and initial gameplay, the prolonged grind detracts from the enjoyment, making it difficult to recommend for those seeking a more streamlined or rewarding experience.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The concept of exploring a hexagonal tile map is interesting, but coming from other card battler games, the gameplay feels unoriginal and grindy.”
    • “The leveling system, by the way, is just tedious and much slower than other roguelites, and it feels designed that way to stretch out what little content there is.”
    • “A lot of relatively basic gameplay features are locked behind the meta-progression, which makes very early runs feel more like required grinding than legitimate runs.”
  • stability33 mentions

    The game's stability has been widely criticized, with numerous reports of bugs, crashes, and glitches affecting gameplay. While some players appreciate the game's potential and ongoing updates, many find it difficult to recommend due to the frequency of issues, including UI problems and soft-locks. Overall, it is seen as a fun experience marred by significant stability concerns that need urgent attention.

    • “I mean it's a very fun game and not buggy, but it's very short. Normally, games take so long for me to finish that I get tired of them before completing them, but this... this took so little time.”
    • “If it wasn't buggy, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it and will change my review once bugs are no more.”
    • “This is my favorite roguelike, yet it's almost still hard to recommend for what a buggy piece of shit it is.”
    • “The game freezes and crashes multiple times during a run.”
    • “I watched a number of YouTube videos about this game where all the players seemed to really be liking it and that combined with the UI baited me into purchasing this... however immediately it was clear the videos were paid shills that were completely ignoring how unfinished and buggy the game is.”
  • optimization14 mentions

    The game's optimization has received mixed reviews, with many players noting significant performance issues such as stuttering, freezing, and high VRAM usage, particularly on lower-spec systems. While some appreciate the game's mechanics and potential for optimization, the overall consensus is that it requires further updates to improve stability and performance. Despite its charm, the current state of optimization detracts from the overall experience.

    • “It's a cute mechanic and allows for some different types of optimization during the game.”
    • “If you like these kinds of games, you will love this one. I hope they keep updating the game's performance and adding more characters as the game still feels incomplete.”
    • “For instance, certain cards are good because of some details in the mechanics that are not apparent, because they were not supposed to matter, but that were nevertheless discovered by the player and exploited in a perspective of absolute optimization.”
    • “However, be wary, this game seems incredibly poorly optimized.”
    • “However, the game is constantly stuttering, freezing, and crashing.”
    • “Performance of the game is pretty bad.”
  • atmosphere7 mentions

    The atmosphere of Roguebook is widely praised for its compelling and whimsical storybook-like quality, enhanced by excellent animations, voice lines, and sound effects. While the visuals and music contribute significantly to the game's charm, some players feel that this atmospheric richness does not translate into the gameplay experience. Overall, the game's art and sound design effectively create an engaging environment that complements its roguelike deckbuilding mechanics.

    • “The atmosphere is very compelling and charming.”
    • “The art is great and the atmosphere is storybook-like and whimsical.”
    • “The game's characters, voice lines, sound effects, and art are excellent and really build the atmosphere well.”
  • humor5 mentions

    The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players noting its funny interactions and light-hearted style. Many find it amusing how it contrasts with other games, particularly in its streamlined mechanics and clever references, contributing to an overall enjoyable experience.

    • “Very nice art and funny interactions.”
    • “It's funny that I have to call this out because so many games make you click 5 times to exit.”
    • “It has a fun and light (humorous) style that is closer to 'mt' but has much better world building and general aesthetics like 'sts'.”
  • monetization5 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game has been widely criticized as a shallow cash grab, with players expressing concerns that it undermines the overall quality and integrity of the game. Many users are wary of the focus on monetization, fearing it may lead to a decline in player engagement similar to previous titles. While some are open to DLC if it supports ongoing content development, the current approach has left a negative impression.

    • “Honestly, both packs are just really cringey, low effort, shallow cash grabs that cast a bad light on the game as a whole.”
    • “The last one (artifact) also launched with monetization as a priority, and is all but dead; let's hope this doesn't see the same fate.”
    • “Within hours, they were flooded with complaints, as most assumed this was a scummy cash grab for a product the team must not have faith in.”
  • character development3 mentions

    Character development in the game receives mixed reviews; while some praise the charming art design and beautiful character aesthetics, others criticize the animations for being stiff and the overall character cohesion as uninspired.

    • “First off, the art design is lovely; much like Faeria, it oozes with storybook charm, bright colors, and really beautiful character designs.”
    • “Overall, the game feels right; it's snappy, the combat and effects are satisfying, and I'm really taken by the character designs.”
    • “The animations feel stiff and unnatural; it seems like they just took a character model and stretched it in Photoshop. The character designs are uninspired, and none of it feels cohesive.”
    • “Character progression is shallow and lacks meaningful choices, making it hard to feel invested in the characters' journeys.”
    • “The dialogue options are limited and often lead to predictable outcomes, which diminishes the impact of character development.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    Players report experiencing strong emotional responses, with some expressing joy to the point of tears, highlighting the game's ability to evoke positive feelings and a sense of fulfillment.

    • “I cried happy tears!”
    • “That made me feel good.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

79% average critic score

Buy Roguebook

Play time

20hMedian play time
29hAverage play time
10-50hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 22 analyzed playthroughs

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