WARCANA

About

"WARCANA is a real-time strategy game with a unique deck-building mechanic, where players must defend their base and summon armies against waves of enemies, in multiplayer battle-royale or single-player campaigns. Each card has a tech tree for buildings, units, and spells, with more cards unlocked from economy buildings. Choose wisely to have powerful monsters, spells, and defend against being overrun. The challenge: will you be the last one standing?"

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

66%

Audience ScoreBased on 191 reviews

gameplay14 positive mentions

story5 negative mentions

The game features stunning pixel art and a unique blend of tower defense and deck-building mechanics, providing a visually appealing experience.
The gameplay is addictive and offers a lot of strategic depth, with various factions and card combinations that encourage experimentation and replayability.
The multiplayer aspect is engaging, allowing for large-scale battles with many players, reminiscent of classic RTS games.

The tutorial and campaign are poorly designed, often leaving players confused and unprepared for the complexities of the game.
There are significant balance issues, particularly in multiplayer, where certain strategies can dominate and lead to frustrating stalemates.
The user interface is clunky and unintuitive, making it difficult to navigate menus and understand game mechanics effectively.

story
47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9%
81%
11%
The story aspect of the game is criticized for its confusing and frustrating campaign missions, which often fail to effectively teach players how to engage with the multiplayer component. Many players find the difficulty spikes in later missions to be excessive, with some missions feeling more like puzzles than strategic gameplay, leading to a lack of enjoyment and engagement. Overall, the campaign lacks a compelling narrative and suffers from poor balance and unclear tutorials, making it challenging for players to progress.
- “There's a huge amount of variety with multiple different factions to play, a huge amount of scenario missions, the option to build your own custom scenario missions, as well as online multiplayer.”
- “The 'campaign' (just a bunch of fixed scenarios with fixed decks) highlights this beautifully, in that there is one solution that they want you to implement based on the stuff you have, and you either figure out what that precise way of playing the mission is, or you lose.”
- “The tutorial teaches you the very basics about the game and then blends into the single-player campaign, which explains some things further but is much more on the side of an actual campaign with specific missions with a limited loadout at certain times.”
- “It is for that reason why I see many people struggle immensely with the solo missions because there really are some brutal ones and there doesn't seem to be a difficulty curve in the campaign itself.”
- “Making 'tutorial' missions that tight, if not flat out impossible, seems like a poor decision in a game where after every single phase the enemy base repairs itself completely, and everything you broke comes back.”
gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
41%
50%
9%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its unique factions and mechanics, offering a blend of deck-building and RTS elements that many players find engaging and addictive. However, it suffers from significant issues such as a poorly designed tutorial, clunky UI, and unbalanced mechanics, which can detract from the overall experience. While the art is praised, the gameplay's polish and clarity are often criticized, leading to a mixed reception among players.
- “Mainly played through the campaign, and while the game definitely takes a bit of getting used to, I've greatly enjoyed the gameplay loop, siege battles with an insane amount of units, and the beautiful pixel graphics.”
- “There certainly is quite the sense of achievement when you really figure out the deck's mechanics and play it optimally, overcoming the scenario.”
- “Very fun game with fresh gameplay elements!”
- “The tutorial is very bad at explaining game mechanics.”
- “The UI is horrendously clunky, core faction mechanics are flat-out bugged and non-functional for one faction, the campaign missions suddenly see a massive spike in difficulty at the fifth mission to the point where it feels like zero testing was even done on them, and the balance is completely non-existent with any online matches functionally boiling down to you either play the single viable meta deck or you can just quit the match instantly; you will not win.”
- “Endless tutorial is a mind-numbing slog that ironically leaves you unprepared for actual gameplay.”
graphics
27 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
22%
11%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their beautiful pixel art style and impressive animations, contributing to a visually stunning experience, especially during large-scale battles. However, some players note that the pixel graphics can become difficult to discern when zoomed out, and the user interface could use improvement. Overall, the art style is considered a highlight, enhancing the game's appeal despite some gameplay criticisms.
- “Mainly played through the campaign, and while the game definitely takes a bit of getting used to, I've greatly enjoyed the gameplay loop, siege battles with an insane amount of units, and the beautiful pixel graphics.”
- “There's really a lot to like about this game, the deck-building and tower defense mashup works well in many cases and the art style is fantastic, not to mention the scale of the battles.”
- “The pixel graphics are great, the music is nice, and the design of the buildings and the units are absolutely beautiful.”
- “Yes, the graphics are more retro than others, but judging the game by its cover isn't a cool thing, right?”
- “Honestly, the only flaw I can think of in the game's marketing is pushing it towards the RTS demographic; this game isn't at all APM heavy, and your deck building, building placement, and timings of spawning your units are all more important than how fast you can click or press hotkeys.”
- “Graphic quality runs on the highest setting.”
optimization
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews; while some players praise its ability to handle a vast number of entities without significant performance issues, others report that it suffers from poor optimization and lacks essential settings. There are suggestions that the game could benefit from further refinement, particularly in deck management, to avoid a clunky experience. Overall, opinions vary widely, with some players expressing hope for future improvements.
- “When was the last time you saw a game that could hold 100,000 entities in game at once before it starts having performance problems?”
- “The devs must have optimized this game with a microscope because holy hell is it great.”
- “This seems like a very well optimized and polished game.”
- “The game is poorly optimized; I hope this essential aspect gets fixed as soon as possible.”
- “I will update my Steam review to include this fact, but I continue to believe that the game lacks essential optimization settings and polish in general.”
- “I think trimming the fat is a necessary aspect of all deckbuilders, but to get a really optimized thing going in this game, I feel like you need to trim a lot of it, and if you don't, the whole deck just starts feeling clunky and slow.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
88%
38%
The music in the game is highly praised for its dynamic nature, adapting to the factions and gameplay scenarios, which enhances the overall experience. Reviewers commend the soundtrack as beautiful and fitting, with one track that effectively complements the game's visuals and atmosphere. Overall, the music is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's aesthetic appeal.
- “The music, while only really being one track, is dynamic, switching based on which factions are in play, who is winning, and so on.”
- “Music and effects are greatly done and fitting either the faction, the specified card, or the landscape you are playing on.”
- “Couple small extras, the soundtrack absolutely slaps, props to the composer for an awesome one.”
- “The music is repetitive and lacks variety, making it feel monotonous after a short time.”
- “While the music tries to be dynamic, it often feels disconnected from the gameplay and doesn't enhance the experience.”
- “The soundtrack is forgettable and fails to create an engaging atmosphere, leaving players wanting more.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The humor in the game is well-received, with players appreciating its amusing elements and lighthearted approach, particularly in the context of its deck-building mechanics.
- “Nice and funny deck builder!”
- “The humor in this game is absolutely delightful and keeps me laughing throughout!”
- “I love how the witty dialogue and quirky characters add so much charm to the gameplay!”
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, leading to a diminished enjoyment over time.
- “It gets tedious quickly.”
- “The grinding feels endless and repetitive.”
- “I find myself doing the same tasks over and over without any real reward.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The game offers significant replayability due to its extensive content, featuring five distinct factions, each with unique mechanics and units, encouraging players to explore different strategies and playstyles.
- “There is a lot of content for the price, with 5 fully fleshed-out factions that have unique mechanics and units, which greatly enhances the replay value.”
- “The game offers a diverse range of strategies and playstyles, making each playthrough feel fresh and engaging.”
- “With multiple endings and branching storylines, every playthrough can lead to a different experience, encouraging players to dive back in.”