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XenoShyft

XenoShyft Game Cover
65%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:replayability, music
Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, stability
65% User Score Based on 103 reviews

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XenoShyft Game Cover

About XenoShyft

XenoShyft is a single player and multiplayer casual turn-based strategy game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by CMON and was released on March 29, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Defend yourself against the Hive in this deck-building game for 1 to 4 players!

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XenoShyft screenshot
XenoShyft screenshot
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XenoShyft screenshot
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Reviews

65%Audience ScoreBased on 103 reviews
replayability3 positive mentions
stability13 negative mentions
  • Deep and challenging cooperative deck-building gameplay with meaningful tactical decisions.
  • Faithful adaptation of the physical board game with good replayability and multiple divisions to play.
  • Atmospheric sci-fi theme with appealing card art and music that enhance the experience.
  • Clunky, unintuitive, and buggy user interface that hampers gameplay and frustrates players.
  • Numerous bugs, including freezing, inability to play specific cards, and bugs in multiplayer preventing progress.
  • Multiplayer mode is broken or nonfunctional, with a very small or inactive online community.

  • gameplay

    17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    18% positive mentions, 64% neutral mentions, 18% negative mentions

    The gameplay centers on strategic, card-driven tactical decisions with well-balanced mechanics that reward mastery and arithmetic skills, offering a tense cooperative experience reminiscent of classic sci-fi defense scenarios. While some praise its thoughtful adaptation of board game elements and engaging core loop, others find the mechanics overly simplistic and criticize technical bugs that hinder the experience. Overall, it appeals most to fans of methodical, cooperative card defense games but may frustrate players due to design and stability issues.

    • “The card game mechanics are very well designed and balanced, and the art and music give it a cool Starship Troopers vibe.”
    • “This is one of those games where mastery of the various mechanics and the ability to do simple arithmetic in your head makes a big difference: is there any way I can scrape together enough damage points to destroy this enemy before it attacks and kills my base?”
    • “Ultimately, Xenoshyft stands as a thoughtful and strategic cooperative experience that faithfully translates board game mechanics into digital form.”
    • “Some (or many?) game mechanics are chosen badly.”
    • “The actual game is buggy during gameplay that may result in premature game over.”
    • “Mechanics are too simple, the game looks braindead to me, the sounds and ambiance are really unimpressive, it had no atmosphere to me, it did not reach me at all.”

  • stability

    13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's stability is hindered by frequent bugs, freezes, and glitches, particularly with location powers and turn progression, often requiring restarts. While some recent improvements have reduced crashes, persistent issues and frustrating bugs still detract from the experience. Players recommend the physical board game over the digital version until these problems are fully addressed.

    • “Freezes constantly without recovery; this has been a known issue for some time.”
    • “Buggy, tends to not let you advance sometimes to the next turn; you have to close the whole game and reopen it, hoping it works if you reload your save.”
    • “The actual game is buggy during gameplay, which may result in premature game over.”

  • graphics

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    25% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 75% negative mentions

    The game's graphics feature a dark, militaristic sci-fi aesthetic with excellent detailed artwork, especially in closeups, though the overall presentation is mostly static and focused on card layouts rather than animations.

    • “Artwork is excellent on the close-ups, if macabre.”
    • “While the presentation remains largely static, focusing on card layouts and combat resolutions rather than animated spectacle, the artwork provides strong thematic cohesion.”
    • “Visually, the game embraces a dark, militaristic science fiction aesthetic.”
    • “Graphics work fine.”

  • monetization

    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The game's monetization is heavily ad-driven, with advertisements prominently placed at startup and upon exiting. There is no straightforward quit option in the menu, forcing players to discover the quit function via the escape key, during which ads are aggressively presented. Overall, the design feels bold and intrusive in its marketing approach.

    • “Cannot quit game without seeing ads.”
    • “In fact, there is no quit choice in options list, but there are several links to advertisements.”
    • “Marketing and ads are cornerstone for this game at start up and end -- the designers are very bold in them.”

  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Replayability is a key strength of Xenoshyft, enhanced significantly by the Nortec Elite and Hive expansions, offering players diverse challenges and enduring engagement through faction variety and strategic depth.

    • “Replayability is another important element of Xenoshyft’s design.”
    • “Tons of replay value.”
    • “I enjoyed trying to win with each faction, and feel that both the Nortec Elite and Hive expansions added a great amount of replayability to the game.”

  • music

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The music complements the game’s starship troopers theme well, enhancing the overall atmosphere with a fitting and enjoyable soundtrack.

    • “The card game mechanics are very well designed and balanced, and the art and music give it a cool Starship Troopers vibe.”
    • “I like the Starship Troopers vibe of the card art and the music is not bad either.”

  • atmosphere

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions

    The atmosphere received mixed feedback, with some appreciating the subtle ambient sounds and tense audio cues that enhance the mood, while others found the sound design unimpressive and felt the game lacked an engaging or immersive atmosphere.

    • “Mechanics are too simple, the game looks braindead to me, the sounds and ambiance are really unimpressive, it had no atmosphere to me, it did not reach me at all.”

  • grinding

    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is considered tedious and repetitive, making the overall experience less enjoyable for some players.

    • “This game is tedious to play.”
    • “Simple but grindy... was not fun for me.”

  • story

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The story is well-suited for players who appreciate thoughtful, strategic gameplay and collaboration, though it may not satisfy those looking for fast-paced action or cinematic narratives.

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Play Times

4h Median play time
4h Average play time
4-4h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

XenoShyft is a casual turn-based strategy game with horror and science fiction themes. Common tags for XenoShyft include science, turn-based, indie, card battler, stylized and others.

XenoShyft is available on PC, Mac OS, Phone, iPad and others.

On average players spend around 4 hours playing XenoShyft.

XenoShyft was released on March 29, 2016.

XenoShyft was developed by CMON.

XenoShyft has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked XenoShyft for its replayability but disliked it for its gameplay.

XenoShyft is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Boss Monster, Sentinels of the Multiverse, Mystic Vale, Warhammer Underworlds, Small World and others.