I've once again stumbled onto this game. Three years ago, I left a bitter, vaguely passive-aggressive comment, and I feel like this game deserves a slightly better review, one less clogged with salt.
Aesthetically, this game is stellar. Clearly, a lot of care and effort has been put into the way that its elements look and feel, from the butter-smooth tweens and slides in all its GUI to the smaller details, like the way that hint tiles are thrown into the air from the stake's impact. One touch I particularly appreciated was the grayscale, bit-crushed vampire portraits; they exude uncanny, inhuman menace in a way that works perfectly for the tone.
I deeply admire the visual style on display here, which makes the gameplay they serve so much more disappointing. The core issue, I think, is that the elements of risk create boredom, rather than excitement. The omnipresent threat of completely wiping your save file severely discourages risky play, especially in the last few levels. For all the prompting the game does to "double down," the temptation of taking a 50/50 on the stake after seven draws, or on a risky hint card, or on the direct verbal invitation of your undead dealer, my response was always some variation of the sentiment "no, that's a stupid and self-destructive idea, why would I risk all of my progress for a few extra millilitres?"
Without that high-roller's thrill, what risk is left only serves to create frustration. I find it especially aggrevating that rounds can be lost before even using a single hint card, especially against Orlok, who I swear ends more than half of all rounds like this before they've even begun.
So, those are my thoughts. Full disclosure, I have not finished this game: I very quickly grew bored of the cycle of "duel Zver 5 times for a blood safety buffer, duel Orlok to lose it all on three one-turn rounds, repeat." It's a game I really want to enjoy for its sheer visual style alone, but the gameplay just lets it down for me. I dunno, maybe I'm just too risk-averse to really enjoy gambling, whether the fake PICO-8 game kind or otherwise.
I've been playing this game on and off for over a week now and I seriously can't get above 400ml for these reasons. For some reason, it feels like 1/3 of the rounds I play, even the "easy" ones, the first or second card I flip turns out to be the Vampire card. I would love to finish the game but it feels like at this rate it'll take me at least a month and I think I may get bored before then.
The trick, I find, is to always gun straight for the square. Use the square and arrows to carve out safe space and don't be afraid to pass. Pass literally every game if you need to. You can only lose up to 5 stakes by passing, and that's by literally passing before even flipping any cards yourself. You start with 1 flipped and lose 2 effective flipped by passing, so you lose 1 stake.