Thank you, that is similar to my thoughts.
Interestingly, after reading https://blog.roguetemple.com/what-is-a-traditional-roguelike/ it seems that the only missing element is perma-death/no saves, which is the easiest thing to "add" during the jam by simply not implementing save/load :)
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Turn-based deck-builder, minimal visuals, focus on advanced strategies and builds.
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itch.io Community » General » Release Announcements · Created a new topic Hardcore deckbuilder with minimalistic visuals: Way to Crown
Play here: https://alsoknown.itch.io/way-to-crown
I am building a free browser deck-builder, with the goal to approximate old classic roguelike feeling by sacrificing fancy visuals in favor of more varied and rich gameplay.
Currently game has 300+ cards, 160+ items, 130+ monsters, 110+ quests, 9 heroes, 25+ achievements.
Few design points:
The UI is influenced by browser-based idle games, packing as much information as possible while staying clean and clear. All graphics are static sprites, most animations are intended to give visual feedback, not for artistic value.
Basic game loop is very simple, but there are lots of mechanics and interactions, and complexity grows rapidly. This game is intended for experienced players, who might prefer to focus on deep and challenging gameplay with minimal visual distractions.
All resources are permanent during entire game -- your life, mana, etc do not replenish automatically neither at the end of turn nor at the end of battle. This makes every decision more consequential -- even killing the first small rat inefficiently might decrease your chances for entire run.
Cards stay in hand at the end of turn, but hand size is limited. This makes hand and draw/discard manipulation more nuanced.
Game balance is built around breaking the game :) There are multitudes of overpowered synergies and combinations of every kind -- infinite attacks, exponential poisoning, stacking debuffs to one-shot bosses, infinite gold grinding, even 'time manipulation' combos which allow you to play your entire deck with one card. And I hope there are more I did not anticipate myself.
The points is: game-breaking in roguelikes is a great source of fun, so long as the method is different every time. So I balance overpowered things by adding even more of those :) Of course. game-breaking should not be free: player has to plan ahead and take risks to assemble the desired combination (or stumble at it randomly, which is also lots of fun).
There are no restrictions across characters -- any hero can play any card. This also influences balance -- inspired by action roguelikes, especially Brotato. The more options you have, the less likely you will find the exact card you aimed for, which forces player to adapt and use more diverse set of builds. I am unable to remember card-builder with similar idea -- please tell me if you know one!
All rogue-lite elements are completely optional -- there is 'Unlock all content' checkbox in the settings, allowing you to switch between 'play to unlock' and 'true rogue like' modes at any time.
The game is overall quite hard, definitely not intended for beginners in this genre. At the default difficulty, my win rate is about 50%, and I have not yet managed to win once with all difficulty settings turned on.
So, your feedback is very welcome, both on the principles above and the game itself.