Recent reviews by Kittz

A stunning rogue-like deck builder. Wasn't fully convinced when a friend told me to check out the NextFest demo for this, as I'm not much of a poker player and the aesthetic didn't really speak to me, but I downloaded it anyway... and when I looked up it was 4AM on a work night. Whoops.

After putting 7 hours into the demo and another 4 into the full game, I can whole-heartedly recommend this one. Having poker hands as the basic scoring mechanics is inspired, giving most players a basic familiarity with the game's systems right out the gate, and the satisfaction of then twisting those rules and your deck to your whims brings is off the charts.

Building synergies between jokers, up-ranking specific hand types, and applying various different modifiers to your cards is incredibly compelling, the game constantly putting you to tough decisions about where you should invest your hard-earned money in order to get that killer deck rolling. Having the "boss blinds" at the end of each ante with specific abilities that hard-counter certain deck types presents another complicating challenge, discouraging one trick approaches and often requiring swift retooling of your deck in preparation.

The vaporwave aesthetic has quickly grown on me, giving Balatro a super chill vibe that's a joy to spend time with (and also somewhat helping with the frustration of getting a promising run shut down by a couple bad beats or an unlucky boss blind). There's a huge amount of unlock meta-progression already in the game in the form of 150 jokers with wild abilities, and winning runs unlocks different starting decks favouring specific approaches providing a nice way to mix things up from the jump if you're getting bored.

TL;DR: A truly incredible execution of an inspired concept. Buy it as long as you're okay with not sleeping and having the theme tune playing as your internal muzak for the next few weeks.

Absolutely excellent game from the people who brought us Monster Train who've crafted a beautiful, colourful, creative setting for a truly delightful take on turn based strategy. The various character classes all play very differently, and the various interlocking itemisation systems ensure that there's plenty of variety even within each class. There's also a huge amount of content in terms of quests and unlockables for progression, plus they've recently completely removed their season pass and other heavy-handed monetisation. I'm yet to find anyone I know to play this with me so I can't speak to the multiplayer component yet, but I can see this being insanely good fun with a friend or two along for the ride.

As someone who spends all day working at their PC I tend to steer clear from games that are mouse/keyboard-centric since the last thing I want to do after a long day is stay sat in the same chair for the next 4 hours. Across The Obelisk has transcended this prejudice of mine and kept me absolutely glued to my desk for the last few days.

This rogue-lite deck builder is an absolute gem. Mechanically it shares a lot of its core DNA with Slay The Spire alongside a few strands of Darkest Dungeon, but with plenty of it's own idea up in the mix too. There're some unique in-battle mechanics such as manipulating your party's/the enemy's speed to take advantage of the turn order and the addition of Sight as a debuff that reveals the next x cards the target enemy is going to play. There's also a whole host of interesting systems outside battles, with extensive progression in the form of per-character perk trees, your party composition & previous choices affecting the options available to you during events, mini-dungeons appearing at nodes on the world map, and that's not to mention the most exciting addition (which I have still yet to try out): four player co-op!

Sufficed to say that I'm currently at 23 hours played, and can't see myself stopping any time soon. My lower back is saying "oh hell no", but my dopamine receptors aren't listening.

I don't often write reviews, but somehow I don't see anyone else on my friends list playing this right now, and more people need to know just how good this game is.

Chronicle is a fascinating take on the digital CCG. My initial comparisons to Hearthstone brought on by the interface were quickly dispelled as I started to understand how the chapter-based PvE/PvP mix fundamentally changes the way you need to approach the game.

Trying to work out not just what the next card your opponent is likely to play, but also where in the turn they're likely to play it and how you need to react as a result is a great twist on classic CCG mechanics. As the "chapters" (turns) play out 4 cards at a time, you'll find yourself having to evolve your overarching strategy on-the-fly after each, and watching your opponent's turn play out alongside your own is a frequently nail-biting experience.

There's a versus AI mode where you unlock the additional Legends (classes) and nab a few free card packs along the way. The F2P model itself is very similar to Blizzard's, with a discounted 12-pack starter bundle available that I hopped on immediately. There's plenty to enjoy here for free though, and it seems as though buying packs exclusively through the currency earned in matches would be totally viable for those so inclined.

TL;DR: This is a genuinely different digital CCG in a sea of also-rans, and it's well worth checking out. Awesome work, devs!

It's my favourite game. Ever.