#roguelike deck-builders

[linuxgamenews]

Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle Offers Fun Games

Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle comes loaded with epic roguelike deck-builders games for Linux, Steam Deck, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the folks at Humble Bundle for making this happen. Which you can find as a pay what you want bundle. If you like deck-building releases, then buckle up because the Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle is here to deal you a winning hand. This isn’t just another card game collection — it’s a full-on roguelike deck-building bonanza. Due to offer you strategy, luck, and a bit of chaos come together for endless good times. And the best part? You get to make your friends look absolutely ridiculous in some friendly (or not so friendly) card battles. The pack is full of some of the best roguelike deck-builder titles out there. We’re talking HELLCARD, Backpack Hero, and a whole bunch of other great titles that take classic card game mechanics. While mixing mix that with roguelike progression for some seriously addictive gameplay. Whether you like planning out the perfect strategy or just winging it with whatever the deck throws at you, these releases will keep you hooked.

Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle offers 3 Tiers

Pay at least $12 USD for these 2 items

Death Roads: Tournament (via ProtonDB)

Ash of Gods: The Way (via ProtonDB)

$16 USD gets you all 4 of these items

Hadean Tactics

Backpack Hero

$20 USD for all 6 items

Fights in Tight Spaces Complete Edition (Verified via ProtonDB)

HELLCARD (Verified via ProtonDB)

Normally, picking up all these Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle releases would set you back around $149 USD. But thanks to Humble Bundle, you get to choose your price and grab them for way less. Starting at just $12 USD, you’ll get Steam keys for some titles that also run natively on Linux. If you’re on Steam Deck, be sure to check the Proton compatibility before diving in.

Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle Supports Charity

And it gets even better — your purchase helps support The ESA Foundation and other charities. You decide where your money goes, whether it’s more to the devs, the charity, or even leaving a Humble Tip if you like what they do. So not only do you score an amazing collection of deck-building titles, but you also get to do some good while you’re at it. This is a limited-time bundle, so don’t sit on it for too long. If you’re a fan of roguelike deck-builders, this is your chance to grab a killer lineup for a fraction of the price. Get the Humble Deckbuilder Bonanza Bundle now and start shuffling your way to victory in a pay what you want bundle. Along with support for Linux, Steam Deck, Mac, and Windows PC

[madame-helen]

[clumsybearstudio]

The Hungry Horrors free demo is out now on Steam!

It’s our first ever Steam release – and we’re nervous, excited, and very sleep-deprived.

We’d love for you to check it out.

Hungry Horrors is a pixel art roguelite deckbuilder where you feed legendary monsters from British and Irish folklore instead of fighting them. Build your deck with traditional dishes like Yorkshire Pudding, Boxty, and Bara Brith. Each card is a meal, and every monster has their own taste.

Get it right? They let you pass.

Get it wrong? You become the next meal.

If you’re into:

• roguelites with actual strategy

• folklore, fairytales, and mythological creatures

• games like Slay the Spire or Hades

• cooking mechanics that aren’t just minigames

• grim but whimsical pixel art

…then you might just enjoy this.

The demo includes:

• 2 full biomes

• 6 unique monsters and 2 bosses

• over 20 traditional dishes

• deckbuilding, buffs, and branching paths

• and a really grumpy Buggane that hates potatoes

We’ve made everything in Godot, drawn every pixel in Aseprite, and poured our hearts (and stress) into getting this playable on Steam – including Mac, Linux, and Steam Deck.

If you give it a try, let us know what you think! Reviews help us so much with visibility right now, especially as a 2-person team self-funding everything.

Thanks for being part of this weird little cooking horror journey.

[bilgetbd]

I released the alpha version of my new game "Balls, Dice & Stickers" on itch!!

it’s a roguelike deckbuilder where you throw balls at dice and use stickers to trigger wild effects

you can play the web version here: https://bilgetbd.itch.io/balls-dice-stickers

I really appreciate any feedback! thank you!

[calvincell]

Critical PSA to Balatro or Mahjong or general Roguelike Deckbuilder Lovers for the amazing looking upcoming game ULTIMAHJONG!

ULTIMAHJONG is in the exact spirit of the likes of Balatro, Bingle Bingle & other casino/gambling-based roguelikes/deckbuilders that have been inundating the indie gaming scene recently and which I’ve personally been happily drowning in! In this case the base game is Mahjong & it’s straight up Riichi Mahjong based thankfully rather than the deluge of puzzle solitaire tile matching games that overwhelm Steam

Currently has playable demo on top of being Wishlistable. The dev predicts a release this year & I’m absolutely purchasing it on day one if for nothing else than to reward a halfway legitimate Mahjong game!

Speaking of the dev, they themselves ran through a few rounds of the early game to show it off:

Don’t know how many this post will reach but I’m happy to do my part to raise the population of Mahjong Enthusiasts out here on top of supporting innovative indie devs & their projects!

EDIT:

My luck finding out about these types of personally niche games seems to remain at an all time high because I’m obliged to update this post with a 2nd Roguelike Mahjong Deckbuilder on the horizon: AOTENJO

Similar to ULTIMAHJONG in intent but with its own distinct style & also has a free demo on Steam to try out.

One of AOTENJO’s major features is the inclusion of multiple regional mahjong variants to enrich the variety of the play experience!

Unlike in the case of ULTIMAHJONG, AOTENJO’s developer XO Cat’s YT channel (under the moniker NonToxicEel), lacks a similar in-depth breakdown of the game’s demo but does have a few videos attempting speedruns of the demo and are still a recommended watch to get the game flow & feel they’re aiming for:

Once again, I happily embrace the Mahjong renaissance we seem to be getting in our post-Mahjong Soul & Balatro indie gaming landscape!

AND UPDATE EDIT!!

Genuinely never expected this post to do so many numbers here on Tumblr but I’m truly glad to see it. Especially since AOTENJO has launched into Early Access as AOTENJO: Infinite Hands!

It’s got a 12% discount from its $9.99 price for these first 2 weeks of its Early Access launch on Steam! Already bought it myself in a hurry & have money set aside for when ULTIMAHJONG decides to finally join us.

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

My cold-sweat fear is that someone well-versed in TCG will see me playing a roguelike deckbuilder, snap their fingers, point at me, and say;

"Yugioh player."

[lysander171-blog]

Hades, Slay the Spire, and Monster Train all getting sequels in 2025 is the best thing to happen to video games since 2020

[videogamepolls]

Requested by anon

[rya-rants]

I cooked so fucking hard in this Slay the Spire run.

I decided that I wanted to try and do a status card build as the Ironclad so I was taking all the reckless charge's and power through's I could find and then on the first shop I found medkit for sale. It was like the stars aligned for me in this very moment and everything fell into place like clockwork. I got an apotheosis in the next shop and was able to get a bottled lightning to guarantee it on first turn. Then I got a dark embrace so I was able to basically turn the power through's into cheap block cards that also let me draw 2. After that I was able to find a bunch of bloodletting's and offering's and I got 2 ruptures at the very end before the heart fight. On turn 4 of the heart I was basically able to drain all my health till I got 999 block and 200 strength so I folded the damn heart into pieces.

This run felt so fucking good, I don't think I'll ever be able to cook to this extent again.

[allegedly-human]

[mousymurder]

i'm working on a silly little roguelike deck builder

hello! over the course of a year or so i've been working on-and-off on a roguelike deck builder game based off of foods, called Flavor Freaks. it's been coming along really well lately and i may be ready to release a little sample soon. for now, here's some footage of a failed run :_)

if you thing its cool, please reblog so i can spread the good word(tm) of these flavored freaks. also, if you have any questions about this or anything, i should have my asks open so feel free to freak it over there. i need something to do during work.

[gremlingirlsmell]

tried something new today! recorded a video instead of streaming! i played and tried the demo of Card Draw!

it's a deckbuilder where you try getting the highest number with drawing cards with math, number manipulation and randomness. it gets really confusing really fast :3

[newbiespud]

Griftlands: Three For All - Announcement

Over the past few months, maybe even the past year, I've occasionally mentioned an idea for a second big Griftlands mod, one last hurrah to cap off my time with the game after Arint's Last Day and Grift the Spire. But I haven't gone into great detail about what this mod idea actually is, have I? I've been doing so much pre-production planning that I haven't really had the time to go into the basics. Let's fix that!

The Grifters Join Forces!

Anyone remember the cinematic early access trailer for Griftlands? How it greatly implies there's a story where the three grifters are brought together by chance and team up? And that didn't really end up anywhere in the game because it was just to show off how the main characters operate?

Let's make this tantalizing concept a reality!

The story of Three For All picks up where the trailer leaves off. All three grifters - Sal, Rook, and Smith, some time after the events of their main stories - are in Pearl-on-the-Foam, figuring out what these strange devices they've all collected are and why every faction in Havaria seems to be after them. In order to survive, collect the rest of the devices, and get paid, they'll have to team up, utilize their connections and skills, and watch each other's backs. If they can trust each other.

Choose Your Character and Party Up!

Three For All is a story about all three grifters working together. But, you get to decide who's taking the lead. You can start the campaign as any of the three grifters and the other two will be your NPC party members. Instead of being three separate campaigns, it's one campaign that can handle multiple playable characters, plus different routes when the grifters must sometimes split up, and even altered dialogue in many conversations!

This extends to battle and negotiation as well! You can play through many of the same conflicts as any of the grifters and the other two will back you up! You're a proper party now!

Of course, this means that battles and negotiations will be a bit harder on balance. Many factions are after the same things you are!

("But what if the other two grifters die in battle?" You might ask. You're right, that would get very complicated very fast, and be anxiety-inducing to manage. So instead, they are what certain games would call "Essential" - they won't die, but reducing them to 1 HP will make them Panic indefinitely until healed. So if you want to make the most of their help, keep them defended and alive! But if they get knocked down, it won't be the end of the world.)

While not much has been implemented or locked down yet, there will most likely be special cards or mechanics for controlling your fellow grifters in battle and receiving help from them in negotiation!

As a bonus, there will also be a special "All For One" solo route with its own dialogue that any modded character can add to their list of campaigns! (Or you could even use the Cross Character Campaign mod to replace one of the grifters in the trio routes, who knows?)

What's Done and The Road Ahead

The reason I'm making this big announcement post now is that a lot of the quest planning work is finally done. The structure of the main quest is locked in, and I've got enough concepts for new side quests and random events to justify making a campaign where you're expected to play through it a minimum of three times, once for each character, while maintaining a high level of variety.

(That means something like 25 side quests so far, 20 opportunity events, and 50 random travel events! I've been trying to frontload as much brainstorming as I can, and I'm still not done!)

Now I can really start getting into code and scripts and start making the content that goes into the mod.

The plan is to create a Day One Demo, with all the content that could appear on the first day of the five-day campaign, and push that onto the Steam Workshop for testing and tantalization. Then it'll be on to finalizing the rest of the days and their special quests and routes.

Oh, did I mention that this mod will be adding 10 new bosses to the game? Yep. And the Day One Demo will also include a special Brawl mode for previewing and testing all of those bosses!

That's a Whole Lotta Content!

Welp, my big mouth has written a whole lotta checks that I'm gonna have to start cashing. But Griftlands is a very special and important game to me. Working on Arint's Last Day, my first mod ever, really kind of saved me and restored a lot of my working confidence, and I want to give back to the game with one last hurrah, one last injection of raw content.

The goal is to make this an intricate, extremely replayable campaign where there's always something new you haven't seen, while enjoying the indulgence of the gimmicks of partying up and swappable main characters.

I roughly expect the Day One Demo to drop sometime in 2025, and the full mod will come later, either very late 2025 or more likely sometime in 2026. I may also run a private playtest group as the mod approaches completion, no solid plans there yet.

If this sounds great and you want to support my work - none of which will be paywalled in any way - consider donating to my Patreon. It keeps me alive, and you get access to my quiet little Discord server, which is probably the best way to find out what I'm working on day-to-day. Otherwise, follow me here or on Mastodon and I'll post infrequently about my progress, though most days it'll probably just be "yep, wrote a lot until my brain fried today."

So that's Three For All, an ambitious plan to create what's essentially another free DLC pack for Griftlands and write some gloriously indulgent fanfic at the same time. Wish me luck!

[clumsybearstudio]

The Hungry Horrors demo is really starting to come together, and we’re excited to share a first look at the tutorial! 🎮

In this sneak peek, the princess begins her journey into a world of folklore and feasting, guided through her first encounter with the fearsome Redcap. 🍽️ This battle sets the stage for the roguelite deckbuilding adventure ahead—every dish you serve (or fail to serve) could be the difference between survival and a very hungry monster.

Want to know when the free demo will be live on Steam? Be sure to wishlist Hungry Horrors now and get notified the moment it’s ready! 🧅👑

[smoothbraintheory]

StarVaders is Truly Stellar

Games being created by independent teams have exploded since the days of the mid 2000s, and frankly I think this is nothing but a blessing. One of my favorite games that I have played in 2025 (as of the time of me writing this) is StarVaders. I was introduced to this game through a video by NorthernLion who streamed the title a few times to a somewhat middling reception by chat. As a viewer, however, I was locked in to the gameplay and loved the art direction. 

StarVaders is a 2025 game made by a small studio in Montreal called Pengonauts. Pengonauts is made up of just 3 developers being lead designer Eddie Cai (pseudonym: Axolotl), lead programmer Hansen Liu (pseudonym: Crabdog), and the art director known as Text Settings (according to their website). 

Now that you know of the main folks behind this game I’ll talk about why this is one of my favorite games of 2025. StarVaders is tagged on steam as a roguelike deckbuilder which is a fair assessment of the game. People currently joke a little about this genre in the wake of 2024’s massive indie success, Balatro. Heck, I would be lying if I said I didn’t at least participate in some jokes about the perceived oversaturation  of the genre myself. But StarVaders seems to take some inspiration straight from the source, if you will. The parallels between this game's core gameplay aspects and that of 2019’s Slay the Spire are quite clear upon first glance to anyone familiar with the latter. This, however, is not in any way a critique or negative aspect to me. Where StarVaders adds its charm is through its combining the roguelike deckbuilder formula with grid-based tactics. This gameplay style brings to mind one of my childhood favorite series, Mega Man Battle Network.

The main gameplay loop of StarVaders is simple to grasp, but as deep as the ocean. It starts off quite simple. You start off  with the Gunner mech and its first pilot, Roxy. The Gunner is pretty straight forward. The cards in its deck all have an assigned Heat value and the robot has a Heat sink gauge that maxes out at a value of 4. Where the fun comes in is the Gunner’s main mechanic, Overheat. Overheat is what happens when you play cards and go over the Heat value of 4. This results in you burning the final card that you played which makes the card no longer playable. All of the pilot characters have a starting artifact (think relics from Slay the Spire) and Roxy starts with artifact Fire Starter. Fire Starter grants the player +2 cards and +2 Heat sink upon your first overheat. You might be able to see how this alone allows for a lot of satisfying moments of gameplay where you squeeze in one more attack or movement that puts you in a better position for the next turn. There is a whole wealth of gameplay modifying artifacts as well as a treasure trove of cards to add to your deck. On top of this there are 2 more pilots for the Gunner mech who both have totally different play styles!

An in-game guide explaining Gunner specific mechanics, abilities, play style, etc

Noel’s gameplay style revolves around freezing and removing the burn status on your rightmost card. Zeke, the final Gunner pilot, has one of the most complex gameplay styles I’ve ever come across in my time with countless roguelikes. Zeke’s starting card pool has cards with “components” added to them, and his starting Artifact revolves around burning these component cards which will purge the burned card (removing it for the rest of the encounter), but adds a copy of the burned card along with 1 of 3 cards with a cost of 0 heat to your next hand. 

A screenshot of a basic first encounter as Roxy in the Gunner mech.

All of this might sound complex when written out (especially by an amateur writer such as myself). I promise though that this game is nothing but pure strategic joy. This might be some of the  most fun I have ever had in my life learning a game. I never felt frustrated during encounters; I would just focus on what I could have done better instead. There’s a rewind  mechanic that actually  has a large multitude of uses for those who might find themselves stuck. Accidental misplay? Bad hand of cards? Nothing in the shop to your liking? These are all use cases for the rewind feature. It really feels like the dev team thought of everything to make this game feel as comfortable as possible to play. I won’t keep you here forever discussing every single intricate piece of gameplay; I think it's best for you to discover the fun for yourself after all. Just know that all that depth only applies to one mech you pilot and there are 3 unique robots in total all with 3 different pilots each that totally change how you play the game (4 pilots actually in the case of the final unlockable mech). 

The final mech select screen

Next I would like to discuss some other aspects of the game. The art direction really brings a smile to my face. It's clearly inspired by things like anime, cartoons, and comics, but it all comes together into something that’s really pleasing and original yet familiar. The soundtrack in this game is also composed by plasterbrain. Admittedly I am not familiar with their work outside of this game’s soundtrack, but with how good this soundtrack is I now will be listening to their other work! So many of the tracks from this game have been stuck in my head for a few months even when I’ve taken extended breaks from playing. 

I really wanted to just put a spotlight on StarVaders because frankly I just think its a great little indie gem with a small dev team that clearly love and care about this game a lot (it receives pretty regular updates with things such as gameplay tweaks, bug fixes, and there has been some statements about future content to come). It’s sitting at a 98% positive rating on steam with just about 2,100 reviews. Since my purchase in early May I have sunk in about 20 full hours into this game, and I still haven’t unlocked or seen everything! StarVaders is one of those games that feels truly infinitely replayable like last year’s previously mentioned indie darling Balatro. In a time where AAA games are reaching nearly 100 dollar prices I believe its games like StarVaders made by people like the folks at Pengonauts that remind some of us (like me) what made us fall in love with games in the first place. (To be clear I don’t mean this as a dig at AAA games nor the people who make them, but just that rather it’s important in times like these to support smaller devs and indie projects). 

StarVaders is currently on sale during the Steam Summer Sale for 10% off ($22.49) until July 10th, and I cannot recommend this game enough. Shout out to the devs at Pengonauts, plasterbrain, and the publishers Joystick Ventures and Playworks for the great game.

Roxy's intro cutscene when you play as her for the first time.

LINKS:

[gamemakings]