Wildfrost

Wildfrost is the newcomer in the deckbuilder roguelite genre, which seems to be thriving since the huge sucess of Slay the Spire. Its always nearly impossible to escape that comparison, which is always unfair since the years of updates to Slay the Spire have made that one so superior in terms of depth and build diversity. So the competition has to find other ways to prove its worth, and this one has very much done that.

In similar fashion to Slay the Spire, you get a leader card on field that can be upgraded through other cards. All creatures have a cooldown timer to attack, which can range from 2 to 6 turns, and some will only activate it with specific triggers (like being attack first for instead). There is a bigger focus on companions that you can place on the battlefield, some will even act as the key party member in your strategy, depending on what you will receive during each run.

Each run has only a maximum of 8 battles, with each really feeling like a boss battle. The rest is going through shops, finding spell cars, companions or charms (which act like permanent powerups, with each card having a max of 3). In essence I feel like a lot more importance is given on the deck building side of the equation, compared to the actual battles. Some synergies and powerups really can make some of the fights trivial. The twist that they pull on the last fight is also pretty ingenious.

There is also a lane system in which you can order your party members with losing a turn. This allows a bigger amount of improvisation and quick solutions from turn to turn, with less immediate game overs. Its similar to the system in Monster Train, with some differences.

There are 3 tribes with vastly different mechanics and themes, and the leaders stats are randomized each time. Plenty of cards and companions to unlock, a daily challenge mode and difficulty settings. A lot of replayability for sure, which is great, particularly considering that its not an easy game to beat without having a firm grasp on its mechanics.

Visually it presents and cutesy artstyle that conveys well the properties of each card. Nice animations, particularly when cards start triggering each other which can lead to unforseeable results.

These deck building roguelites are very much like some drug to me, but the truth is that I leave each session with huge satisfation, and always eager to come back for one more try.