Shuffle Tactics Preview

During Steam Next Fest, I made the decision to try out Shuffle Tactics, a deckbuilding tactical roguelike developed by Club Sandwich and published by The Arcade Crew. Inspired by Final Fantasy Tactics and, of course, Slay the Spire, the concept alone was interesting enough to catch my attention. So what does it have to offer?

In this game, your runs will consist of travelling a branching path of fights, shops, and special events in order to get to the boss, beat it, and then move on to the next area while slowly but surely refining your deck. Your strategy will centre around a main character: the hero chosen for the quest to stop the corruption, called “The Glimmer”, from destroying everything. The protagonist I could choose for the demo was Doberknight, a character focused on physical damage and armour, but you’ll encounter sidekicks to help you on your run, including Rangers, Assassins, Necromancers, and more. The full release will feature three heroes and 20 sidekicks, but with the limited selection of characters available, it still offered quite a bit of decision-making.

Fights take place on a 3D grid where each character has their own deck of cards, Health Points, Move Points (for moving), and Action Points (for using cards). You better make your moves wisely, as there are no take-backs. Once you're out of actions or you're satisfied with your choices, you can end your turn and let your enemies act. Fairly simple to grasp, but with cards available dictating your attacks and special actions, you’ll definitely be thinking through each battle to ensure your survival. If there was one criticism I have to give, it’s the camera. You can’t control it, as far as I’m aware, and some elements of the UI overlap with the info you might need, such as enemy HP and their status.

This is a deckbuilding game, so of course, you'll need to refine and improve your deck. You can obtain more cards either from beating a fight or buying them from a shop, but only for the main hero. You don't have as much control over your sidekicks’ decks, as they only get more as they only get more cards after beating a boss, but in exchange, they also get a bonus skill that majorly buffs them. Your abilities can be granted additional effects through the use of charms, such as making it stronger if used after playing another card with the same keywords. It's all fairly interesting and makes each build a little more valuable.

Shuffle Tactics is shaping up to be a fun time, but it needs some serious refinements in a few areas. The sprites are well-animated, the character designs are on point, and there’s plenty of thinking you’ll need to do in order to survive the challenges ahead, all while dealing with the luck of the draw. So, will you be the one to stop The Glimmer?