Knock on the Coffin Lid - Nightmares of Millenis Review

There are so many roguelike deck-building games out there that they all seem to blend together — most taking inspiration from Slay the Spire. Knock on the Coffin Lid is a turn-based card battler developed and published by RedBoon. Released on the 8th of August 2024, the game has you investigating the cause of your death while trying to escape a mysterious time loop.

There are three playable characters, and one of them will ascend to the throne and rule the Northern Gate. The fate of everyone living in the land of Midian depends on the choices you make. A new DLC called Nightmares of Millenis is now available, revealing the mysterious past of Mortis and providing answers to questions you likely had while playing the base game.

If you enjoyed the original game — or you haven’t played it yet — be warned: before you can access this new DLC, you must finish the main game and achieve the good endings for all three characters. This requirement isn’t clearly stated on the store page, so if you purchased it without knowing this, you might be frustrated and have to replay parts of Knock on the Coffin Lid before progressing. Once that’s done, this add-on serves as the final chapter of the story.

Nightmares of Millenis adds several new features to the original game: each character gets access to seven new tarot cards, and there are 12 new unique classes to choose from, the game now includes over 200 enemies to battle and more than 500 cards to build your deck. To help you on your journey, there are also 200 different items to equip that boost your hero’s strength. If you played the base game, note that some items you found useful have been nerfed in the DLC, making this playthrough more challenging than before.

The game begins with Persival, a Brother of Fire and leader of a group of soldiers. Combat is the same as the base game, with a hand of five cards to play against enemies. Depending on your chosen character, your deck may focus more on action or skill cards that heal or provide defence. Each hero starts with 100 health points. When it is depleted, the battle, and your run, is over. Allies can assist in battle, but if they die, they're gone for good — there’s no reviving them.

The overworld map is intricate, with each route offering various points of interest. Skull icons mark regular battles, fires are camp spots, bags of money denote vendors, and horned skulls represent elite battles. There are also mystery spots marked with question marks, usually containing story events where your decisions can greatly impact the game. At the end of each area, you’ll face a powerful boss — no matter the path you choose, all routes lead here. At campfires, the hero reflects on their day. Here, you can restore health or train by upgrading a card in your deck. For example, upgrading Flourishing Lunge increases its damage from nine to 12. It’s useful to enhance a few cards with extra attack or defence power to better prepare for tougher fights.

During your journey, you’ll meet potential allies in the question mark spots and even have the option to side with a clan of Orcs. However, keep in mind that Trolls and Orcs are at war — allying with one might upset the other. These seemingly small choices can influence the story’s direction. This is important; you need to be careful if you want to get the good ending. 

The visuals in Knock on the Coffin Lid are solid, though I noticed repetition in enemy designs — especially during fights involving multiple foes. Often, they looked identical aside from hairstyle. On the plus side, the cards are visually distinct and easy to read, clearly indicating whether they’re for action or defence. The soundtrack is unobtrusive and never feels repetitive, which is a nice touch. As for controls, the game is very straightforward: click a card to play it, or click where you want to move.

When your run ends, you’re shown a stat screen detailing your progress — event points earned, number of battles, bosses defeated, and final score. Your difficulty level even adds a score multiplier. You'll also see your character's level and how many points are needed to reach the next.

Of course, dying means you lose all your equipment and acquired skills. Luckily, you retain your experience and level progress. It’s still frustrating to lose everything, but hey, that’s the roguelike life, and I seem to have been experiencing this feeling a lot.

Knock on the Coffin Lid offers a deeper story than many other deck-builders I’ve played. My first run lasted around two hours before I died, though that time would likely decrease on harder difficulties. Fortunately, the game saves your progress, so if you need to walk away, you can easily resume from the spot you stopped at. Once I got to the DLC, I found it significantly more difficult, resulting in much shorter runs. Some of the battles require specific items or armour to defeat the enemy. The game doesn't hold your hand, so it may take some exploration to find exactly what you need. Personally, I like more direction for what is required to move on. Aimlessly wandering isn't my favourite thing to do; I preferred the base game for this reason. I’m not a fan of constantly restarting when I have no chance of defeating the enemy when I'm missing a specific item. 

If you’ve played this game for a couple of hours and it hasn’t clicked with you, chances are it won’t improve over the next 20+. Adding the Nightmares of Millenia DLC probably won’t change that either. I appreciated the multiple characters, but requiring the good ending for each just to unlock the DLC was a bit much, especially when you are paying for it.