Dungeon Drafters – Review

It’s been a while since I’d laid my hand to a deck building game and while the impressive Monster Train sits as my favourite, it’s time to take on a slightly different approach with the RPG deck-builder, Dungeon Drafters.

Deck-building games take on different forms, it’s pretty common to see turn-based action at the core, but Dungeon Drafters doesn’t just throw in a pretty deep RPG experince, with duneons crawling and of course turn-based dekc-building action.

You’ll start off selecting your class, with 6 chatacters to choose from each with their own signature starting deck, it does feel fairly streamlined at first, but when you step into the menus you’ll soon be met with various archetypes to add different class cards to your loadout, Deck building fans will be in their element, but it does feel alittle overwhelming for those who aren’t used to micro-managing such a wide variety of cards.

The earlier mentioned Monster Train is a fine example of how stremalined and welcoming a game might be, that was one of the first deck-building games I really got into and it was inviting, welcoming and held my hand just long enough as I journeyed deeper into the experience.
But with Dungeon Drafters it feels a little harsh, as someone a little more unfamiliar with the fine details of deck building, it felt a little overhwleming, almost as though I was already expected to know much of what I was supposed to be doing and while there’s enough of a tutorial to get you on your feet, it just felt a little too rushed with plenty still unexplained which made those first steps a little more daunting.

Moving on, there’s obviously the RPG elements, similar in style to games like the early Zelda titles, it’s a top down view, where you’re free to move around and talk to people, smash up a few jars and enter a variety of dugeons. These dugeons are mostly all accesisble from an early stage which offers a nice alternative to the often more linear approach.
Once inside a dungeon, thhings feel a little more turn-based, you have a handful of moves, such as character movement, pushing into an enemy or prop to automatically attack, or using one of the cards shown at the bottom of the screen.
These cover the usual range of direct damage, area of afffect, buffs to your own character or effects such as poison or dispell on enemies.

Presentation wise, like the afformentioned Zelda titles, there’s a nostalgic feel to t.

he graphics, even with the pixel-art style, there’s still plenty of detail in the surroundings, environment and characters. Sound is also on par and while there’s not really any standout orchestral masterpeices, I can’t recall anythign that was infuriating or leaving me reaching for the mute button

Coming in around the £20 mark, it also represents pretty good value, the recurring theme is how familiar you are with deck building games, and for fans of the genre looking for a deeper, more engrossing experience Dungeon Drafters will prove fantastic value.

Overall, Dungeon Drafters is likely to meet a mixed reception, fans of Deck Building dungeon crawlers will love the RPG depth and longevity and there’s more than enough to fulfil many days, potentially weeks enjoying everything Dungeon Drafters has to offer.
But for others that depth feels more like a bottomless pit newcomers are expected to cross in order to really invest themselves into the game to enjoy it to its fullest.
There’s no doubt Dungeos Drafters is easy to recommend for anyone willing to take on the challenge or already familiar with the genre, but deck-building newcomers might want to try something more straightofrward and inviting like Monster Train first.

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