What Makes A Good DECK BUILDING Roguelike?

Deckbuilding Roguelikes are a fairly new sub-genre of games within the Roguelike community that has been getting very popular in the last few years. They have become one of my favorite ways to play Roguelikes and Roguelites.

In this video, we dive into the design of this genre, dissecting its essence from its traditional Roguelike roots and nature of its randomly generated mechanics and exploring topics such as diversity, card design, visuals, and gameplay.

Whether you're a roguelike aficionado, turn base enthusiast, developer, or curious observer, this video brings you an unparalleled journey into the heart and soul of a genre that thrives on its complexity, unpredictability, and limitless potential. Hit that play button, join the discussion, and let's celebrate the magic that makes Deckbuilding Roguelikes a new and unforgettable experience!

=== CHAPTERS ===
0:00 - Intro
0:47 - Chapter 1: Diversity and Unique Mechanics
06:11 - Chapter 2: Out of Combat Gameplay
08:53 - Chapter 3: Card Design
19:44 - Chapter 4: Themes and Visuals
23:11 - Outro

=== GAMES SHOWCASED ===
Here's your list in alphabetical order:
Across the Obelisk (2021)
Alina of the Arena (2022)
Arcanium (2020)
Astrea (2023)
Backpack Hero (2023)
Balatro (2024)
Caves of Qud (2015)
Cobalt Core (2023)
Dead Cells (2017)
Deck of Ashes (2019)
Deck of Ashes (2020)
Dream Quest (2014)
Dungreed (2018)
Griftlands (2021)
Hans of Fate 2 (2017)
Have a Nice Death (2022)
Hearthstone (2014)
Inscryption (2021)
Into the Breach (2018)
Loop Hero (2021)
Monster Train (2020)
One Step from Eden (2020)
Peglin (2022)
Pirates Outlaws (2019)
Repetendium (2022)
Rogue (1980)
Rogue Book (2021)
Rogue Legacy (2013)
Royal Booty Quest (2023)
Slay the Spire (2019)
Spell Rogue (2024)
The Binding of Isaac (2011)
Vault of the Void (2020)
Vagante (2014)
Wildfrost (2023)

=== MUSIC USED ===
Wildfrost | Spirit Call
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles | Tainted Reef
Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles | Stellarium
Peglin | ForestSlay the Spire | The City
Balatro | Main Theme
Wildfrost | Snowdwell

#Roguelike #DeckBuilding #GameDevelopment

[PepperHeadGaming]

Thanks for watching! Please consider liking and subscribing if you enjoy this kind of content, it's free and really helps the channel! If you are a fan of Roguelikes and Roguelies, check out my ROGUELIKE TIER LIST where I rank over 80 different roguelikes/lites. Look forward to a new tier list coming very soon where I review an other 30+ games!

[XanderKarr]

I played Slay the Spire when it originally released but didn't get nearly as hooked as the rest of the internet. I got back into the genre with Balatro which I have over 400 hours in now. Since then, I have become addicted to Slay the Spire, and also really enjoyed Emberward, which combined tower defense with deckbuilding roguelikes. I was a massive fan of tower defense growing up and think its a great twist to the deckbuilding roguelike genre.

[Ryöken]

control randomness is fun when you play a solo player deck building, but loosing to someone using control randomness is not fun at all....

[mc_cheshire]

Just wanted to say that this was a splendid, genuinely masterful, thumbnail. I don't typically enjoy these kinds of "lets talk about a genre" videos, but I specifically wanted to compliment you on your graphic design there. Nicely done.

[ejr]

As a huge roguelike fan I absolutely love your content and think you have a great way of breaking things down in an interesting way :) keep on being amazing!!

[monopoman]

Balatro is as close to being a masterpiece as any game in this type of genre ever has been, and the more you play it the more you understand the brilliance of the developer. It feels like the type of game that should have been made 10+ years ago at least and likely will spawn tons of copycats using other games played with a standard deck of cards as the years go by. I have loved many games in the Deck Building Genre and Balatro might be the best so far, especially for how unique it is it feels nothing like playing Slay the Spire or Monster Train both great games.

[lancesmith]

On the topic of deckbuilders and mechanical diversity, a game I don’t see on your list (justifiably given it’s not a roguelike at all) is Library of Ruina. It is an entire sci-fi dystopia RPG with so many disparate influences, built on the back of incredibly tight resource management, deck building, and card pools (each character has 9 total, so there’s incredibly little RNG upfront), so much so that the core challenge of boss battles in the game is constructing a deck that can break through a complex web of one-off mechanics.

It can be so complicated and intricate that it can fully break away from the roguelike genre entirely and make deck construction alone the core mechanical conceit of the game.

[NaitsirhcCheck]

Thank you for putting every single game showcased here in the description. I will be investigating each and every one.

[prodigalsongames]

This is great! Our game, Attack on Hex Island, started as a game inspired by Tetra Master and Pokémon not knowing it would turn into an introduction to the Deck Builder genre.

Now that the story mode is finished and we've gotten a great response to the game, we want to add a roguelike mode.

Except, we don't know what to do. This helps a ton! Thanks for the content, and I love the delivery! 😊

[lessefrost]

Balatro has really radicalized me towards deck builder games. This was a super great analysis of what I couldn't put to words about why it sucked me in. Balatro sucked me into it with the Poker hook, and it feels more like an active incremental roguelike with card game elements. The best moments come from the times when the crazy score combinations work, and when they *almost* work but I didn't get that ONE card I needed to get the combo.

[kobarsos]

Thanks for mentioning the grandfather of deckbuilders called Dream Quest. Its such a goated game. Challenging as hell, but all the great ideas and concepts did start there.

[PJutch]

About theme. Recently tried Into the Breach. It isn't deckbuilding but still a turn-based roguelike. It has a very nice detail of characters commenting events like defeating an enemy. idk maybe after more runs it will become stail because amount of replics is quite small but for now it adds a lot.

[silentrocco]

Props for the shoutout to Dream Quest. To this day my favorite deckbuilder.

[User]

I'm actually working on a deckbuilder roguelike and your videos help me a lot !
Still, it's hard to know if a concept is original enough or not, I feel game like Balatro and Wildfrost are really innovative !

[AdiVeler-bmuy]

Rogue Voltage has an interesting way to determine the rarity of the items you would get after each combat: the faster you finish the encounter, the rarer the trophies. take your time, and you will get common items and sometimes in a poor state!

[TheGreatGario]

Mmm, love the Astrea music in the beginning. More people need to give that one a shot.

Nice video, too :)

[carolusrex]

My current addictive rougelike is Astrea. It's a dice deckbuilding game. Not only do you build a deck made of dice but as it's usual for dice they have 6 sides which effectively means 6 effects. It might sound extremely rng based but the devs found a way to almost perfectly balance rng and strategy

[texhenning]

The origin of the genre actually didn't originate from a video game, but from deckbuilding Board Games such as Dominion (2008) and Slapshot (1982).

In that manner it's similar to RPGs that descended from D&D

[foodfightfiesta]

I just released my own roguelike deckbuilder on Steam today and watched the entire video. It really highlights some important truths about the genre. Here are my additional thoughts:

1. Slay the Spire was like an iPhone moment for the genre—it was already great when it launched and only got better. It’s tough to improve on something like that.

2. Many Slay the Spire clones have added unique mechanics, but often with unnecessary complexity. While this may offer more content for advanced players, it can make the game less accessible to beginners.

3. For example, I find the pathing system in Slay the Spire somewhat "boring" because it’s just a linear choice without much synergy. In my game, I removed the pathing system and focused on creating more combos during battles. However, I see many games keeping the pathing system without innovating it much.

4. I believe new mechanics can be created by adding more variations to the "board." In Slay the Spire, the board is simple, and the cards already exploit most possible mechanics. By making the board like a grid or multi-layered like in Monster Train, you can offer unique experiences while preserving solid card mechanics.

Ultimately, my game, Food Fight Fiesta: Multi-Use Cards, features food cards that can either be eaten to heal or thrown at enemies to deal damage. It also introduces a grid system that makes players choose between card advantage and board positioning.

The first median play time of 500 people after 9 hour of release is 18 minutes, which is not bad imo.

[-]

Cobalt Core is a very fun, albeit little, deckbuilder game. I've played so many of these and was happy to find one actually fun. Balatro is currently my favorite with Slay the Spire a close second.