Card Crusade: A Deck Building Dungeon Crawler
Upon first glance, this unassuming rogue-like dungeon crawler looks very straightforward. Set in a gloomy 8-bit dungeon you lead one of 2 starter characters through a maze of danger and shady vendors. After a playthrough with each character you’ll quickly realize how much depth Card Crusade really has to offer.
Like most deck-building games, you begin with a starter deck and a unique card that is specific to the character you begin the game with. As you progress through the dungeon you retrieve cards after clearing rooms of lurking enemies, and you can even purchase extra cards at vendors located throughout the dungeon! However, as with most card games you’ll realize that you need to keep your deck at a minimum number for it to be wholly effective. This is where the depth that Card Crusade has to offer shines through.
Despite only having 2 starter characters to choose from, you are given a rundown on the total list of characters available and what you need to do to unlock them. These tasks range from playing a certain amount of cards in a turn to using several consumables in a turn to heal yourself. As you progress and begin to unlock each character, you’ll realize that each character plays well with certain strategies and cards. However, because treasure crates drop random cards it will make forming a great deck challenging.
The vendors also contain a random assortment of cards that you can purchase to aid you, but their real power lies in their ability to remove cards from your deck. As you progress through the dungeon the enemies will get more difficult, and as a result it will make some of the starter cards obsolete. So you’ll want to find those vendors to remove some of your starter cards as you progress, and it’s definitely worth backtracking to find them as each stage isn’t long at all.
Most enemies are pre-set through each stage, but some are random so keep an eye out. Each enemy requires some strategy to beat, and depending on the character you are using that strategy can change with the character as they are all unique. If an enemy is proving to be too difficult on your playthroughs, you can sometimes find a path around them as the dungeons are somewhat randomly generated.
During your journey you might come across altars. These altars change gameplay as they allow you to bend game rules like making healing more effective or increasing your energy permanently. The altars are random but the effect is permanent through your adventure and some combinations can be game breaking. I was able to beat the game with the “Bishop” character because of the “Uncharted Oasis” altar that makes healing more effective which stacked on top of the Bishop’s power of “Increased Healing”.
Pollywog Games did an excellent job creating a dungeon crawler that can give you hours of fun while staying challenging but not frustrating. And in the most recent update they added “Glory levels” that allow you to replay the game with an additional difficulty modifier if you’re up for the challenge. You can get Card Crusade for $3.99 on the Google Play Store, the App Store, or on your PC.
About Me: I’m a Reviewer, Media Creator, Press Member of Drop The Spotlight, and Game Member of the DTS Gaming Crew of Corpus Christi. If you have questions about any of my content, reach out to me at maurogarcia@dropthespotlight.com. You can also view our gaming content on our Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram pages at DTS_GamingCrew, and check out our gaming podcast where we cover news, press releases, and our own personal experiences in the gaming world.
