The past week has been rather busy, but I am slowly getting back into the swing of things. Summer is creeping in and here in the UK, that means more humidity and very annoying nights dealing with moths and heat. Joy!
I’m a little behind on coverage, but there are tons of games I’m playing. One of them is the topic of today’s little preview in As We Descend. Published by Coffee Stain Publishing and developed by Box Dragon, it is a gorgeous looking deckbuilder that launched a couple of weeks ago. Available in Early Access for 30$, I really feel the production quality from this one. However, the current amount of content is limited, so if you want something with more value for money, you might want to wait a little while for a sale.
Despite that, As We Descend has some impressive mechanics, and I enjoy it a lot so far. The last city of humanity is under siege from the monsters, and it is up to you to find a way out. The combat is typical of most deckbuilder roguelikes: take on increasingly challenging enemies on a battlefield where every decision counts, grab new cards, rinse and repeat. While the game doesn’t do much new, it does a lot of things well.
The biggest selling point for me is the atmosphere. As We Descend has an awesome steampunk world where everything is out to kill you. Everything from the horrific insect beasts to the gorgeous city oozes strong worldbuilding, and every interaction left me willing to explore more of what the game has to offer. You must interact with NPCs across the bastion, gathering resources and making choices on where to send expeditions. You have limited time and resources, so it is one of those games where every decision counts.
This is a tough game with quite a challenging learning curve. There are a lot of mechanics at work here, and it will take a while to work out. It takes a while to work through a single run, and the difficulty spikes took me by surprise sometimes. There was one random encounter early on that doomed my playthrough because it had a telegraphed attack I was unable to deal with, and drawing a slew of barrier cards spelled the end of my winning streak. None of this is a dealbreaker for me, but you might want to look elsewhere if you want a cosier time.
I’ve found a few other considerations. I’m a big fan of the narrative and lore so far, but a lot of it feels unfinished. That’s understandable given the early development and we don’t have a full game loop yet, but I’m curious about the world and would like to see more. As Early Access, it has some crashes and performance quirks although nothing particularly onerous.
To conclude, As We Descend has made a solid first impression for an Early Access deckbuilder. The great worldbuilding and atmosphere helps me get invested into Box Dragon’s ongoing work, and I enjoy the mix of narrative survival and turn-based army combat. The combat/card mechanics don’t feel like anything special however, and the amount of challenge might put some people off. 30 USD is quite high for the amount of content on hand right now, but the high productive value makes As We Descend worth considering over the coming weeks.
