Each character has its own unique set of cards that it can find, as well as a different health value and they come with different starting artifacts. Before starting a new run you get to pick between four different characters (though only two are unlocked at the start of the game), and you always bring two of those four with you. There are differences between the two games though.

All of this could apply both to Roguebook and Slay the Spire. Enemies clearly telegraph their next action with an icon floating over them, and you’ve got defense cards that gives you a flat damage reduction that you can stack, and which only lasts a single turn. Combat is turnbased and has you playing your cards, followed by the enemies using their abilities, and then you get another turn. You’ve got a deck of cards that you build up as the game goes on, and once you die you get sent back to the beginning of the game. If you’ve ever played Slay the Spire then a lot of things will seem familiar in Roguebook. This fight is going downhill really fast as the leading character gets killed Gameplay Roguebook might not have a soundtrack so good that it will win awards for it, but it still sounds good, and fit the tone of the game. Finally there’s the music which has an ethereal fairytale feel (or mid 90’s American Christmas movie, they use the same instruments). There’s also some voice acting with some of the characters saying certain things to each other in certain situations, though the game is not fully voiced and there’s a fare bit of text that you’ll have to read. Sound effects do a good job at conveying what’s going on and there’s the right amount of weight behind them. On a technical level there are many games that look better than Roguebook, but here we have a strong art style that’s carrying the graphics. I’m feeling somewhat guilty about starting this fightĭespite the varied looks of both creatures and cards Roguebook looks consistent, everything looks like it belongs in the same game, which is quite impressive considering this is a game that has large mechanical crabs, a yak firing catapult piloted by kobolds and nightmarish daemons. The card art is well drawn and fits in with the characters. Every card is themed to one of four playable characters and a card for one character looks distinct from any card for another character, with a different colours and designs being used. Scattered across the map are also things you can interact with, crossed swords for enemies and items you can pick up, with only the main characters and a merchant being represented on the map as people.Įach card has a unique picture that shows what the card is about, more or less at least. The map is made out of hexagons from one of three biomes and each region also has its own unique map features that do look very good, but the map itself looks more functional than great. On the overworld the game looks simpler, and does not quite live up to the high bar that the battle graphics set.

As for the backgrounds, they look great and are highly detailed and animated. Not bad, just not quite on par with everything else. Both the player and monster sprites are very detailed and have an interesting and consistent art style, though the animations can at times look a bit rough. During battles you’ll have two sides facing off against each other, one being the two player characters and the other side being the monsters. Roguebook is split into two main parts, battles and overworld exploration, and it’s the battles that steal the show in terms of graphical flare. Roguebook is still a colourful game though, just not over-saturated. Luckily they’ve toned this down significantly for the final release. PresentationĮarly screenshots of Roguebook showed a game that looked overly saturated, to the point where it seemed almost garish. The icons above the head of the enemies makes it pretty easy to figure out what their next move will be.

Roguebook save location