Deepest Chamber

Build decks and survive the gloomy streets of a decaying medieval city in Deepest Chamber, the newest roguelike from Balcony Softworks. In this game, players will have to learn how to properly use an array of powerful cards in their favor, all while immersing themselves in a lore-rich setting with an incredible grip on grimdark aesthetics.

A breath of fresh air for card-based roguelikes, Deepest Chamber is shaping up to be one of the most rewarding games of its genre this year. Let’s take a look at what we can expect to see from this title once it leaves early access.

Cards and Dungeons

What used to be the most advanced city in the kingdom is no more. A terrible plague befouls the city streets, corrupting everything it touches. To make matters worse, a magical dome has appeared over the city, forcing the remaining townsfolk to burrow underground in hopes of survival.

In Deepest Chamber, you play as a party of former city guards and other reformed scoundrels, working together to find a way out of the cursed city. Not even death can stop your party’s march, as they’re brought back to life each time they fall in battle.

The rich visual storytelling and detailed environments work together perfectly to deliver a beautifully ghoulish ambiance. If you enjoy games that are visually similar to the Baldur’s Gate franchise, then you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what Deepest Chamber has to offer.

At its core, the game is a deck builder roguelike with a heavy emphasis on strategy and party building. As the developers claim, the game’s mechanics are easy to grasp, yet hard to master.

No Class Party

Considering that your party consists of a ragtag group of survivors, having dedicated classes would look out of place. Thankfully, Deepest Chamber avoids the typical genre conventions by featuring an entirely classless battle system.

Each member of your party has access to every card in your arsenal, emphasizing deck synergies over anything else. Considering that there’s little in the way of actual restrictions for using cards, the game would get old fairly quickly if it weren’t for the massive amounts of content to unlock in the depths of the cursed city.

As you explore and build a stronger party, new cards will be made available to you. Having a vast array of cards to choose from may sound like an ideal scenario in a game like this, but it will put players’ deck-building skills to the test.

Grimdark Fantasies

If there’s one thing that Deepest Chamber excels at that would be its overall presentation. The dark and twisted fantasy world of the game is amazingly immersive, with some neat lore elements to make players feel like they’re really exploring the ruins of a once glorious civilization.

The combination of 2D and 3D renders works flawlessly, giving the game a unique and vivid look. Each card also features some cool art reminiscent of the Magic The Gathering TCG. Considering the vast amount of cards available in-game, this is one of the most feature-rich games of its type we’ve seen in a good while.

Pros:

• Excellent presentation
• A wide array of cards to choose from
• Complex gameplay mechanics that are easy to understand
• Great run customization for roguelike fans

Cons:

• Some card artwork definitely looks better than others