In the upcoming game Roguebook, developer Abrakam Studios takes elements of deckbuilding games like Magic: The Gathering and combines them with the popular, punishing roguelike genre. A collaboration between the Faeria developer and M:TG creator Richard Garfield, Roguebook takes place in the same universe as Abrakam's previous title. In it, players control heroes who are trapped in Faeria's Book of Lore and must fight their way across its pages, uncovering secrets as they go.
Roguebook is currently available to preorder on Steam, and those who do will gain access to a demo of the game. Ahead of its June release, CBR was able to play the demo and gain hands-on experience with this intriguing indie title.
Those who have played fellow deck-building roguelike Slay the Spire will immediately be familiar with Roguebook's main gameplay loop of turn-based card battles against a variety of enemies. Basic mechanics, like attacking, blocking, earning and spending gold to unlock more cards, and relics that provide relics with special abilities are central to both games. However, while battles work similarly between both games, Roguebook has plenty of elements that set it apart.
For one, unlike Slay the Spire, which features branching paths for players to follow, Roguebook has a procedurally-generated overworld to traverse outside of battle. Players start out each chapter with a small portion of the colorful, hexagonal tile-based map uncovered, leading towards the page's boss fight. While a player could go straight to the boss, they're better off exploring the map first, building their deck and strategy before attempting that challenging fight.
By using magical inks and paintbrushes, players can reveal more tiles and the secrets hiding within them, such as additional battles, cards to buy, relics to equip and (occasionally) a Radiant Heart for some much-needed healing. Players can travel freely across the map to any uncovered tiles, meaning they can return to the shop located near the start of the page whenever they've gathered enough gold to make a purchase, or leave behind that Radiant Heart they found while their health was maxed out until they actually need it. While players can gather more inks and paintbrushes, eventually, they'll run out, meaning the only remaining option is to take on the chapter's boss.
Perhaps the game's biggest innovation comes from its battles. Rather than simply controlling one character, Roguebook has you fight with a party of two, which are selected from the beginning. The demo only features two heroes -- Sharra, Dragonslayer and Sorocco, First Mate -- but two more will be available at launch. Each character comes with their own cards and a personal starting relic, which provides a useful skill or bonus. In the full game, characters will also have skill trees.
The demo makes it clear how important character positioning is by starting players with two characters who want to take the lead. While both heroes share a block total during battle, Sorocco has a lot more HP, as well as a relic that adds an additional two Block if he's leading at the end of the turn. However, Sharra makes up for her significantly lower health by hitting harder -- particularly when she's in the front. Players will need to consider who will end up leading at the end of each turn and strategize accordingly.
Adding another layer of strategy are Roguebook's various customization aspects, which help shape each run. Players can find gems throughout the map, which provide bonuses when equipped to cards. For example, a gem may make it so you always have a certain card in your hand at the beginning of each encounter or reduce how much energy it take to use it. Adding more cards to your deck each run will also unlock an ability for a specific character or party, with the options being randomized every time.
As is custom in roguelikes, most of these benefits go away at the end of a run. However, there are also some elements of overall progression that carry over. You'll unlock new cards over the course of various playthroughs, and you can also use pages found during gameplay to purchase permanent upgrades from the Perk Tree.
Gamers who are familiar with Slay the Spire will undoubtably draw comparisons between that popular deckbuilding roguelike and Roguebook. But while, on the surface, Roguebook seems to borrow a lot from other games, the demo shows that there are plenty of additional mechanics that set it apart. Even without the rest of the roster and additional features promised in the game's full release, Roguebook already offers an engaging and deep gameplay experience fans of games like Slay the Spire and Magic: The Gathering won't want to miss.
Developed by Abrakam Studios and published by Nacon, Roguebook will release on June 24 for PC via Steam, with PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch launches planned for a later date. A review copy was provided by the publisher.
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March 30, 2021 at 05:26AM
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PREVIEW: Roguebook's Preorder Demo Combines Magic: The Gathering With a Roguelike - CBR - Comic Book Resources
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