Roots of Yggdrasil Reviews

This is a mild recommendation. The game is fine but feels a little unfinished. I quite enjoyed my first few runs, but after winning my first 3 runs, I realized I had already completed the story of the game and what was left was grinding meta-progression in order to grind a make-your-own difficulty system. While I enjoy a Hades-like Heat system, I prefer it when it arrives late, not after 2 hours of playtime. I was also a bit disappointed to see that the meta-progression does not unlock any more cards. After 4 runs I now feel like I've already seen most of the strategies that there are to see in the game. All in all it's a fun game for a little bit, but it fell off quite quickly for me.

This is my second favorite roguelike city builder after Against the Storm, but that one has beavers in raincoats so it's a pretty unfair contest. Still, I very much enjoy the Norse theme and the aesthetic that blends a rustic feel with touch of future-tech. The core mechanic of playing cards, placing buildings, and trying to generate resources effectively is very addicting, as is the meta progression. You can make some terribly fun combos with the right mix of artifacts and cards. The game is not perfect; for one, it needs a conclusion beyond finishing the quests. A simple "well done" from a god or two would go a long way in this economy. Two, it could use more maps: you'll see them all after a handful of runs. Three, it could also do a bit better at conveying threats and challenges. The risks of difficult maps are mixed in with your artifacts and buffs and can be very tiny if you have a lot. Also, when you use a card to spawn a threat, what spawned and where? The game isn't very clear on this. These are nitpicks, however. When I picked up the game, I wanted to keep playing until I was done and I was very satisfied throughout.

The runs feel so short that there's not a lot of time to develop your deck that much, so each run feels very similar. Fun for the first few hours, but not a lot of replay value. I think each run being a bit longer, or something to make runs feel distinct form one another would help a lot.

Absolutely gorgeous city-builder and deck-builder. It feels great to build out each little settlement, combo-ing the building and spell cards together to out-pace the darkness. Edit: And it runs flawlessly on Steam Deck! <3