Dawncaster | The RPG Cardventure Reviews

Love this game, have been playing since it was only on mobile.

Really tight fun gameplay.

Great game to be honest. There is huge amount of rng which is very true and can be frustating no doubt, but the devs are planning on working around that. Other than that the gameplay loop is insanely satisfying especially when you can land the combos. Even after completing one deck type there is still huge replaybility of that single deck considering there are over 1000+ card and over 50+ archetypes. huge steal for this amount. W devs

I'm a veteran in these kinds of games and this one feels like I'm playing a slot machine with little player agency. Because of the huge card set with almost no synergy between the expansions, getting a combo or cards that work well together is rare. So the consequence is in combat, especially the first biomes, you repetitively play the exact same combo about 1000 times, and only the visual representation of the enemy image changes... (you never fight more than 1 enemy). Doesn't matter what the enemy does, you have no choice but to play your 1 combo, or closest thing you have to a combo, 1000s of times. Furthermore, you repetitively prioritize the same events, of deleting your same useless cards for the same combo which is decided by your starting set. I feel like I should get an AI to go through the motions for me until later game. Therefore, I am basically prompted to think only when and if the slot machine proposes a card that is synergetic for deckbuilding, which is a very rare event, and otherwise I find myself mindlessly clicking like a machine 1000 times, prioritizing the starting set. I'm quite surprised that if the game has been out for this long, and if card diversity is the selling point of this game, that the devs haven't done the minimal work to get sets of expansions for a character to have synergy, instead of being mostly antagonistic. I'll think about it, but I'm probably going to refund. Also with newer deckbuilders, or autobattlers, they are increasing strategical planning with other elements like city building, economy etc., but this game feels like it's taking steps back... and especially the important ones. So I'll probably look to the future of this genre. EDIT/Update: So I decided I'll finish the game. I beat it on challenging difficulty after about 12 hours of play time, I'll work on the last levels of difficulty. I confirm that I basically just spammed 1 combo (didn't have much choice to create others), except on about 2 monsters that had ridiculously cheesy mechanics. Mostly felt like slot machine luck in order to obtain the necessary talents/cards to beat the game. Since this game has been around a long time, there is a decent amount of content, but it feels more like quantity than quality, especially because it was confined to mobile all these prior years. Verdict: I prefer the PC game big hit alternatives, like Knock on the Coffin Lid, STS I/II, Vault of the Void, and Monster Train I/II, they offer better feel, more strategical dimensions, snappier reactivity (here in Dawncaster, god awful bell sound every round starts without possibility of muting or replacing it, and slower playing cards waiting for turns to finish). Dawncaster seems like a good choice if you plan playing on mobile/tablet, where you only want to think halfway while doing something else, if you want simpler, or if you're obsessed with deckbuilders and you've already completed the major ones.

Doesn't quite scratch the same itch as Slay The Spire to be honest. The "RPG story" aspect of it is interesting at first but then since you're still playing a roguelike, you end up optimizing away the intrigue to focus on what the outcomes of decisions instead. Upgrading your cards is so incremental that it's really uninteresting unless you have talents that allow you to upgrade repeatedly. Cards don't really seem to synergize with each other across different sets so having more cards in the pool doesn't really help with build variety and usually does the opposite in which you use your bonus re-rolls to funnel yourself into very set-isolated decks. Aside from this I am not a fan of the responsiveness of the UI, weird little quirks that don't seem as polished as other games. Interesting ideas, but the execution doesn't quite hit right.

An ultimately disappointing adventure. I was initially excited to see it had cross save on the phone, so I purchased it on android and then PC, only to find out that it only saved your meta progression, not your current run... which were way to long and the point of cross saving. Not only are the runs long and boring (because your card pool and strategy rarely change) but the meta progression equates to 10 extra life, or some cosmetic portrait each level. The game bragged about having a massive card pool, which it does, but none of the cards synergize outside of it's own mechanic. Because you aren't forced to take a card each round, your deck ends up being the same as there's no reason to take any card outside your niche. Boss fights CAN be interesting, but most of the time it's just a crap shoot trying to leverage your mechanic against whatever special conditions they have. Also the "RPGadventure" aspect isn't any different than any other game that I could tell. You're presented with the same "choices" with different buff/debuff outcomes that all the other cardgames basically present. The overarching story isn't that spectacular, though I haven't played any of the expansions. Some of the deck mechanics were neat to play, but my time with it ultimately didn't feel rewarding. Originally I wanted a casual card slinger to kill time while I gave Breach Wanderers a break. However, in most every aspect, this game disappointed me and I'll gladly sink more time into the aforementioned.

After 13 hours with Dawncaster, I’m really impressed. The art is beautiful, the atmosphere is strong, and the card synergies are the kind that make you keep saying “just one more run.” I spent most of my first dozen hours playing Hunter and had a great time learning how the class works. The game gives you a lot of starting choices, and those choices actually matter. Different weapons, talents, shrines, opportunities, and card rewards can push a run in completely different directions. When a build comes together, it feels fantastic. What I like most is that Dawncaster has real depth without feeling overwhelming. There are plenty of keywords and mechanics to learn and the game rewards experimenting. You start noticing little connections between cards, talents, and events, and suddenly a deck that looked simple turns into a powerful engine. The art deserves special mention. The cards, enemies, and locations all have a distinct style that makes the world feel dark, strange, and memorable. If you enjoy deckbuilders with strong build variety, meaningful choices, and satisfying synergies, Dawncaster is easy to recommend.