Originally published at: https://statelyplay.com/2019/05/21/one-deck-dungeon-getting-tiny-on-thursday/
- iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux
My top mobile game of 2018 was Handelabra‘s masterful port of the Little Card Game That Could, One Deck Dungeon. It was a perfect blend of quick, roguelike play and oodles of dice-chucking madness. Yes, bad dice rolls can nip you in the backside, but that’s the point of the game: building up your hero(es) to mitigate dicey disaster. I played the hell out of it on my iPad and even sank too much time delving on my laptop. It was nearly as perfect as could be, with one exception: it wasn’t also on my phone. This Thursday, that changes.
One Deck Dungeon is a card game consisting of, you guessed it, one deck. The cards in the deck are multi-purpose. They act as the current threat as well as a bevy of rewards once that challenge is defeated. On the table, each side of the card holds a different reward, in the app the rewards are seamlessly added to your character’s arsenal.
The meat of the game is figuring out which reward to take and when. Do you really need another red die to roll, or could you find a sweet combo that will make the lackluster ability shine a floor or two down? Or, should you just convert the card to XP and increase the number of dice and abilities you can claim later? It takes a deft hand to make the correct choices and lead you through three ever more perilous floors and, finally, to the dungeon’s boss.
The base game has a slew of baddies and heroes to peruse, and the expansion, Forest of Shadows, doubles it. This leads to almost unlimited replayability and I haven’t even mentioned the extra heroes you can nab via IAP.
Anyway, all this awesomeness is headed to your phone in two short days. You can expect the app to go Universal, so iPad owners shouldn’t need to repurchase.
In an interesting move, the game actually plays in portrait mode on the phone. I’m not sure I’m used to it yet, but I definitely prefer portrait over having to turn my phone to landscape. There’s just a lot of info that you need to swipe or tap for that I’m used to just being there on the bigger platforms. I know, what a tale of woe! I’m sure I’ll find a way to carry on. Somehow.
As we come to expect from Handelabra and their big announcements, it’s not always about them. They’re using the phone launch as a way to make some coin for Code Liberation, an organization that “catalyzes the creation of digital games and creative technologies by women, nonbinary, femme, and girl-identifying people to diversify STEAM fields”. Every purchase of ODD on any platform will get Code Liberation another dollar from Handelabra’s generous pockets during the sale which ends next Wednesday, May 29. They’re planning on having deals on ODD and the Forest of Shadows expansion as well. In other words, go buy the damn game on Thursday and as many of the extras as you can afford!
The sale doesn’t start until Thursday, so I’ll allow you to wait until then. As such, the prices below don’t reflect the sale price.
- One Deck Dungeon for iOS, $10
- One Deck Dungeon for Android, $10
- One Deck Dungeon for PC/Mac/Linux via Steam, $10
