For me, the original Card Crawl was a staple when it came to mobile gaming. From its first launch day until about 4 days ago it had a spot on my phone. Since the release of Card Crawl 2, I obviously havent played it as much. Card Crawl 2 if better in every way. Playable characters that actually change the gameplay, new game modes that keeps to the core charm of the original. It should be everything I hopped for, and it’s pretty dang close. Enter micro transaction, and a monthly charge to keep out advertising. I’m not a dev, so I don’t know the costs and time it takes to not only make a game but make sure it earns money. I’m a gamer. And as a gamer, nothing pulls me out of having a good time then having to watch ads and deal with micro transactions. I would rather pay a base price and enjoy the content, without the limitations of watching an ad to earn coins to play the game, I see enough of that from not good games. I hate to see it with the games that are actually good. All that being said, it does seem like the developer has gone about it in a tasteful way. Most the ads are voluntary, but if you want to get new stuff out the game they’re kind of inevitable.I love this developer, and all their games. The first Card Crawl is still one of my all time favorites.Micro transaction and ads are lame though.

The mechanics of the game is tied to the shop. You can earn things to a point on the free free, but eventually you need to pay at least $7 to advance the game. It is more than worth that. What’s missing is an outright buy for 30 bucks. It has a subscription for a dollar that although gets you to play daily for about a games winnings of gold, does not solve the issue of the characters you’re buying ballooning above what your coin limit is. The game starts to feel real grindy at that point and I don’t like to grind. If I could give it 4.5, I’d do it.

You’ll read that you don’t have to buy into the monetization but, while that’s technically true, you also won’t be able to progress without paying for something less than the full game. After a couple days your 250 gold cap becomes meaningless in the shop, where spells and artifacts cost 275, so you have wait for the daily chest which requires an incredibly tedious ad watch (seriously, you have to click the X 3+ times). Without unlocking more of your collection, you won’t be able to unlock new game modes. Without new game modes, you can’t progress through your two characters (the others of which are also behind paywalls). So you basically get to play two vanilla modes for free and then have to decide what to pay for next. $2 for a one of the two gold caps, but have to watch ads still and then wonder whether you’ll have to do it again after you unlock a few more items. $1/month for ads removal but you still have the gold cap. How much does the game actually cost?! Who knows. I’d pay $5 up front just to be able to play in its entirety. It feels like the dev read a single book on how to monetize an app and is just throwing stuff at the wall hoping it works. The game is fun, but this is ridiculous.

Thoroughly impressed with this one. Has a great causal feel, but has implemented enough twists, upgrades, collectibles, game modes, and gates to give it a great progression feel and offer different approaches to clear each deck. And it achieves ‘flow,’ or the just-one-more-game feel you get from other similar roguelike games. This isn’t a card game in the same style as Slay the Spire, but rather solitaire/klondike. There are a few in-game purchasable items that benefit your progression, so be aware. Given the author’s track record on killer games and great content, I’m satisfied with getting a minor bag upgrade and a subscription—but get that could sour a few grapes for some. All in all, I’m really happy with what this turned out to be and have sunk several hours in so far, and have been very happy to see how this is starting to open up! Strongly Recommended.