I had the opportunity to spend some time with a preview build of “Shuffle Tactics”, a new roguelite deckbuilding tactical RPG developed by Club Sandwich and published by The Arcade Crew, that features a sharply pixelated cast of anthropomorphic heroes and sidekicks. Starring in the demo is the anthro canine Doberknight, as well as Catalina, along with a few animal-based sidekicks to choose from in your runs. Other than the creative characters, Shuffle Tactics focuses on blending light environmental tactics with inventive deckbuilding options.
As I started figuring out how things operated in the game, I was impressed by the expressive art style and animations, but more impressed by how well the game’s UI helped with understanding all of the in’s and out’s of combat, how enemies’ attacks and yours operated, and how things slowly ramped up in difficulty. You can move your cursor over almost any icon and a very helpful pop-up will give you everything you need to know. This is good, because the amount of effects, buffs, debuffs, and level effects in even just the demo are quite varied. Speaking of style, the regions in Shuffle Tactics will switch up as you complete the runs within them, creating new environmental obstacles and things to consider as you plan your attack. Maneuvering across bridges, above ravines, and through valleys, dotted with enemies that will create their own chaos around them, is a tactical joyride. The combat is quick, with the systems used for movement and actions being very well-defined and simplified, and the complexity of such systems only getting more complicated and intricate as you progress deeper into the run. It’s approachable without being overwhelming.
When the game releases, it’s set to have 3 heroes, 20 sidekicks, 26 enemies, 18 bosses, 5 regions, 500 hero cards, 300 sidekick cards, and hundreds of relics. After just 3 runs I could see how the potential for facing so many different situations in hundreds of different ways could be really exciting to build for during the runs. Each Hero has their own special set of cards, along with ways to improve their overall decks and abilities. The Doberknight has a sword that is the basis of his deck. He can hurl it around the battlefield before recalling it back, the subsequent slashing of foes as it flies back and forth being able to inflict debuffs and damage to enemies along the path. The “sidekicks” are controllable buddies that you pick up along the runs, each with their own set of cards to earn and upgrade, and each allowing for different playstyles, even within the sidekick itself. For example, I picked up a healer along the way who, once I played alongside enough, allowed me to add another set of 6 cards that could either up their healing and AOE powers, make them more of an attacker, or do more debuffing to the enemy team. This made the potential for future runs even more exciting, but also had me strategizing and contemplating the opportunities for synergy with my main hero. Relics and charms add overall and card-specific boosts to your run, making the combos as endless as a visit to a burrito bowl restaurant.
Shuffle Tactics will be featured in Steam Next Fest February 24th, but you can play the demo now on Steam. We’ll definitely be checking it out when it releases!
