Written by Hassan
Get on your parker and put on an extra pair of socks as we brave the frozen wastes of Deadpan Games & Gaziter’s tough as nails roguelike deck-builder, Wildfrost!
Special thank you to Chucklefish for our copy of the game!
Story
You play as an adventurer fighting to survive in a world beset by an unnatural storm. It is up to you to battle your way to the heart of the mystery blanketing the world in ice to bring back the sun!
You’ll need to brace yourself as it’s not just the elements you have to contend with, as the once peaceful shades have been turned monstrous and powerful by the encroaching storm!
You’ll get to take on the frost as one of 3 different tribes:
The Snowdwellers - Masters of the elements, you’ll bring frost, shells, shrooms and spice to slow and poison your foes while building up your protective shields and buffing your attacks to epic proportions!
The Shademancers - Skilled spiritualists fighting shades with powerful shades! You’ll utilise the spirits as powerful bulwarks to protect while buffing some and sacrificing others to eke out a victory!
Clunkmasters - These master crafting gnomes wield the ability to create diabolical contraptions out of junk, providing you with a veritable arsenal of makeshift weapons and mechanicals to confound and destroy your foes!
Gameplay
If you’ve played any roguelikes you’ll know they live and die on the randomisation and how much each run feels unique. Wildfrost embraces this ethos right out of the gate presenting you with a randomised hero, complete with their own health pool, attack damage and modifiers.
With your hero picked and journey begun you’ll need to assemble a deck of followers, weapons and equipment. Each new card you’ll pick up comes with its own strengths and modifiers allowing you to build powerful synergies and play to your clan's strengths!
But it won’t just be you benefitting from synergies, each combat encounter could be run-ending. The enemies come in all shapes and sizes complimenting each other's abilities to devastating effect if you’re not ready for it.
Don’t worry though, losing a run doesn’t mean you’ve not made any progress!
With each lost run you’ll slowly grow your village, opening up new buildings complete with their own quests. By fulfilling these quests on your journey through the frozen wilds you’ll be able to unlock powerful new allies and equipment to help you build powerful decks and survive just that little bit longer!
We can’t end this review without talking about the art and music!
From the world to the cards and individual character designs, the art in Wildfrost is a buffet of charm and magic. Ranging from the makeshift clunkers to the adorable and mischievous shades you’ll battle, each piece is brought to life by Gaziter’s art.
And this goes double for the music.
Tying together the magic of the art and gameplay seamlessly into a greater enchanting whole, the music was a highlight for me and a soundtrack I had to hunt down!
Conclusion
If, like me, you're a glutton for roguelike punishment then Wildfrost is an easy recommendation.
The gorgeous art and music alongside the engaging gameplay made it incredibly easy to lose track of time in the delightfully captivating frozen world.
By balancing its tough challenge against the incremental growth of your world and your skills, Wildfrost delivers a satisfying grind, imparting that addictive just one more game feeling that all the best roguelikes infect you with!
If you’re a fan of deck-builders then you should not miss this one!
Wildfrost is now available on PC & Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Switch: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Wildfrost-2210511.html
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