This game is hard to explain. To call it a "card based RPG" is a misnomer, even though thats what it is. Its kind of like playing those old RPG board games like HeroQuest, mixed with the Lone Wolf books, mixed with an ARPG. Its really unique. I'm an old jaded gamer and Ive never seen anything like this. Its awesome.

Basically, you have a deck of cards, your opponent (a mage who you are playing against and who narrates the story - I think the voice is the narrator from Fable 2 but Im not sure) has a deck of cards (encounter cards). He lays out encounter cards face down, and you move a token across them, choosing where you go. When you land on a card, it is flipped over and an encounter ensues. Sometimes its good, sometimes its bad, and sometimes its combat. Sometimes it can be good or bad depending on what you choose to do and what card you draw (success, failure ect). There are item cards, weapon cards, armor cards.

As you move through the levels you gain more cards. At the end of each sequence, you start a new one and can build your deck based on the cards you won in the last deck. You also build your encounter deck, as you win new encounter cards as well.

Combat is resolved in a 3rd person ARPG style. Sometimes theres traps and environmental hazards as well. Its pretty simple, attack, counter, block, roll. You can also get power ups/downs and special one-use cards. Its really fun. It doesnt take a whole lot of strategy at first, but the enemies and maps do get more complex as you go. Certain attacks cant be blocked or countered and must be avoided, some enemies have ranged attacks, and so forth.

My biggest complaint is that the camera is fixed, which can be a big pain in certain areas. A "maze of traps" where you are dodging flames and spears comes to mind, as well as in encounters where you cant see the enemies attacking you from off screen because you cant rotate the camera to look at them.

That is pretty much the major flaw of the game. Fixed cameras in ARPGs are not a good idea. Fortunately, its reltively minor and since the game is still in E.A. at the time of this writing, maybe it'll be implemented later.

That shouldnt stop you from getting this unique and awesome game, though.

Intresting, stylish adventure awaits!
Storyline and setting make this game a very enjoyable expierence, concept of a card-driven rogue game add a rather plesant taste.

However, there are some problems with battle system. And this is actually the only problems I can think of.
Firstly, in a battle everything against you, even the camera. It is sort of fixed and how many times I got hit just because I can't see the enemy right in front of my character - I can't even count.
Secondly, slowmotion. It happens, yeah, cool stuff, but... It throw timing of the strike off balance so much, that it feels like your opponent DOES NOT GET AFFECTED by slow-mo. It can be just a feeling, though, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste.
And third problem is the time which your char needs to react to a pressed button. Even if you press counter at the moment an emblem of a throwing weapon appear above your head, it doesn't mean you will reflect it at all. Timings a bit of odd.

But! This game is great, seriously. And very good. Especially, the comments of your wizard opponent, so much soul put in this game... It rocks.

Very unusuall type of game. If you like to play a board game with friends - this is the perfect choose !

This game is just too good, is like choise your own adventure with card deck building and third action combat for the fighting parts

EPIC GAME! I loved it keep updating the game with content.

- Early Access review, subject to Changes
tldr? Skip to bottom

I went in unexpecting what this game had to offer, I was surprised by how its played and what it is. Very different,innovative and very unique.
it is an rpg/deck building/ action packed/ addictive card game that comes to life as you are dealt the cards of fate.

The game gives you a hero outfitted with certain gears and debuff (Depending on deck stack), your job? To fight the dealer by traveling through his deck of cards and facing the boss.He shuffles and places the cards in random positions where you move a token across them to see what your of fate is, you'll have a certain amount of heatlh and food to make it through to the boss. Run out of health? you die, run out of food? you'll take damage as you move instead of heals, reach 0 hp andyou'll have to start the entire adventure deck over. You'll encounter monsters, Trap cards, Quest cards,shops to gear yourself, reward cards, or even dangerous cards that will throw you completely off and thus completely costing you the game NOTE : YOU WILL DIE!

Since the game is randomized depending on what you put into the deck randomization will be what you put into the deck which is required along with his cards, After each deck either by death or actually winning you'll get tokens for completing every card's quests that is played and whatever drops from the boss. You'll also get rewarded with even MORE cards you can throw in the deck.
After beating 3 sets of his deck, the game gets more challenging with Paradigm cards (This is what i label them), it'll reward you but at the same time buff your enemies up by giving them MORE abilities, more strength, or any other crazy benefits you can think of to beat you down, before you know it the game gets even harder forcing you to throw even more strategic cards into play. Items and such will help you but those are completely randomized also so hope that luck is on your side
The combat is quite simple, you'll be set in an arena, you'll be able to evade, stun if you have your shield, or counter hit your enemies with. Its very similar to batman arkham combat style.

With what there is now the game is playable and has plenty of randomization and contents that you can really enjoy, I am 8 hours in and plan to spend even more, the game has that much material already!\! Expect more contents from the devs and more bosses.

+ Great voice acting
+ Innovative and unique gameplay
+ Rogue-Like adventures since its completely random decks thrown at you
+ Gets really challenging as the game goes on once you complete set, and harder, and harder so play your cards right
+Controller support
+ Graphics are quite decent
+ The music where they are available is done well and fits the game
+ Voice acting from the dealer is fantastic
+ REPLAYABILITY = PLENTY
+ Good writing and lore on the cards, very intresting cards
+ Good variety of enemies, and cards that will kick your ♥♥♥

- lack of character customization, you don't really get to customize them at all in fact.
- Combat is pretty limited, you can only counter, evade, or attack seems sorta cheap, needs a bit more polishing
- The cameras during combat can sometimes confuse you since you cannot control it, so enemies offscreen will get free shots at you sometimes, worst part is the background covering your view
- Game still has missing features such as final boss and voices at certain places and music( this doesn't really count as permanent negative)
- A multiplayer of sort would be amazing for this game, though planning will be needed to have one. That would really bring more awsome.
- The price atm can deter some people, but if you love roguelike/ adventure/rpg card games and support innovative games, then go for it, This game is well worth the 25 dollars. Don't believe me? i'll work on the video to convince you.

Play video with commentary about the game - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRc6O9HeP6w
-Video review - Won't be released until game is done

8/10

This is a fantastic game. It really tries to throw a bunch of different games together, and... It works! It's fun to build your deck and exciting when you pull a rare card you've been just itching to try in your next brawl. The action combat reminds me of the Batman Arkham series, and for the most part, it's fairly smooth sailing. While very basic at times, this game is in fantastic shape in the midst of the broken and dying Early Access titles that flood the catalog. I'd at least keep this on your Wishlist, if I were you.

After playing the FIRST level of this game i was in love. One of the most interesting game concepts i have come across, and was very excited to see it put into practice! You start with very basic cards, which get played face down to form a dungeon. Traversing the dungeon will flip the cards and apply the effects of the card. Your ultimate aim is to find the dungeon boss and defeat them, this unlocks the next boss AND token (booster packs / single cards). After the first few bosses you may actually BUILD a deck, playing through your own custom dungeon!

The potential for this game is MASSIVE and i reccomend everyone try it, or at least watch it on youtube / twitch!

Hand of Fate, an action RPG with card game and rogue like elements that plays out like a tarot reading but with more violence.

A true symbol of how different genres can come together to create something unique and intriguing.

While it maybe still be in early access I would deem the game to be feature complete and just needs a little polish and there will be no reason this won't be a cult classic.

A game what has innovated like this game has deserves recognition and I hope more rogue likes make more of an effort with adding a story to their games.

http://youtu.be/xCY4-L1cxzo

If you agree with my opinions or have found what I have said to be helpful feel free to follow my curator page for more great suggestions.

http://store.steampowered.com/curator/6864929-PALOFGAMES-POSSE/

Absolutely recommended. I've been playing the game for some time, and I'm loving every minute of it. The ability to design your own dungeon and then run it is fantastic, and seeing if your luck holds out works great as well. The Arkham-style combat works well, and allows the game to mob you while still having a chance to fight back. I'm looking forwards to seeing how it continues.

This is the Kind of game I have been waiting for for a very long time ... I love it ... the only thing it's missing is maybe some dice rolls on the table but I can live without it. Over all I'm extremely impressed with the game mechanics and the execution of play and game flow ...Superb hybrid with amazing graphics, I'm captivated.

A fantastic game that will never reach it's full potential due to the developers. While most of the game is enjoyable, there are a few poorly designed mechanics in the game that ruin the experience to the point that make the player want to quit the game and it's been made very clear to me that they will not be changed. For example, as you progress through the game, you'll notice that the same cards that used to be helpful now hardly do anything. In fact, some of them do more harm than good. Encounters that revolve around battling will eventually offer meager to zero rewards, encouraging the player to avoid combat as it is never worth the risk. The deeper you go into the story, the odds of you failing at the same tasks you've done fifty times increases as does the consequences of you doing so. There's even a card that gets introduced that results in instant death for the player. Yep, you could be on the final floor, fully decked out in the best gear having the best run of your life... and then you run into Davey Jones who forces you to a 50/50 (might even be 25/75 later on) chance of life or death. In other words, the game doesn't ever become more challenging, it simply becomes more and more unfair the more you play. This is bad design, even for a game that plays on chance.

So what happens when I try to provide feedback and bring up these awful flaws? Instead of asking questions as to why I feel the way I do about the issues or asking what the player what changes they would like to see, they simply try to justify why things are the way they are and even go as far as telling me that I am wrong about the things that I have experienced first-hand in the game. The one thing you don't want to see in an early access game is a dev team that refuses to listen to the player base. I wouldn't be surprised if this review gets downvoted by the very same people, haha.

TLDR: Great game with a few crucial design flaws, bad developers. Do not support them.

Thanks for reading!

On the last level my max health was cursed down to 35% and I was damaged to about 5, and THEN I pulled a curse card that disabled any kind of healing. I looked at my food: 1 left.

"♥♥♥♥ it". I moved to the next card.

The next draw was "Nymphs of the Sweetwoods", or what I call the "FEMA Check card", which removes all curses and blessings, resets your food to 10, removes all gold, and replaces your equipment with the starting equipment from the 1st level.

I fought the final boss with a rusty axe and won.

10/10

This game has a lot of good ideas and some really good implementation, and up until you beat the Jack of Plague you will be having a great time. It only goes downhill from there. Mages that block indefinitely, ranged attacks that are impossible to avoid, and prepare your butt for the Blacksmith card which contains two boss level monsters that spawn together with 4 enemies each, which do around a sixth of your life in damage with each attack.

This game needs a LOT more balancing before it's ready for public consumption. I too was fooled by the idea and flowery reviews. Turns out I don't have the stomach for overpowered enemies and unbalanced messes.

If you like mystical rpg adventures. This HAS to be in your game list. You can costomize what event cards you can use, and also what equipe you may find. I would say 50% of the game is chance based, while the other 50% is skill based. The combat is simple, which makes it special, no special attention needed. WASD to move, click to hit, Q to parry/counter, E for execution, and 2 for special item ability, thats all. The voice actor is also amazing.

10/10

eNjoy! ^-^

I had too much fun with this game, so I felt like I should write this review.
I had very hard time, deciding if I should buy this game or not. Now I am happy, that I did.

I fully recommend this game, if you:
1. Enjoy "rouge"-like systems, when you should go many runs deeper and deeper inside the game, some times lucky, some times not, to begin to understand what's happening or "get a hand of it".
2. Enjoy building your experience by your own hands. You build 2 decks each time (except endless mode, which is just using all of your cards). First deck is equipment, that you will get chance to get, second is encounter deck. Got sick of unfair encounter? Just get rid of it. Or push your luck to limits to overcome it and get new equipment or encounter cards in return.
3. Enjoy indirect storytelling. (When you get information about the world, characters and things that happen - piece by piece, finding new names or view on things by reading or hearing vague descriptions or remarks, and you are 100% free to try and put them together in a way, that will make sense.) I got tons of fun, while doing this.

I thinks that you should go look for other alternatives, if you:
1. Do not enjoy reading and prefer to skip any available dialog - "Just get me to action already, dammit!" You still can play this game, no problem, but will miss half the fun, and knowing that there are a lot of monster-slashing brawlers out there, I can assure you that if you just wasnt to slash some monsters go play something else, you will have more fun there.
2. Do not enjoy increasing level of hardships you should deal with, further you play. Number of "freebies" will ultimately decrease, longer you play and hardships will only rise, will it be amounts of rewards or just chances of winning an encounter. Do not expect a "free ride" from start to finish.
3. Can't handle simple action combat system, in which you should dodge or block of break guard at least from time to time. It is not just card game, or turn-base strategy, for more relaxing and meditative experience go somewhere else.

Genre - Randomised Fantasy Card/Action Game
When I first heard the description of this game I thought this sounds exactly like a game I would make if I had the skill and patience. I picked it up as soon as it came on early access and have played a it few times across different builds. First of all I have seen a lot of improvements made and have had suggestions taken seriously so this is a positive to the developers. The game is fun and due to the random element sometimes you get the luck others you swear at the screen. This I think is part of the fun. The action battles are okay and dependent on your foes and equipment are well balanced. The way you play against the dealer and his comments add to the game's immersion. You will be collecting different cards as you play through the game so it will evolve with you. I really enjoy this game and I assume their will be dreaded DLC at a later date (I like DLC, if you don't want it don't buy it!) and more achievements you can obtain. My main criticism at the moment is that there is only one character model for the player, I would like to see some sort of class choice at the start with different starting equipment.

Very interesting game. It definitely has that "one more try" factor going for it.

I'm 60 years old, and have been playing computer games since they were born. I have 195 of them in my steam library, and this is the first review I've submitted. Well, I don't actually plan to review it (I'm way too lazy for that tonight), but this is the first time in a long while that I felt obliged to post a comment. The reason I'm doing that is that I have a feeling that this game might just slip under the radar, and never fulfill it's potential...and that would be a shame. I've seen that happen many times over the years, and "potential", is often somethiing that's never followed up on. I know that. My eight grade nun predicted that I "had so much potential, but I'd never make anything of myself"...and she was "spot on" with that observation. But I digress ;) The game still needs a bit of work in terms of balancing, some of the choices that are offered are a bit too random...maybe a bit of RPG type progression could be introduced to help with that, but it's certainly playable right now.

Anyway, I'd recommend that you give it a try. Use a controller; I'm more a keyboard guy myself, but keyboard/mouse is a little clumsy at the moment.

I'm only a few hours into it, but I'm actually planning to give some feedback to the developers. That's rare for me :)

Sandsifter

After the first level I'm instantly hooked. This game has such promise. I look forward to playing it more.

First Game.
Get beat up by starving peasants.
Get beat up by bandits for the amusement of others.
Get beat up by rocks. Then get beat up by the bandits throwing said rocks.
Lost in the desert, so I pray to Old Gods for help. Get hit by an arrow. Beat up by bandits.
Devil shows up? Dies.

Second Game.
No food. Losing health.
Starving peasants see I'm starving.
They don't beat me up.
"Oh boy, this is the best day ever!"
Starve to death.

10/10, will die again.