As We Descend burrows beneath the other Frostpunk-likes with ornate card tactics and writing

Years agone I wrote a piece astir what I presumptuously defined arsenic the "emerging" subgenre of metropolis games that respond to the clime crisis, with its attendant catastrophes of unchecked capitalism and resurgent fascism. Today, it feels dangerously similar that subgenre is "sub" nary longer.

We are engulfed successful strategy sims wherever nine is the rind betwixt the formless terrors without and the only-human abusers within. The geography is clogged by Last Cities and Final Bastions Of Humanity, each of them awkwardly avoiding oculus contact, similar the prophets that enactment the alleyways of Life Of Brian. I conjecture it's successful keeping with the "unchecked capitalism" spot that apocalypse fantasies person go a thriving business. I anticipation that's not my fault. On the brighter side, roguelike deckbuilder As We Descend is rather fun, combining moderately baroque turn-based combat with tales of Vernian dystopia. Here's Wot I Think of the demo.

In As We Descend, you dutifully instrumentality custody of different Terminal Metropolis, a crenellated steampunk diorama that huddles Frostpunk-style astir a airy root - not a ember generator, successful this case, but an tremendous aureate hologram, which is perchance the deity of the draconian theocracy you'll person to wrangle with arsenic the latest, unwilling First Ranger.

For reasons presently unclear to me, your metropolis is besides a immense circular drill that is tunnelling to the centre of the Earth. On each level, you walk turns playing cards to entree facilities and stories wrong the city. You'll besides nonstop expeditions into the surrounding caverns to retrieve technologies specified arsenic reactor rods, utilized to powerfulness the forcefields that safeguard your city's descent.

The section wildlife don't instrumentality kindly to this. That wouldn't beryllium a occupation if they were each roundworms and bacteria, but arsenic with Anoxia Station, As We Descend has a nasty lawsuit of the megafauna. Enemies scope successful standard and menace level from gristle-filled balloons to massive, skinless Skeletors. Against these foes you shall transportation Age Of Sigmar-esque battalions of fragile arbalests, iron-palmed monks, tanks with operation shields, and clockwork soldiers, unlocked from tally to run.

Battles spot you distributing your units betwixt 2 radial zones, portion a smaller mentation of the large aureate hologram slings quality cards from the rear. Units successful the beforehand portion auto-attack enemies betwixt turns, but are people exposed to greater harm. The game's paper alchemy feels appropriately compressed and dicey. There are cards that tether stat boosts to moving betwixt zones, cards that origin units to "fixate", inflicting other harm connected a selected foe, portion losing the quality to people others, and obstruction cards to stave disconnected portion wipes. All of which is powered by religion generated by your citizens, arsenic agelong arsenic you transportation connected completing quests for them.

Image credit: Coffee Stain Publishing

I mislaid plentifulness of units successful the demo - there's a bully consciousness of being fundamentally outmatched, and the longer you linger connected a level, the much you're provoking a chonkier predator to onslaught your metropolis directly. During my archetypal run, my dystopaville fell to a crablike rhino that had the atrocious signifier to materialise aft a bid of expeditions, with each of my units astatine half-strength.

I'm wooed but not wowed by As We Descend's strategy-tactics sandwich. What lures maine much is the glowering enigma of the metropolis itself, whose creation deco crevices teem with small, branching stories involving supercilious overseers and buff blacksmiths and the like. There's an agreeable stink of medieval politicking. Yes, humans are astir apt the existent monsters here. Read much and find the demo connected Steam - the afloat game's retired connected 27th March.