Shogun Showdown sometimes it drives me crazy. The new roguelike deckbuilding is all about tactics, and an important aspect of the game is that you can always see what your opponents are going to do next. Every now and then it puts me in a bind where I know I'm going to lose. But when everything falls into place and I take out everyone in one fell swoop, I feel like a strategic genius.
In the game, which just left Early Access, you're constantly trying to position your character on a small level to either attack your enemies or dodge their attacks. As you play, you can upgrade your “tiles” (think cards) to increase their damage, add perks like freezing ice, or reduce their cooldown so you can use them more often. You can also stack up to three tiles, so with a single press of the attack button you can fire off a barrage of attacks to take out a bunch of baddies at once.
Since you can see what the enemies are going to do, you're constantly having to strategize to decide whether to attack or retreat to stay alive. This can get complicated, and sometimes I feel like I have to use my galaxy brain on every move to survive difficult rounds. All the strategy is worth it when you pull off a series of attacks that clear the battlefield.
Here's an example of how it all works. I play as the starting character, called the Wanderer, and I have a pair of swords that can hit the squares to my left and right simultaneously, and an arrow that can be shot across the level. With a few strategic maneuvers, I can set up the Wanderer to hit a bad guy behind him, then shoot an arrow in front of him to clear all the hazards on the map.
During each run, you'll have the opportunity to upgrade your tiles, get new ones, and buy upgrades. Of course, these are all familiar roguelike elements, but with a little planning, you can create some exceptionally powerful tiles. For my first successful run, I upgraded an arrow tile to deal high damage and have no cooldown period, allowing me to fire arrows without breaking a sweat.
You also collect skulls as you play, which you can use to unlock things like new tiles and more things you can buy in item shops. Spending these skulls quickly adds variety to each playthrough, and I don't think I've doubled up on a build yet. I once went all-in on a dragon punch that sent enemies flying into each other, and while I didn't win, I did enjoy smashing the baddies across the levels to make room.
I'm still early in the game and have only unlocked one of four additional characters, so there's still a lot to see. Completing runs also lets you play through more difficult “days” with additional challenges like tougher enemies or fewer item drops.
Although I work on bigger games like Astro Bot and a long-standing Mass effect Trilogy playthrough, I always come back to Shogun Showdown; it's just too much fun to experiment with the game's many weapons and strategies. Maybe it's time for me to try the Dragon Punch build again – or stumble upon something completely unexpected.
Shogun Showdown is now available for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation and Xbox.