"Co-op deckbuilder where the debuff stack breaks the fight"
About
Across the Obelisk is a cooperative roguelite deckbuilder set in the kingdom of Senenthia, playable solo or with up to three friends. You construct decks of cards across multiple runs, fighting tactical turn-based battles against increasingly difficult enemies while choosing which locations to visit and which rewards to prioritize. Your party's survival depends on building synergistic card combinations and making strategic decisions that carry permanent consequences within each run.
Verdict
Across the Obelisk turns four-hero party building into a math playground where the right debuff stack snowballs into absurd damage, and the co-op campaign keeps people coming back for dozens of runs. The grind wall in Act 1 and the relentless, overpriced DLC pushing since the Paradox deal sour what is otherwise one of the strongest deckbuilders going.
You'll like it if …
- +you love optimising synergy stacks until small buffs snowball into absurd damage
- +you want a co-op deckbuilder to replay with friends across dozens of runs
- +you enjoy juggling four heroes whose decks feed each other
You'll dislike it if …
- −you want a steep, run-losing climb to pay off fast rather than after many attempts
- −you play deckbuilders for narrative depth like Disco Elysium
- −you'd rather buy one complete package than weigh a pile of DLC
Breakdown
- +Class and party synergies produce genuinely broken, satisfying damage combos
- +Tactical turn-based battles reward careful sequencing and synergy stacking
- −Act 1 bosses gatekeep new players for many runs before anything clicks
- +Four-hero parties and multiple builds per character create enormous synergy space
- +Co-op campaign that friends replay 20-plus times without it going stale
- +Layered difficulty options let you keep raising the ceiling
- −DLC priced at or above the base game, pushed aggressively
- −Senenthia setting frames the runs without ever being the reason you play
- +Clean, colourful card and character art that reads well in the heat of a turn
- +Base game is generous and easily worth its price
- −Launcher and startup crashes require a checklist of workarounds before reaching a card
- −Solid once it runs, but getting it to run is a chore
score
