"Deckbuilder Depth Buried Under D&D Sprawl"
About
Gordian Quest is a roguelite deckbuilding RPG where you assemble and lead parties of heroes across cursed lands, with each run presenting new card combinations and party configurations. You command turn-based combat encounters using deck-crafted abilities, leveling heroes to unlock deeper skills and forging bonds that grant them synergistic powers. Progression persists across runs through permanent character development and story progression, allowing you to gradually unravel the curses binding the world.
Verdict
Gordian Quest welds a sharp turn-based deckbuilder onto a sprawling old-school RPG, and the card combat is the part worth your time. The campaign scaffolding piles on runes, sockets and status icons faster than it explains them, and bugs still bite at the edges. When the deckbuilding clicks it genuinely pulls you back, but you have to push through a lot of clutter to reach it.
You'll like it if …
- +you love deep per-character build experimentation across many runs
- +you want party positioning and guard tactics layered onto your deckbuilding
- +you'll dig through dense systems to reach the payoff
You'll dislike it if …
- −you want story to be the reason you keep playing
- −you'd rather learn one clean system than juggle stacked layers at once
- −RNG draws deciding a fight frustrate you
Breakdown
- +Tactical positioning and guard mechanics give fights real texture
- +Turn-based deckbuilder combat that genuinely pulls you back once it clicks
- −RNG swings mean a bad draw can cost you a fight outright
- −Onboarding dumps unexplained statuses, icons and systems on you all at once
- +Card combat with deep per-character customisation that rewards build experimentation
- +Roguelite structure and volume of build paths keep people coming back
- +Each hero carries its own customisation knobs, offering more options than most players will ever turn
- −Layers stacked on layers until the systems start fighting each other for attention
- −Repetition creeps in for players who don't engage with the customisation depth
- +D&D-and-Ultima framing sets a tone players respond to
- −Campaign rarely becomes the reason anyone stays, offering pleasant scaffolding rather than a story that earns its own weight
- −Functional and a bit dated, with presentation likened to early-2000s browser games
- −Audio does its job without standing out
- +Under 17 euros delivers a deckbuilder people sink dozens of hours into
- −Game-breaking bugs serious enough to ruin a 34-hour run are still present
- −Campaign scaffolding piles on runes, sockets and status icons faster than it explains them
- −Steam Deck experience is rougher than its verified badge suggests
score
