Cantrip is a free-to-play card game from Joeri Bakker. In this challenging roguelike, you get to build your own deck and go out into the world. As you fight, you gain experience and more cards to create a stronger composition. However, if you’re left defenseless with no cards in hand, every attack will drain your health, and dropping to zero HP will kill you and end the game.

With its unique cross-genre features, Cantrip features the intensity of Rounds with the strategy and progression you can expect from InfidHells. Overall, this is a simple yet engaging game.

Less visuals, more strategy

The first thing players would notice from Cantrip is its visual quality. Other players might find it too plain and simple. Especially since the “front side” of the cards feature nothing but the basic black text on white backgrounds. It has the card ratings, the name of the card, and its effect. There are simple designs for the back of the cards, giving a consistent deck feel.

Aside from the rather simple designs, the strategy involved in the game has quite some serious range. From simple damage-dealing effects to those that instantly replenish your health. It gives players an incentive to continuously build and improve their decks. However, the game scales in difficulty, making it essentially difficult to complete in a single run. Owing to its roguelike nature, you have to make multiple runs, improving each time.

However, the game doesn’t just throw you into a battle without any help. One simple yet helpful feature in this game is a Battle Log that lists the history, such as every move made and the damage dealt with every player. Still, there are a few game bugs to be fixed. For example, there are instances where the game falls in an infinite loop–trapping you in a never ending game.

A raw tactics game

If you’re looking for a raw card game that doesn’t rely on intricate card designs and explosive graphics, Cantrip is a good candidate. Its barebones aesthetic makes it feel like a retro game, although the game’s potential for complex gameplay says otherwise. It has a lot of potential for hours and hours of gameplay, despite the existence of different bugs.