Knock on the Coffin Lid is a rogue-like deckbuilder and card battler game developed by RedBoon. You wake up in a cold crypt a thousand leagues from home, devoid of memories of what has happened. This adventure game then takes you on a strange journey to remember your past. 

To return your lost memories, you must examine the dark secrets of your own death, form unexpected alliances, and carefully plan ahead — lest you stray and fade away into obscurity. Similar to The Witcher video games, Knock on the Coffin Lid is a grimdark, gritty, fantasy-based setting that players will come to appreciate.

Knocking on death's door 

In Knock on the Coffin Lid, you will set off on a journey across three mysterious regions to return home and untangle a web of deadly intrigues. On your way, you will meet many new friends — as well as those who only want to appear as such. Mysterious forces await you as you make progress toward reaching your goals; they want to stop you at all costs. 

The main caveat of this game is that you can collect powerful artifacts, build unbeatable decks, and fight the mysterious and arrogant leaders of factions that will try to dispute your authority. There is also a compelling narrative where your decisions in the world matter. With a total of three main heroes, you get to unravel their secrets and their own antagonists’ machinations. 

The game is simple yet offers depth to its story and has tons of replayability, thanks to multiple playable characters. However, it is plagued by a plethora of bugs, unfair difficulty spikes, and unbalanced RNG that prevents it from catapulting to being one of the many better deckbuilding roguelikes out there. In particular, the dialogue scenes feel too long compared to the card battles’ lengths.

Face death head-on 

Knock on the Coffin Lid is a wonderful gritty game that combines roguelike and card battle mechanics, which makes it a unique experience for both new and seasoned players of the subgenres. Despite the issues that plague the game, players can look forward to enjoying the game's story, as well as its gameplay mechanics and various in-depth characters. If you enjoy this type of game, you can also try Slay the Spire.