Flaregate Network

I've been waiting for this to come out ever since I saw it on the Keystone loading screen. Having played through a couple more hours of the full game after having completed the Demo several times I really want to say thank you for making this come true. As for highlights, ever since keystone I've been a big fan of Structure decks, so my views are gonna be slightly biased, but I love love LOVE Director Keys (His name is a Halo reference right?) because he basically doubles my structure's output. Him combined with some scaling up on Destroyer Factories and it's absolutely awesome how many ships I can get out. All this to say, I really like this game and look forward to playing more of it.

I think the game is priced too high at $15 [for anyone interested in the rogue-like runs, not the campaign]. The core gameplay loop exists, but the content to justify going through a new run is...lacking. Once you have beaten it once, you'll likely have seen what possible options exist for another run---and it isn't all that enticing. Build variety is too small, the tech tree not all that engaging, and anything "cool" you think you could pull off is buried by forced taking of cards and only one use per card. The game would be much better if cards could recycle in the deck, you could remove cards from your deck, and you weren't forced to take a card. You could argue that this is what makes the game "good" and "challenging" (it's not that challenging), but it doesn't make the game more fun for me---it takes away from its potential. If the game's core structure stays the same, then more factions are needed to justify the cost and increase the hours I'd be willing to put into the game tinkering. I will say the game does exist outside of your typical roguelike deckbuilder---and that was refreshing, but not refreshing enough to keep going.

This game is a lot better than i thought it would be. I played the demo and got hooked on it for a while, and decided to purchase it for the extra cards. I'm a huge fan of Auto-battlers, Rogue-like Deckbuilders, and just watching ships blow everybody up. I wish there were more cards, but i think the Dev is working on it. Campaign is a nice change of pace from constantly dying in the rogue-like mode. Give it a try if you are a fan of the genre.

Flaregate network is game whose gameplay originates from a Starcraft 2 arcade by the same creator. The game is advertised as rougelike, but the mechanics by which you actually play are quite different from nearly all other rougelikes on the market, and are in my opinion very fun once you get to know them better. The game, as of writing this review, consists of two main parts: - The campgain, which teaches the mechanics and goes over an alright story. From what I have seen heard should be maybe 12ish hours for new players. Currently consists only of one faction, final version should include 3. - The rougelike mode, this is the replayable experience and is quite fun in its own right, the structure of progression is similar to other rougelike games with winning the rougelike unlocking new difficulty level. From what I have played in final version, and before in demo, it is quite nice and if you enjoy other card rougelikes I think you may find this one refreshing and fun. Overall there are also some issues, mostly lacking some QoL features, but I have not experienced any bugs in the final release and can say that even if I mostly wanted to play the game for the rougelike, the campaign was also very enjoyable and I think this may be a more universal experience.

Wildly unbalanced and lacking content. Devs seem to have little to no idea what a CCG game is.

It's just bad. The story mode is billed as a learner experience, it is basically unplayable and outright hostile to a good game play experience. The rogue like mode is almost tolerable, but you are at the whim of RNG on card and ability draws between missions, which might as well be predetermined. This game was made by someone with no sense of fun or joy in their life, let alone any concept of game balance.

An interesting mashup of genres. Rough around the edges, but worth playing.