Mech Shuffle

The core gameplay loop will be familiar to anyone who has played FTL. You advance through a series of battles, using randomly generated loot to augment yourself as you progress. Where it differs is in the battle mechanic, which utilizes cards, each one representing qualities or equipment of your mech or pilot. The standard mode is perhaps a little too easy, the "hard mode" however is suitably challenging. Improvements to the AI would be welcome, although it would require some rebalancing, as the hard mode would likely be impossible if the AI did more than seemingly play their cards at random. All in all, a solid game for fans of FTL. While not quite as deep, it kept my attention and it was fun experimenting with the different play styles of the different mechs and pilots.

Mech Shuffle is an excellent addition to the deck builder genre. The game is very easy to learn with clear images for everything. This makes understanding by a quick glance exactly what a card does and how it can be countered something that anyone can pick up. Playing through the tiers of the single-player campaign is both challenging and rewarding, with the ability to change out cards or upgrade them as you go keeping things interesting and fresh. The feature that results in Mech Shuffle feeling more like chess than any TCG game is the fact that you and your opponent can see every card currently in each other's hand. It makes counter-play and figuring out your opponent's strategy fun, especially in the ranked mode. So if what you are looking for is an easy-to-pick-up and fun-to-play deck builder game then there is no reason to not grab Mech Shuffle.

+1

Very nice tactical card game. Hard and confusing at first but after a couple of plays, it gets easier to understand. I thought it was too easy at first but once you get to the Captain, it wasn't so easy. Definitely worth a try!!

Easy to pick up, hard to put down.

There are 18 mechs to unlock and these can be paired with any of the 9 pilots to form your starting deck. Plays out similarly to Slay The Spire, with 4 Acts ending in a Boss, and a Final Boss at the end. After each node you make a choice for your next battle, some of which can give you rewards, but at the cost of higher difficulty. The combat system is the real highlight. You get 3 actions per turn, and you know the opponents hand. If you see that they can't defend your attack then you can play it. But can you defend their attack? Perhaps you need to draw for an answer. But do you pre-preemptively draw? - Perhaps it won't be played this turn. This cat-and-mouse gameplay was a real hook for me. I still haven't beaten the Final Boss yet, but I look forward to more runs so that I can try out the new mechs I unlocked. Progression is really good and not a grind, so I got most of the unlocks already.