Though Decktamer’s premise is not unlike Pokémon, it forges its own path as a roguelike deckbuilding game. Is it worth playing? Let’s find out!

What is Decktamer?

As mentioned, Decktamer is a roguelike deckbuilding game; though that you may roll your eyes reading that description, it’s a unique offering in the genre, with a focus on lane battling and monster taming. In Decktamer, you’ll set off with a basic deck of monsters, choose the boss characters you’ll fight (getting a preview of the reward you receive for success too) and then, if you’re successful, move onto the next encounter.

Your monsters can be trained, and enemy monsters can be tamed, as the game’s title clearly states. You’ll reach into your backpack for treats to tame specific monsters once they’re knocked down to a low enough health value, but of course if you kill them, the opportunity for taming is lost. Though again, this all sounds very much like Pokémon, the emphasis on the monsters being cards (with only a close up, 2D shot of their artwork as they attack, with no animation), as well as the focus on positioning and using items in a timely manner do really set Decktamer apart, and really make it feel like it’s own thing.

Is Decktamer Fun to Play?

There’s a really unique flow to Decktamer’s gameplay, and a strong emphasis on paying attention to the abilities of each monster, both allies and enemies alike. This gives it a much more cerebral feel than may be apparent at first, and gives the initially simple, lane-based combat a much deeper edge than is expected.

Despite its lack of visual bells and whistles, the artwork in the game is beautiful, and the creature design is superb; though they vary from cutesy critters to truly horrifying beasts (and lots in-between), the gorgeous, painted art style makes them all feel as if they’re part of the same menagerie.

The music is gorgeous too; ethereal strings and dramatic orchestration where appropriate, with battles being particularly impactful in terms of the audio design. Like the visuals, the audio isn’t wide ranging or full of unique sound effects for each creature, but what’s there is very well implemented.

The small development team, and resultant reduced scope of the roguelike action, does mean that it’s perhaps less compelling between rounds of combat though; there’s not the sense of battling through an environment, or even just along a path, as you would normally feel in a roguelike game. The combat can also be particularly punishing at times, given that once your monsters are reduced to zero health, they’re out of your deck.

Even though you can undo a turn at the press of a button, it still feels as if there are so many stats and abilities to keep track of, as well as monsters that are so much stronger than your own almost immediately, that it can suck the enjoyment out of the game at times.

However, quickly taming new and stronger monsters, as well as buffing the ones you do have, are essential skills in learning to succeed, and the sometimes extreme difficulty can be overcome with persistence. Overall, however, I did find that Decktamer is an enjoyable, if lowkey affair; it compensates for its reduced scope with an emphasis on involving combat and excellent, minimalist audiovisual design.

The Card Gamer Verdict

You can buy Decktamer from Steam, using the widget below.

Check out our reviews of other digital deckbuilding games, such as Monster Train 2 and the unusual word-based roguelike, Birdigo.