Between Monster Train 2 and the upcoming Slay the Spire 2, the competition between the best deck-building roguelikes is fierce, and that’s without even branching out to the Ballatoro side of the equation. However, the ones that jump out at me are ones with a strong style and flavor like Starless Abyss, or those with unique mechanical hooks like Die in the Dungeon. newcomer Maris offers both, and Summerfall Studios has the added trump card of worldbuilding from co-founder and former Dragon Age creator David Gaider.
Malys just popped out of Early Access on Steam, and I’m just as enamored with its art direction and tone as I was when it first released. In the role of Noah, a “priest turned demon hunter,” you choose your path through a noir-tinged city in search of specific prey. It is Malice, who bears the name “a demon of extraordinary cunning and power.” To get there you will have to deal with the locals. Many locals are obsessed with Metaphor Refanzaio’s strangest rival. The card game begins here.
The battle presentation is perfect. The victim is tied to a chair, and from behind the demon twists and becomes gigantic, its crimson hues standing out against the monochrome world. Noah doesn’t deal with mana and swaps his deck to summon the powers and tools needed to exorcise the victims of the demon’s corruption. Here, the “cost” you pay represents the number of cards you have to burn from your hand to play your chosen trick, creating endless hard decisions about what to keep.
Things get even more difficult when faced with bigger demons. These beings can initially hide their very appearance and name from your view. So you don’t know what they’re going to do until you force them to show up. But once you do, you’ll just expose yourself to their full wrath and the problem will escalate further.
Finally, you have to deal with one more stage when the enemies start to get weaker. This is often the most stressful part of the process. The demon uses the very life force of its host to perform the most terrifying and desperate moves. This poses yet another problem, as the victim must be forcibly removed while not dying in the process. If Noah fails to protect his host or his own will wavers, the run ends and the night begins, with only Noah and a few chosen people knowing what happened.
Gaider said in an interview earlier this year that Malys started as a side project and that the team wanted to offer more gameplay bite than the studio’s previous story games. “Honestly, I really like deck builders,” he explained, “and I love roguelikes, where the repetitive elements, the runs, are diegetic, where the characters know it’s happening and it’s not just, ‘I’ll try again.'”
Malys 1.0 has been released on Steam and costs $14.99 / £12.79. Get it here. If, like me, you embrace a unique twist on a familiar format at an affordable price, it’s well worth your time.
For even more great options from small teams, check out the best indie games on PC. Or test your brain with the best strategy game instead.
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