卡牌迷境 (CARD QUEST) Review

CARD QUEST (2024) (or 卡牌迷境 (CARD QUEST) according to Steam) is a card-based roguelike developed by 猫事多游戏工作室 (Translation: Meow Store Games). This is not to be confused with Card Quest, a completely different card-based roguelike made by WinterSpring Games.  Um, let’s just call this very game CARD QUEST to make things a little easier. Conveniently enough, I did play Card Quest a few years ago on my phone, but I didn’t really get into it. So, will this CARD QUEST, filled to the brim with fearsome monsters and cute little kitties, further fuel my roguelike addiction or is this just yet another game that will waste away in my Steam library? Well, let’s check it out.

The game started off with a nice and fancy intro sequence, fully voiced… in Chinese. The translation job isn’t too bad, but there are some grammar mistakes and formatting issues that can make it slightly more difficult to read and understand. What struck me most was the game’s art style: The characters and creature designs are really pleasant, going for this gothic look that wouldn’t be too far-fetched to see in a children’s storybook. It definitely looks like a fairy tale that just involves lots of cats and cards. Heck, one of the unlockables is full-sized paintings which I would gladly make my PC’s wallpaper.

But enough of that, let's get into the action. There are six heroes to choose from: Dream Hunter - Ace, Dream Wizard - Aileen, Miracle Shooter - Aller, Silver Knight - Knight, Order Mage - Maria, and Nightwatch - Pumbaa. They all have differing play styles with unique talents that will change how you play out an encounter. However, at the time of review, only the first three were even available to play as, with the last three likely being available at a later date. Once you’ve chosen your hero, choose a stage and get ready for some dungeon crawling.

Stages consist of levels brimming with monsters, equipment, and loot. Starting at Level 1 with only some starting equipment, all you have to do is get through each level while getting stronger and beat the boss at the last level to complete the stage. If you fulfil some bonus conditions, you’ll earn additional rewards. It’s not as easy as you think. CARD QUEST is fairly difficult, even on Normal. Encounters can turn pear-shaped if you aren’t planning out your moves in advance and constantly improving your equipment. I even failed the tutorial a few times. Here’s a tip: have one physical weapon and one magic weapon. No matter the character, switching your build on the fly is the most efficient way of beating a run. While the Adventure Mode will ease you into the game, there is a Challenge Mode that will seriously test your skills and ability to think fast.

However, if you find yourself struggling, there are always meta-upgrades to make your next run a little easier… but not anytime soon. Levelling up your characters through permanent upgrades requires both materials and money and you’re not going to get them all just by playing the game. Instead, you’ll need to pray to RNG as materials are locked behind a gacha system. Also, every character needs very specific materials (e.g. donuts for Aileen, popsicles for Aller) and the wheel is not guaranteed to have them. You’ll need to spend Refresh Wands to get a new wheel of prizes. Luckily, it only requires in-game coins to spin the wheel, which is nice, but needing to rely on luck to get better makes it feel like I’m playing a mobile game… which it is. I should’ve realised this sooner, although the overly complicated menu was likely the biggest clue.

Onto performance, where I didn’t run into any sort of stutters or hiccups. While I didn’t personally run into problems during my playthrough, I did do some research and found that there are some glitches such as auto-completing a stage or not spawning a portal that would move you to the next level, killing that particular run and forcing a restart.

Still, I do like 卡牌迷境 (CARD QUEST). Runs are only about 30 minutes on average, each of the characters are fun to use, and there’s a ton of replayability. However, since it is a mobile game, expect a pretty heavy grind and a reliance on luck to get everything you want.