Cross Blitz is a very good deckbuilding game that not only has the roguelike mode you’d expect, but also a story mode to progress through as well. The stories are heartfelt and enjoyable and tell the tales of different heroes as they journey across a brutal battle-filled world with stunning graphics and some very good writing.
The first story casts you as Redcroft, the big lion dude you’ll have seen if you’ve checked out the game’s Steam page. Redcroft is having a bit of a time of it, and is currently at the behest of a very stuck-up noble from a different country who’s basically taken his whole crew hostage. While the stories are good, it’s the gameplay that’s the star here.
Each battle takes place in the form of a card game. Each player has eight slots for minions, can have relics that give passive effects, and an ultimate card that can be activated if you perform certain actions in the match. Each turn, you get one more mana to play with, and each card has its own cost, with minions also having attack and health values as well.
There are just two phases to each turn, so it’s easy to stay on top of and wrap your head around. You get the chance to play your spells, and then you enter a combat phase where creatures hit whatever is in front of them, or hit the opposing player if there’s nothing in the same column as them. It’s a familiar setup for anyone who’s played pretty much any card game before, and even newcomers to card games should find their sea legs pretty quickly.
One thing that Cross Blitz does really well is its synergies. Each character has access to four skill trees, and as you level up you can invest points in those trees to get new cards to add to your deck. Each of those skill trees corresponds to a different way that character can play their deck, and they all feel smooth and well thought-out, making the experience of both building and playing decks in Cross Blitz a really satisfying one.
Add to that the ability to mix and match as you please, buy and craft cards to further fine-tune what you want to do, and then add relics into the mix for some nice power buffs, and you’ve got a card game that, frankly, I’d love to see some PvP in. I would very happily pay to have a version of this game where you unlock cards in the same way and can then go online and battle it out with friends or random people.
So far, Cross Blitz is a very enjoyable card game, and one where I do just find myself wanting to play more, and wishing there were more ways to do so. Now in Steam Early Access, the game has two heroes and their tales to play through and there’s a roguelite mode called Tusk Tales. With more to come, it’s safe to say that if you’re a card game fanatic, you’ll adore this, and if you’re new to the world of card games, then this is an excellent first foray into the genre.
