Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson)

In a deckbuilding game, you start out with a basic set of cards, then upgrade it over time, seeking synergies and compounding effects. Roguelikes are games where death happens quite often, but each randomized "run" unlocks options for the future. In both genres, and when they're fused together, the key is staying lean, trimming your deck and refining your strategy so that every card and upgrade works toward unstoppable momentum.

“Lean” does not describe the current scene for roguelike deckbuilder games, but they certainly have momentum. As of this writing, Steam has 2,599 titles tagged by users with “ deckbuilding ” and 861 with “ roguelike deckbuilder ” in all languages, more than enough to feed a recent Deckbuilders Fest . The glut has left some friends and co-workers grousing that every indie game these days seems to be either a cozy farming sim or a roguelike deckbuilder.

I, an absolute sucker for deckbuilders for nearly five years, wanted to know why this was happening.

Enlarge / These symbols might not mean anything to you now. But give it a few runs, and you might lose a few minutes strategizing this ship's ideal next turn, based on this image alone. (credit: Brace Yourself Games)

Games come and go through my Steam and Nintendo Switch libraries: a twitchy, grim action epic , then a metaphysical puzzle-platformer , and maybe a boomer shooter or turn-based tactical along the way. I try hard not to get stuck in one style or mindset—both for my enjoyment and my writing.

But there is always one type of game that is installed and ready to go for the next trip or idle couch moment: a roguelite deck-builder. Cobalt Core is the latest game in that slot, and it's on Steam for Windows (and definitely Steam Deck) and Switch . It's the most fun I've had in this particular obsession since Monster Train . Cobalt Core stretches into other genres, like perfect-knowledge turn-based tactics and space battle, but it's cards and randomness down to its electric-blue center.

A few years ago, I didn't know what a "roguelike deck-builder" was or what either of those compound phrases meant. Then, one day, there was a sale on Slay the Spire . That 2019 game refined the fusion of two game mechanics: constant failure against randomized encounters (a la Rogue , but with a "lite" gradual progression) and the refining of a deck of combat-minded cards (as in Magic: The Gathering, Dominion, and Netrunner ). You attack and defend against increasingly tough enemies with your cards, you gain and upgrade and ditch cards as you go, you lose, and then you get slightly better tools on your next do-over.