Deck of Ashes: Complete Edition

Think of this as a deck-building game for beginners that also has enough optional complexity to satisfy some veteran players. Deck of Ashes is weirdly accessible for a card game, and offers multiple difficulty levels to help keep frustration from setting in. It doesn't take long to work through the tutorial, which ought to provide rookies a pretty good grasp of how to play cards, refresh their decks, and collect and craft new cards. There's still a lot more to learn beyond these lessons, including strengths and advantages specific to individual characters -- each has their own special cards that suit certain play styles and can dramatically alter strategy -- but it's enough to give players a good feel for how things work and let them start experiencing success in battle. Experienced card players, meanwhile, will have fun learning the intricacies of the 100-plus cards available to each hero, figuring out which ones to combine and sacrifice to end battles quickly and with minimal damage so they can keep the campaign going one more battle.

It's also a nice game to look at, thanks to imaginative hand-drawn environments and character art, though the procedurally generated world map is bland and could use a bit of visual pep. The interface feels a bit rushed, too -- especially in console editions. The game was clearly designed for a PC mouse. Cycling through options in menus and cards in battle using a controller feels a little awkward -- a bummer, since this is pretty much all you'll be doing throughout much of the game. A little more focus on the console user experience would have gone a long way. Get past this, though, and Deck of Ashes: The Complete Edition still ought to provide good fun both for deck-building greenhorns and experienced card sharks who enjoy hand-drawn fantasy art.