Haunted houses normally inspire fear in a light-hearted way, often being the source of rumors. Deck of Haunts takes that concept to another level, giving you the power to make a haunted house dangerous. Your task is to kill or drive any humans insane if they enter your house. Protect the beating heart at the center of your operations and ensure all intruders are taken care of. Improve your prowess with each attempt whether you succeed or fail.
Deck of Haunts provides a new take on the roguelite experience as you are a more passive observer in this game. Influencing events with cards and planning house layouts is an enjoyable experience that draws you in. Some concepts are unclear and would have benefited from a detailed tutorial. Thankfully, you still have an enjoyable time planning a haunted house and learning from every experience.
Deck of Haunts is available on PC for USD 19.99.
You must get rid of the intruders by any means necessary.
Story – Protect the Heart
There isn’t a strong story for Deck of Haunts except for the fact you are protecting a heart that fuels the house’s powers. People are lured to the house through rumors that grow as you successfully claim all the visitors. Your job is to prevent people from reaching the heart since it is destroyed if too many people find it. As your house’s reputation grows, the threats you face become more capable of withstanding your house’s horrors.
The story is similar to Terminus: Zombie Survivors in that it’s only there to provide a backdrop. It is never a focus as there is no overarching goal or objective you are working towards. Your focus is getting rid of anyone who enters the house with the means at hand. The haunted house doesn’t have a backstory other than being a place people visit on dares or investigate for safety. What draws people in is the gameplay.
Keep people away from the heart; that’s the only story you need.
Gameplay – Physical & Mental
Deck of Haunts relies on the layout of your haunted house and cards that inflict suffering on the guests. You have two options: physical damage or draining sanity. Physical damage is more effective at killing intruders but it makes other people flee if they find the bodies. Draining sanity takes more time but it is less likely to alert other people. You also have the option of manipulating the house’s layout to make it harder for intruders to reach your heart.
It’s the typical roguelite deckbuilding experience similar to Deathless. Tales of Old Rus where you play cards every turn to eliminate intruders. Unlike other games, you aren’t immediately threatened by the intruders. Unless they reach the heart, they are harmless. This gives you ample opportunities to interfere with them. The cards are your short-term solution but the layout is your long-term plan.
Designing your house for intruders is a fun activity.
The concepts are interesting to work with since gameplay is slower than other roguelites. There are a few issues that plague the game in the long run and make it less enjoyable. First, draining sanity has less advantages than doing physical harm. Second, placing rooms doesn’t always provide the benefits you think it will. Third, the game gets repetitive after a while since there isn’t much to vary up the gameplay.
Balance – Physical Wins Out
While draining sanity seems like a viable alternative, in practice it is actually inefficient. The main problem is the “solo” condition on most cards that is meant for the only human in the room. A good amount of sanity cards have the solo designation but if someone goes insane, they are still “in the room”. This means most of the cards won’t work as well as their damage counterpart. It’s harder to recommend draining sanity unless you are playing around or a true expert.
Dealing damage is more effective than draining sanity.
This also applies to room arrangement. Deck of Haunts pushes you to create unique room arrangements to protect the heart. However, surrounding the heart is ineffective as many intruders have the ability to reach the room in a few moves. Making a longer path is necessary though the game subverts this by letting people enter rooms close to the heart. It feels as if the game pushes you towards a certain style rather than let creativity flow.
With few winning strategies, it makes the game feel repetitive quickly. Success is mostly rinse-and-repeat with few variations and that builds fatigue. Eventually you put down the game either because you struggle to find the strategies or you already realise what will and won’t work.
Some intruders have a blatant advantage you can’t get around.
Audio & Visual – Creepy Atmosphere
The environment consists of rooms and intruders all cast in 3D. The rooms have a tinge of antiquity that you would expect from a haunted house. Intruders look like excited teens or gruffy police officers investigating a call. Your card designs appropriately show the suffering you are about to inflict on someone. You genuinely feel like you are operating a haunted house with full control over what happens.
There isn’t much music, mostly background audio to set the scene. Most of the noise comes from the suffering you inflict on the intruders, from scratches to a loss of sanity. The cries you hear from the intruders range from inelegant yelling to muted pain. This helps you internalise the actions you are performing, reminding you that these are innocents at the end of the day. You are the supernatural force defending an eldritch heart, and these are just innocents who walked in.
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- Police officers break down doors and can travel long distances.
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- Choose the card that best fits with your expected strategy.
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- Groups of intruders are difficult but can be dealt with.
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- Even with few rooms, you must always protect the heart.
Deck of Haunts was reviewed on Steam with a code provided by Pirate PR.
