Demon’s Mirror Preview – Chaining Decks and Tiles

We have played Demon’s Mirror a couple of months ago and enjoyed the rogue-like nature of this deck builder mixed with chain-3 battle mechanics. It’s simplicity only on the surface, a host of mechanics under the hood working for a game that seems to offer a lot of depth beyond the initial tries. We managed to dive deeper into it and discover some additional information before the official release on September, so let’s get to it right now.

Wulfs and Dragas

There will be three characters to unlock and choose from, with unique trinkets that provide different types of gameplay: the first one is Wulf, then we have Drago and Axo. Wulf is about power and strength, and its trinket gives one Energized each turn, which is a free tile chain, no need for action points. Considering the utility – and often the need – to use the board for and to avoid damage, this can be a valuable perk to have, but more on this soon. Other characters also have their own buffs which can turn the tables at any point.

You’ll start each run in a randomized biome of a total of three so far, encouraging experimentation and replayability. As in other rogue-like deck builders, carefully choosing your path to the objective – often a boss battle as is the case here – is vital to maximize the power of our character and reach the ending with a significant chance of success.

Players will spend a lot of time in battles, and this is where the blend of card game and chain-3 elements appears. The enemies will show up in the middle of the screen, with the board featured on the right side, prominently displaying the various icons that you must learn to deal with. Chaining the assorted types will yield varied results, knowing that circumstances may demand different approaches according to your needs.

There are four basic tile types that you can chain for specific outcomes; the longer the chain, the best the result: Swords are the straightforward ones which deal damage, Shields give you block that will prevent damage, the green blobs are Essence which will make certain cards stronger, and the purple gems are Willpower, gives you three choices after collecting a certain amount of these.

Action points are what makes the game flow, and they refresh after each turn to the default three points. You can use these with the cards in your hand, the cost clearly visible in each card, but the twist is that action points are also used to chain tiles in the board. Since we’re starting with Wulf who has the Energized trinket, he can chain once for free per turn, but the subsequent chains will cost two action points, which you can opt to use… or play a card or two instead.

It’s simplicity as mentioned before, but under the hood there are many choices to be made, most times with noticeable consequences. When enemies place enemy tiles into the board, these can break potential chains and deal a specific amount of damage after a certain number of turns, so it’s up to you to interrupt that either by doing a chain or using a tile damaging card. Easier said than done, as it shifts your priorities towards this tile instead of letting you focus on dealing damage to the enemies.

After each successful battle, you gain a treasure chest with valuable items such as coins and a card draft. After that, you return to the map and choose the next possible tile, which can be a normal or elite battle, a shop, or a random event where your choice will determine a reward of some type, among a few other options.

A full run can last more than one hour, if you take your time to carefully consider your path and battles. Our experience tells us that this is definitely not something that overstays its welcome, given the randomization of the biomes.

Chains of Addiction

So far, Demon’s Mirror is looking like a game that has this addictive factor to it, the “one more try” kind. It’s classic to some extent but breaks the mold with the inclusion of the chain-3 aspect, creating this enjoyable blend that just works. A game that is both original and generic at the same time, and yet manages to provide a fairly unique experience? That’s definitely a chain that is bound to please fans of both genres.

MP1st was given access to a preview build of Demon’s Mirror. Demon’s Mirror is launching for PC in 2024.

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