Wildfrost is a brand new roguelike deck-builder from developers Deadpan Games and Gaziter. The game sees players using clever card game mechanics to fight back against the endless snow, but its unforgiving nature and rough balancing can be a big barrier to entry for many.
Before anything else, I want to take a moment to acknowledge Wildfrost’s lovely art style. Chucklefish has a reputation for publishing games that are fantastic to look at, and Wildfrost is no exception. The cartoony, 2D style of the game somehow fits the setting wonderfully while simultaneously betraying the cruel nature of the world and the game’s difficulty. But I’ll get into that in a bit.
The story of Wildfrost follows the aftermath of a terrible storm that swept the globe and never broke. The harsh, frigid hurricane froze the lands and left most of the world barren and inhospitable. The surviving peoples were forced to band together and form the last settlement and now send daring adventurers (you) out into the cold abyss to end the storm once and for all.
Wildfrost plays as a combination of a Roguelike and a card game. You begin each run with a leader who will serve as your main and most powerful card throughout the run. As you venture out into the permafrost, you get the chance to pick up new, randomized cards to help you in battle, building a deck over time. Hence, “Roguelike Deckbuilder.”
One of the main ways you’ll be gathering cards is from the shop, known brilliantly as the Whooly Snail, which appears somewhat randomly on your runs. The shop usually offers four cards, a boon that can be placed on a card of your choice to give it new effects, or crowns, which are by far my favorite.
Crowning a card causes that card to start in your hand at the beginning of each encounter, mitigating a lot of the RNG inherent in a card game. Veterans of the genre will understand the incredibly powerful effect this can have on a build, essentially allowing you to top-deck your best card or guarantee a combo.
Cards are separated into equipment and companion cards, with the former being equips or “spells” you can use on the latter. Cards have no cost to play and typically take a full turn to play each one.
As with any card game or roguelike, it’ll take you a while to figure out what everything does, and until you do, confidently playing a hand will be a challenge. However, after around 5-10 unsuccessful runs in Wildfrost, you’ll begin to realize that knowing what lies ahead isn’t making that big of a difference.
Wildfrost, as many players will quickly discover going in, is incredibly difficult. After struggling to proceed past the first area, I took a look at some of the Steam reviews to see if it was just a problem I was facing, only to discover that it was unanimously acknowledged across the board. Even the most positive reviews are prefaced with the fact that players often died multiple times in a row on the first combat encounter.
Enemies in Wildfrost are numerous and extremely punishing. Among the variety of foes that you will face, you have monsters that shield themselves, enemies that use their HP as their attack value, and support cards that buff enemy units or debuff your own. While cool at face value, you quickly realize that each enemy type requires you to have something slotted to answer their skill set, something that is nearly impossible to guarantee in a game where deckbuilding is totally random.
Have an attack-focused build? You’re dead in the next encounter, which features a slew of thorned enemies that render those attacks a detriment to your survival.
Not only are the enemies in Wildfrost far more numerous than friends, but the balance of power is often so skewed in favor of the enemy that your own companions look like meek little children in comparison.
Actions have timers, meaning that most cards you play don’t typically happen right away. This is how the game balances having no card costs, but it means that often your companions are getting thrashed before they can even do anything, or are taking a ton of damage and dishing back something that didn’t seem worth the wait.
It almost feels like the game is afraid to skew power in the direction of the player, aiming to be this challenging and difficult experience and afraid that handing any bit of agency to the player might kill this goal. However, a game can still be difficult and offer a challenge without making the player feel like their efforts are meaningless.
The lack of balancing in Wildfrost is really disappointing because it’s the only thing holding it back from being a fantastic game. Difficulty aside, the mechanics are actually really smooth and easy to learn while maintaining an engaging amount of complexity. If the encounters were more balanced, the gameplay would be a solid 10/10 experience in my book.
As previously mentioned, the game is fantastic to look at, with fantastic art that goes beyond just the character portraits. The backgrounds are expertly designed, and each card has cool visual flair that makes them feel powerful when you use them. The cute visuals complement the dark, adult tone of the world around them, keeping things serious without being too heavy to consume. The soundtrack is also great, giving some fun fantasy vibes that sell you on the themes of the great north and epic adventure as you die over and over again.
The Final Word
Despite the rough state of balancing, Wildfrost is a game with a lot of love put into it, and rests on a solid foundation. With a little bit of TLC, I could easily see this game being an 8 or 9 out of 10, and I encourage players to keep an eye on the patch notes.
Wildfrost was reviewed on the PC. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles in the Game Reviews section of our website! Wildfrost is available on Steam and the Nintendo Switch.
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