Belgian Game Spotlight - Roguebook
Welcome to a new Belgian Game Spotlight! Last month we ventured into deep space and virtual reality with Hubris, this time we're diving nose first into a book of wonders with Roguebook, an addictive roguelike & deckbuildig combo.
Roguebook is a roguelike deckbuilder with unique mechanics from Abrakam Entertainment, the developers of Faeria and Richard Garfield, creator of Magic: The Gathering™. You build a team of two heroes, explore a map full of secrets, unleash powerful combos and hopefully defeat whatever is lurking on the last page of the book.
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Roguebook, as the name might imply, is a roguelike title. This means that every run will feel unique because of a slew of random elements that each attempt you make at beating the game will throw at you, from random carts to secret items and rewards to difficult encounters that may end your current run with a few bad decisions.
You walk from chapter to chapter in this book full of heroes & monsters by uncovering hexagonal tiles. There are various brushes and inks that each reveal a certain pattern of tiles and hopefully you'll find coins to buy new cards or discover other items that will increase your chances of seeing this through to the end.
Every run starts by choosing two characters that each come with their own attacks and abilities, added to your randomly shuffled deck. You take turns with the enemies at dealing as much damage as possible, or preventing them from hitting you back by putting up a big enough defensive wall. Health doesn't restore automatically after a battle, so careful planning will be crucial to your survival.
There are a ton of different strategies you could try to go for and every run will feel wildly different to the previous one, especially because of how the five playable characters can interact with each other.
Luckily a failed attempt doesn't mean starting from zero. Along the way you'll unlock pages to use on permanent boosts, like a better shot at finding restorative heart items on the map, or allowing your team to receive better upgrades as your deck increases in size.
Every run feels doable and there are multiple tools at your disposal to make your deck better prepared to face anything. You can buy new cards, upgrade them with gems you find and there are also ally cards you can uncover that will do continues damage to foes, turn after turn.
It's immensely satisfying to get further into the book and discover for yourself which character combination works best.
Roguebook released last year on PC but is now also available on Xbox and PlayStation consoles, with the Nintendo Switch version coming in April or May. It also just released its first DLC with the fifth playable character and more are on the way. If this article has whet your appetite, be sure to check it out on your platform of preference!
Check out Roguebook on your preferred platform
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Want to keep up-to-date on the game and the studio? Here are a few places you can follow them:
We hope you've enjoyed this feature article and if you're a Belgian game developer yourself, don't be afraid to reach out and maybe we'll spotlight your game next month!
