When it comes to subgenres that it seems people are tiring of hearing about, my impression is that deck builders are somewhere near the top of the list. To some degree, I do get it, ever since the success of the likes of Slay the Spire early on in this generation, there have been quite a lot of them showing up on the system. Now, while I’d argue that there have been several with their own take on gameplay and overall structure, I will agree that there have been many that have settled for changing up art styles and a few details but pretty well just making variations on the same base.

Right out of the gate then I’ll say that Card-en-Ciel very much isn’t one of those games, and that’s apparent very quickly. Whether based on its very colorful art style, light tactical strategy that uses a grid-based battlefield, or unusual premise that opens the door to a wide array of somewhat familiar characters, there’s simply much more going on here than your typical foray into this subgenre on the Switch. That’s before even getting into the pretty varied roads you can choose to go down each time you build a new deck, with plenty of viable strategies that the game does a surprisingly good job of introducing you to over your first hour or so.

With the unique approach of its story, the game is loaded with references to a variety of contemporary titles, at least tangentially. Names and details have been changed to avoid getting sued, but the fact that so many different inspirations then serve to define the deck art in many cases is at least a nice touch. Given this is a roguelike you won’t be able to count on consistent deck composition, but the great thing is that pretty well no matter what you may get to work with there’s likely a strategy you can adopt, even if perhaps not well if you’re unlucky. While offense is always nice, a variety of buffs, ways to knock down or knock out enemy attack power, and a few layers of different potential strategies will keep you thinking and adapting. Then, once you throw in the grid-based field which you’ll sacrifice cards to move on, each battle begins to take on quite a bit of variety and character. While early on combat tended to feel like it erred on the side of being too easy, you won’t be able to count on that for too long.

The result is just a deck builder that looks, plays, and feels different. While the story may not be amazing, and some of the techno jargon babble at times can be a bit much, the developers also put in some obvious effort to make it more interesting than you’d normally find in the space. It’s true that there’s a sort of “everything including the kitchen sink” approach to your cards and how combat plays out, and at first it can be a little underwhelming trying to understand how all of the rules work, but to the game’s credit once you get your arms around it the combination of strategic elements do feel distinct and challenging. I understand that it can be hard not to feel a little overwhelmed by the abundance of games out there in this same space, but I assure you that Card-en-Ciel manages to set itself apart from the majority of the pack.