Nivalis Nights
Nivalis Nights
Game
Game2025
As We Descend
Developer Box Dragon
The apocalyptic roguelike deckbuilder with squad sculpting and deep tactics. Recruit the right units and outmaneuver titanic foes on dangerous expeditions. Build up allies and resources in the feudal Vault-City. Can you survive all the perils that await the last bastion of humanity? From the Steam store page
255 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
87
LovedLoved
194 positive · 28 negative
95% range 82–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 194 | 28 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 11 | 0 | 20 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
681 of 747 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Mostly positive, but early access flaws and balance issues divide players.
Many players praise the game's art style, music, and blend of deckbuilding with tactical positioning, calling it a gem in the roguelike deckbuilder genre. Some find the core loop satisfying and the difficulty scaling well-implemented. [2][7][13][16]
However, critics cite a lack of mid-run saving, balance issues, and a slow metaprogression system. Some feel the game becomes too luck-based or punishing after updates, while others note performance and UI problems. [6][22][32][33][35][36]
Praised art style and music · gameplay loop · difficulty scaling
Criticised lack of save system · balance issues · slow metaprogression
Summary drafted by an AI model from the 36 reactions it cites ([n] links open each post), then checked by code: every paragraph cites real posts and every quote is verbatim. Written Oct 8, 2026. Method
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
As We Descend sits at 87% positive across 222 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 255 · most liked firstI didn't want to write this review, but after giving the game every chance to recover since Update 5, I think it's time. I loved this game. I made videos about it, recommended it to others, and looked forward to every update because each one seemed to expand on an already solid foundation. I understand that games evolve and that balance changes are necessary. Unfortunately, what happened after Update 5 wasn't evolution—it was the removal of much of what made the game enjoyable. Before…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What's here isn't balanced well, be it a poor balance team or poor feedback from playtesters. Anyone with decent prior experience in deck management games is going to steamroll what's on offer, yet have to slog through a very slow metaprogression system to unlock slightly harder content, one 2-4 hour run at a time. What's worse, many of those difficulty unlocks are tied behind intentionally playing bad for "achievement" unlocks, such as letting your deck get X enemy-induced bad cards in it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Defeated the game in my first 5 playthroughs, and while I enjoyed it, there are some clear flaws. You spend a large portion of your time wandering around town, slowly talking to random NPCs just to discover what rewards they might offer. There’s no clear preview of outcomes, so you’re forced to speak to everyone instead of simply choosing between 2–3 visible reward options on a single screen. The same issue happens during expeditions. You’re asked to pick one of three random items without…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed the game earlier in development. It was easier but not impossible to lose. Especially when you add a bunch of modifiers on top of the game. Right now, the game is unwinnable to me. The scaling is hyper aggressive. As someone who doesn't play by exploiting games, it's become impossible to beat with zero modifiers. Enemies hit too hard, too fast, and they nerfed defenses. They even nerfed healing. You can't make enemies hit for half a unit's health and not give a way to offset…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I find the game to be lacking in depth in all of its core features and it's hybrid foundation to be painfully flawed. Performance is terrible for what it is, UI is painful once you get draw rate up or enemies start hitting you with affliction cards. There are frustrating bugs, but honestly that's not going into my assessment. Many of the interactions are painfully unintuitive and punishing unless you memorize them or use a guide. Easy enough, but an outdated and silly selling point on games in…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As We Descend is complexity done right. The game's systems are numerous enough to keep things interesting and never same-y, interconnected enough that choices matter, and always presented as "pick one of a few" to completely prevent analysis paralysis. It's a great recipe that reminds me of the best parts of board games that come in huge boxes and have hundreds of pieces without the all-too-typical downsides of poorly executed intricacy. The combat is the standout for me; it's significantly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Just launched As We Descend into Early Access with a 17% launch discount! You can play the game right now on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/1769830/...
neutral · AI labelView post →After one playthrough (beating the first run at the first attempt without even losing a unit) I'm willing to give the game a "Yes, but..." rating. The core gameplay loop is fun, the battles are long enough to be entertaining and short enough to not become tedious. The Scavenging system needs some sprucing up, currently it feels a bit... placeholder-ish. "Here, you get X loot tokens (sorry, scavengers), use them to unlock Y boxes (sorry, nodes) if you don't have enough for the last node we'll…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There is SOOO much to like about this game. The art style, the gameplay and mechanics; how it sets itself apart from other deckbuilders and roguelikes. I REALLY enjoy this game from time to time. I REALLY want to like it. However... (Long review, sorry) I consistently find that I have to give up mid-run due to catastrophic misplays that I feel could have been avoided, or mitigated through the access of buffs, relics/technologies. I came back for the new updates but find that I am extremely…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Topdeck Automat is awesome, highly recommend it to anyone looking for a roguelite autobattler! Thanks for hosting this #TurnBasedThursday! Our studio's turn-based game is As We Descend, a postapocalyptic roguelike deckbuilder with tough choices: store.steampowered.com/app/1769830/...
neutral · AI labelView post →[EDIT (after ~30 hours): I bounced off this game shortly after writing my first review. Reading it now, I pretty much nailed it. I find this game appealing. It's charming. I like clicking on the things and making the choices. The combat is smooth (if spiky). That said, it's not fully baked. All the ingredients are there but the game hasn't come together. I like the overworld map but the system is clunky. You get different types of allies every round to spend on different locations. all of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is really nice! Art, music, idea, execution, absolutely fantastic. BUT After playing for 2h and getting to 3rd descend, You cannot really save and quit, or save Your progress to make a break. You need to play constantly untill the end. The lack of save system makes kinda dealbreaker, but otherwise fantastic game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As We Descend is out today and it's real good. Check it out if you like roguelike deckbuilders, as it's one of the best I've played in ages. Fairly fresh feeling too, with a city progression layer and an interesting spin on traditional deckbuilder battles. store.steampowered.com/app/1769830/...
positive · AI labelView post →I spent a lot of time in it, forgave many flaws because so much about this is very good and original. But the development is not going in the right direction. There is so little progress in the metagame. Still limited to 3 bosses, and now with every patch it's getting harder and more tedious to play and reach a moment where you enjoy your expedition team and they synergize well; and then poof it's "end of early access". Been like that for a year. Healing became too scarce, everything is…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Last update made this incredibly luck based as there are no reliable ways to cull decks, get cards or otherwise make choices. The idea as stated was to give players more choices and have the choices matter more, but generally it's just reduced the amount of choices made from 20 to 8 and not made any of the choices meaningfully better. The other idea was that you can use items to multi stack on those 8 choices, but they reduced the amount of expeditions/expedition scavengers meaning you have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wasn't there for previous versions of the game, but as it is now, it feels like no amount of skill or planning gets you anywhere. I'll be chugging along in the game, with tough fights here and there, but then I'll suddenly get rolled by every enemy. No amount of RNG seems to help, and the mechanics seem clunky and unrefined. I do love a lot of the /ideas/ so far, but the execution is lacking. I'll hold off on the refund, because I think I can see the vision, but right now, can't recommend…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Picked it up a year ago and was hooked instantly. Pretty much completed everything there was and then moved on. A year later I came back and was pleasantly surprised to see how much new content the developers had added. The game is hard but it's incredibly fun. The visuals are beautiful and have a distinctive aesthetic that really helps set the atmosphere. The soundtrack is also pretty decent and fits the game's mood. What I appreciate most is how unique it feels compared to many other…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've had a lot of fun watching this game in EA. Solid gameplay loop, unit improvement is easy to understand and happens often, and now that I have my first win I can say the balance to this point is really good. Updates are beefy and add to the game and in all, I really like this title. I'm sure there's going to be more adjustment ahead but so far, everything makes sense and the game is definitely worth the player's time. Go for it!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Current game is pretty meh, combat is pretty boring with ridiculous damage spikes that will screw your run if you don't pull the correct card. Also the upgrade system is very uninteresting right now wow this card does 2 points more damage or give slightly more barrier. Maybe the devs should go play monster train 1/2 to see an upgrade/combat system that feels incredibly good. The game actively punishes you for having more then 1 unit on your side. Because they will pad out your deck with…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL:DR; An interesting roguelike deckbuilder somewhere between Darkest Dungeon, Gwent and Slay the Spire. A little rough around the edges now, but has a lot of potential that I hope the dev's see through to the end. My first impressions where not so good, unfortunately. There's not really a tutorial or even a prologue, you just kind of start playing your first run and sometimes things are explained with tooltips. I don't know why there's a medieval city drilling into the world, or why its kind…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm editing my review to positive, because the devs clearly care and they have some very cool concepts here. I'm a big fan of the genre and I like that this cardbuilder / rogueliker incorporates some city building and a spatial dimension to the battles. The main drawback for me was that I beat the game on the first go (which is a bit disappointing) - but with the additional ascension levels, the game should provide plenty of entertainment for 20-30 hours.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I spent an hour and a half on one fight only to lose, my 68 damage attack got its power cut in half because the enemy I just so happened to randomly get attacked by only takes half damage from ranged attacks (the thing my entire build was built off) The problem with this game is that it is entirely up to luck most of the time. The game picks boses and mini boses that you HAVE to fight randomly multiple times per run. You have to then hope that the boss doesnt full counter your build and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Earl Access Review: This can end up been one of THE greatest Roguelike deckbuilder games, toe-to-toe with Slay the Spire. Great atmosphere, great deck building, interesting lore, awesome graphics/art direction. I feel like I'm playing a great hybrid between Darkest Dungeon 2 & Slay The Spire / Monster Train. I would love if the game was more punishing (didnt liked tbh "winning" my first two runs, would have loved to failed), but I guess its part of EA and also in order to unlock quickly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →8 dec 2025, game is just turning out very good at the moment. Lots of fun mechanics and interactions, good balance, difficulty scaling feels good.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had the honor of watching As We Descend evolve through development, and of getting to know its amazing game director, whose guidance has meant much to me. The game is fantastic, and whether you're a player or a developer, there's a lot to enjoy and learn from. Easy recommend: Do not miss this one!
positive · AI labelView post →Extremely sad to see a bunch of negative reviews come out for your current roguelike (As We Descend) because they changed the resource management to be tougher. Be strong! Do not make your game easier!
neutral · AI labelView post →Not a fan of the new city mechanics it was better before the update as you didnt get an instant payoff to the exploring and had to weigh the risk and reward of doing one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really fun game that blends deck builder and TBS well. THE GOOD: - Good variety of units with build paths and combinations - Complete delivery of art direction and music, creating an immersive experience - Fun replay and meta progression THE BAD: - Performance: even though my FPS was consistent, it didn't feel butterly smooth - Animation and Effects: Certain attack, effect, and death animation felt lackluster. This broke the immersion. Damage numbers were big but the animation looked like…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Despite I like these games with some new concepts and ideas. Well it wasn't "fun"... everything a little bit half done and felt it lacked specific path or tactic. You just click yourself through the game and what happens... happens. On the 3 try I picked up enough of knowledge to how the game works so I completed it. For me this was too slow/long/tedious to have replay value for me. It was ok to play for a few hours and nice to try but I will, after playing it 7 hours now delete it and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game warns you it is meant to be difficult. I would say its meant to be frustrating. There are attacks that the enemy can use to simply bypass all your units and simply attack your lantern which is extremely weak. This is often a 1 or 2 shot mechanic forcing you to defeat, stagger, or otherwise stop that attack within as many turns. If there was mechanics in place to intercept such effects it would make sense but there is none to my knowledge other than similarly weak barriers that force…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So close to being amazing. I'm so sick of not being allowed to just enjoy a game these days.... I don't want to be on the brink of losing every single turn. I want to feel stronger and like I'm not just barely hanging on. This game is amazing in design, theme etc. Why am I punished for wanting to play it. Refund incoming. Collection mechanic, pointlessly can fail just because ( difficulty). I just barely held off a wave of mobs to unlock this, why punish me by keeping rewards away from me. Yet…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This was a nice game until patches changed the balance to some strange deck manipulation bs. Just too little dmg cards and so many useless mechanics, that take too long to dmg mobs or need to have a full build to work. Even the starter cards are so bad, that it takes a long time to even get one easy enemy staggered or even killed. Most of the battles feels just long waiting to get that one card that can do something, since the starting decks are flooded with movement and other juggling crap now.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An interesting mix of Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon 1 id say. The gameplay mechanics in battles are pretty complex and take some time to get the hang of, especially with the amount of status effects. There are similar positioning concepts to Darkest Dungeon, however i end up moving my units to their preferred positions and rarely ever move them again. I have yet to encounter an enemy that forces any position changes, making me want to keep any of the cards for the units that get bonuses…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Be sure to grab this GEM of a game. Just ditch joining their discord, staff are not to friendly.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I just beat Descend 20, so I feel obligated to write an honest review this game. I really enjoy the game and I feel like it has huge potential to become great. I love the difficulty scaling and how it's implemented; each modifier makes sense and really mixes up how you play. Especially the one who gives wounds to troups when first drafting them - it forces you to try out new troups without restricting you. It's a good balance of limitation and freedom. I really love the resource management and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As We Descend has the juice. So many textures you don't see in deckbuilders. The little worker placement game between fights. Deck composition based on the units you field. Manipulating unit placement for bonuses and defense. Staggering enemies and breaking their parts to disable abilities.
positive · AI labelView post →Feels good, plays smooth, unique in some ways vs the typical deck builder but plays a bit slow and has a bit too much going on. Clean animation and design, but too much of it. UI feels washed out as a result of the color palette. Also, seems to suffer from 'we want this game to be hard' type devs; crazy idea: difficulty slider...tiered runs... Edit: Yeah this game/it's devs doesn't want you to have fun - Buyer beware. Probably a great game on release if feedback is addressed, unfortunate -…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool game, it mixes classic roguelike deckbuilders with Darkest Dungeon style mechanics while keeping its own unique artistic style and overall vibe.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game played fairly well, if occasionally difficult, before the latest patch. Now it has glitches that cause friendly fire from auto attacks, where progression milestones are locked because the patching broke the actions that allowed unlocking (recruit 3 of unit type "X", no longer counts recruited united), and a generally odd reduction in loot and spike in combat difficulties. Then add in entire revampings of a bunch of cards and unit mechanics. At this time, I can no longer recommend this…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As far as roguelike deckbuilders go, this one's a gem. If you like that niche, this one's a must in my opinion. - It's easy to lose track of time in this game. - The gameplay loop is satisfying. - Solid mechanics. - It's fun to find synergies. What it needs is more content basically, but for an EA game - thats expected.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Visually striking roguelite card game with a standout city segment, where you make choices about the run's progression based on items and "messengers" available to you. Recommended, since it's still in early access and already a lot of fun - but it needs more (especially upgrade choices for cards) Pro: (+) Aesthetically pleasing - world, card design, character design (+) Interesting and original lore (+) Card mechanics hit a good level of complexity, with interesting options for diverse…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Many games are really spreadsheets in which the player is tasked with making the numbers in certain cells go up. The problem with this situation is that the player perhaps does not feel particularly compelled to try to make those numbers go up: why those numbers? Why not others? Why play the game of this particular spreadsheet and not some other randomly chosen one? Why do any of the things this game asks me to spend my time doing? In some of those games, some effort has been made to put up a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty fun game with interesting mechanics. Other indie titles need to take note of the SOUND of this game! Every hit feels so impactful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am not sure if there is any player that actually wins this game...? This is by far the most unwinnable "roguelike deckbuilder" I've played, and I've beat most roguelike deckbuilders at max difficult. This game feels almost insane: all your units receive substantial damage all the time, especially because half the enemy attacks either hit everyone or you cannot deterministically deduce which squad will get hit (very bad decision by the way, maybe watch a couple of videos on slay the spire game…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting ideas, but too much waiting for the game to become interesting I spent almost 6 hours with As We Descend (dunno why registered only 4). There is a lot here that I genuinely like: the visual style and setting are excellent, the city is beautiful and interesting to explore, and the two-line combat system creates some nice positioning decisions. Being able to identify and target enemy weak points is also a great idea, and turning new unit abilities into cards creates some interesting…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not usually the deckbuilder roguelike type, but this game, man this game is something else, I can't stop playing, took me a while to beat it with the Guild, have beaten it a few times with Votive, looking forward to Sarcosect though for sure, any possibilities of other factions, perhaps as free updates or DLC? Legendary game, haven't played any game quite like it that I didn't get bored of, this genre is a tough one for me to really enjoy, so good job Box Dragon & Coffee Stain!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Lovely concept, interesting mix of 2d setting with 3d models fighting. Overall a very solid game. I'll keep playing further, there are more unlocks to grind for. On the downside, I found animations a big wonky and jarring? For example, there are 3 second scenes where Vault-city goes down next level, then it abruptly ends and another 3-second loading screen with circles begins. Then it also abruptly ends and you get straight to the town when somewhat abrupt animations of cards getting to your…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →New content all the time makes it fun. great balance. fun roguelite
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yeah they're onto something here. Very enjoyable art style, animations and gameplay loop. Definitely a great game within it's genre (roguelike card battler).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a phenomenal roguelite that has a great art style (some of the bosses are really well-designed and grotesque), a variety of characters that support lots of playstyles and have powerful synergies, and quite a lot of depth. The only downside that I have experienced is that you cannot take a break from the game in the middle of a run, forcing you to abandon your playthrough should something in real life come up. It's a minimal gripe for some, but would be a dealbreaker for others, so I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It still needs improvement but it's quite enjoyable. The tutorial teachs you the basics, it's up to you to be a bit observant and the read explainations, and try out stuff until you get how some mechanics works. Fine for me, but I'm used to it. Players don't read nowodays XD. Nice artwork. Many interesting combinaisons to pull up. I can't wait the next update !
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →could be much better but overall i like it ;) Good job for only beeing developed by 2 devs, for sure
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Recent price cut was a great decision! This is a nicely done, competent game. Graphics design, progression, overall gameplay - everything has fair levels of appeal. And it feels distinct enough from other roguelite deckbuilders out there. Still, it's just another roguelite deckbuilder, it's not that innovative nor does it do something that distinct. So a new price feels like a good offer for what is proveided. The main problem for me right now is difficulty - game is too easy. I breezed…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been playing As We Descend -- an early access roguelike deckbuilding game with an incredible amount of polish and tons of decisions, while not obfuscating power progression -- for the past couple of weeks. #AsWeDescend Read my review on @cardgamer.com here: cardgamer.com/reviews/as-w...
positive · AI labelView post →The game has a really interesting idea and a great atmosphere. But ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, the execution is a mess. The devs crammed a ton of different mechanics into the game and just piled them on top of each other. There’s so much ♥♥♥♥ going on that it stops being fun to figure out how everything works. And you can’t even properly tell what an enemy is planning to do on its turn. On Steam Deck it’s even worse, because the controls and UI are a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ mess. At some point I just stopped caring. I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Worth. Buy this game, you won't regret it. Easily the best rougelike to come out in some time. The balance is great with some pivotal battles coming down to one critical decision. I have reached the last boss on the hardest difficulty and lost by 2 hit points and had fun the entire way. If you are sitting on the fence on this one then get off and start playing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So 4 hours to finish this game! I liked it, had interesting mechanics, but a little more meat next time, please
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Plays great - grabbed me for 8 hours the first day. The graphics, sound, general feel of it are all fantastic -- if you like the genre, you won't be disappointed. Some highlights that differentiate this game from others: - The ability to stagger enemies to cancel their turns and gain the ability to target weak points means you can incapacitate foes without simply focus firing 1 enemy until they die. - Enemies will move between front and back row, and melee types can't hit the back row so long…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Stumbled upon this game during the summer sale and it's been such a pleasant surprise! The best way I can describe it is a mix of Slay the Spire deckbuilding/upgrading and Darkest Dungeon positional combat, all wrapped up in a steampunk, City of Ember-esque package. The art style and themes are fantastic. As I said before, the gameplay takes a lot of inspiration from Slay the Spire, but this isn't a bad thing. If you've played either Spire game, the flow of combat will feel familiar and easily…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting roguelike deckbuilder with tactical combat. Improve your units and cards between battles in the city (where places you can use those cards are clearly marked), then engage in combat with two rows to position units. Some units will auto attack from either the front or the back, while the enemy does the same. Good mix of cards to choose from as well. The general strategy is to stun the enemy so they can't attack. I also like the setting, but a conspiracy theory: is this a future…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.