Zoeti
Zoeti
Game
Game2022
Foretales
Developer Alkemi
Foretales is a deck-building video game developed by Alkemi and published in 2023 by Dear Villagers for Windows and Switch. It is a digital tabletop game in which players attempt to avert a series of catastrophes. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
241 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Oct 24, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
76
LovedLoved
140 positive · 44 negative
95% range 69–82%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 140 | 44 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 16 | 2 | 27 |
| Lemmy * | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 6 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
354 of 423 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
76% recommend · 138 yes, 44 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 182 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (1,020 of 1,200 positive).
Players praise Foretales for its unique blend of narrative exploration and card-based puzzle mechanics, distinguishing it from typical deck-builders. [1][2][3] Many reviewers note the game's charming art style, music, and voice acting, which contribute to an immersive experience. [3][4][5] Some players criticize the repetitive gameplay and lack of player agency, especially in later stages and multiple playthroughs. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [7]
✔ unique combination of a puzzle with a card game (not a deck-builder!) ✔ story-driven ✔ seamless integration of choices made through card-related mechanics (as opposed to additional dialogue options etc) ✘ sometimes, especially in later levels the gameplay degenerates into eternal cycling over possible cards trying to find the exact setup you need ✘ staying in previous levels of a mission is encouraged (to grind …
- [2]
Don't make the mistake of assuming this is something like a Slay the Spire or other card battler. It's a narrative exploration game with resource management and puzzle-like battles, more in common with a gamebook adventure like Sorcery! than a roguelite. If you're the kind of person who enjoys going back through old areas and finding new things to do, playing with 'what ifs' and being surprised at what the …
- [4]
This game's flavor is AMAZING. The music, the artstyle, the voice actor's performance, this feels exactly like how it's supposed to feel. Let's get into that! This game is clearly inspired by old furry animations adapting different tales and stories and books. In this case, french and middle ages set up. A classic! And like I said, it is all executed and coming together to do it perfectly. And I mean perfectly. …
- [6]
Very ambitious game in terms of story, character, and mechanics truthfully didn't appreciate the third act twist and when I thought I was almost finished with the game, it turns out I hadn't even really started. I just was not enjoying the game enough to replay through it multiple times for the "real ending." If I had more time on my hands, or was enjoying the moment to moment gameplay more, than I would be …
- [1]
Has a style of play that I hadn't seen in this type yet. Really interesting and ingenious. Nice story telling with cards. It's really worth trying because it's complicated to review. 8/10 my rating.
Summarised from 34 of the 234 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 10, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
76% of the 182 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Foretales. The complaint that keeps coming up: repetitive gameplay and dialogue on replays. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Critics, per Wikipedia
According to the review aggregation website Metacritic, Foretales received mixed reviews for Windows and positive reviews for Switch. Fellow review aggregator OpenCritic assessed that the game received strong approval, being recommended by 52% of critics. Rock Paper Shotgun called it a "brilliant meld of strategic card battling, smart puzzles and warm, characterful storytelling", and recommended it to fans of narrative deck-building games like Hand of Fate. RPGFan described the gameplay as "a captivating, addictive experience" but criticized a perceived lack of variety, which they felt can make card battles repetitive. Nintendo World Report praised the writing and role-playing…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 241 · most liked firstUrgh, this sucks. French studio Alkemi are closing their doors. They made the (hugely underrated and undersold) narrative deckbuilder Foretales. Honestly, that game should have done ten times as well as it did. store.steampowered.com/app/1170080/... This is a tough industry. Especially right now.
neutral · AI labelView post →There's a lot of great potential here, but also a lot of cringy, moralizing dialogue that chastises you for not being good enough for the author's taste. Too much repeating dialogue breaks the immersion of the world. The choices with actual consequences are good, but not great. I was pretty hooked until midway during the first act, then I started getting bored and almost fell asleep during the Isenberg thing. I think this game's biggest sin is it's lack of game direction where they don't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has a style of play that I hadn't seen in this type yet. Really interesting and ingenious. Nice story telling with cards. It's really worth trying because it's complicated to review. 8/10 my rating.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started playing Foretales, and man, this game is great
positive · AI labelView post →You're floating down a river on a raft, but the river is blocked by a fallen log. You have a lumberjack, a giant ape who's good at lifting things, and a bunch of weapons. So what's the answer to unblock the river? You need to get into a random fight with bandits and hope one of them is a pyromaniac so you can pickpocket them and use the firebomb you get out of that, which you don't know you get until you do it, on the log. Foretales isn't kidding when it says it's a narrative card game, and to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →✔ unique combination of a puzzle with a card game (not a deck-builder!) ✔ story-driven ✔ seamless integration of choices made through card-related mechanics (as opposed to additional dialogue options etc) ✘ sometimes, especially in later levels the gameplay degenerates into eternal cycling over possible cards trying to find the exact setup you need ✘ staying in previous levels of a mission is encouraged (to grind for resources) ✘ game finishes sooner than you would expect and requires multiple…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Epic] *Foretales*, narrative card game. > Decide the fate of the world in this ingenious story-driven card game. Foretales offers a unique take on the adventure genre, with a multitude of playstyles and story paths through which you can save the world… or bring about its end. > > A terrible curse is ravaging the realm and the only one who can stop it is a small-time thief named Volepain. > > The Weaver entrusted the instruments of creation to her children, the Nymphants. > > The Weaver put…
neutral · AI labelView post →There's a lot to like here, but ultimately the gameplay isn't what I'm looking for in a card game. It's more of a puzzle game disguised as a card game, but the puzzle game isn't very engaging.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Masterpiece. I believe Foretales to be one of the best video games ever made. And I mean not just in the "this video game is very good" sense – and it is in fact very good – but also in the "this art piece is very successful at making use of its particular medium of video games." This is basically an adventure game. You have characters and an inventory for items, and you combine them with locations and NPCs to progress the story. The game represents most of these elements as cards, but…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Foretales Review **Spoiler Free** Quick Overview: Foretales is a charming narrative based card game with a fun cryptic gameplay loop set in a quirky world with some irreverent humor and personalities. The turn-by-turn card play is fun and alluring, and the music and atmosphere is captivating. Any session of Foretales is an enjoyable experience. So why do I not recommend this game? Well, despite the gameplay loop being solid, the overarching structure of the game is so grating and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really want to like this game more than I do. It isn't bad and definitely worth it on sale. The game is beautiful, very polished and has a great atmosphere. But after a couple of hours, the gameplay really gets repetitive and boring. Especially in the second half, many missions become a real slog of endlessly looping through the same couple of cards to get to the required one. And if you take too many loops (because it's unclear which cards or combinations let you move on), you are eventually…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't make the mistake of assuming this is something like a Slay the Spire or other card battler. It's a narrative exploration game with resource management and puzzle-like battles, more in common with a gamebook adventure like Sorcery! than a roguelite. If you're the kind of person who enjoys going back through old areas and finding new things to do, playing with 'what ifs' and being surprised at what the developers thought you might do, this game's worth the money.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[Amazon] Foretales. Indie adventure card game for Windows, free on Amazon Prime Gaming until 20th September
neutral · AI labelView post →I wanted to give this a positive review at first, but after much consideration I won't. Foretales is a beautiful game with a neat little story, some interesting gameplay and on the surface gives you many options how you want to approach things ... but once you've "beaten" it (or come close to it) you'll realize that there is - in fact - no player agency at all, but a very specific set of choices you have to make to actually get to the ending. Everything else ends in failure and a ... restart.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →- Playtime: 70 minutes - Played: 2026 - Context: I like card games and story-focused games. Review Foretales is a game in which you have to figure out which cards you have to play on locations and enemies. It seems to be more like a puzzle game than an adventure game because i got the idea there are few right answers. It is only a card game to randomise some things and to show "travel" without a map. You end up just selecting a card, hovering over the 5 or so locations you can play it on…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I would say I rarely play card games. So playing a narrative card game makes me think I will have the same feeling but this one proves I'm wrong. This is not your usual pick a card and fight type of game, this is one where you can make choices, mix stuff and explore the possibilities at your own pace. The game narration is perfect, I myself couldn't even think that PNGs on cards can make me feel and imagine as they were talking and doing other stuff. Also, it is pretty obvious that this game is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The narrative experience the game promises ultimately becomes undone by repetition: of locations, of outcomes, of challenges and of solutions. Places you care about often hide in the "I'll be here in 20 mins" category making many missions about as satisfying as waiting for an Amazon delivery. The openness still feels railroaded because there's no plot relevance for the majority of your actions. There is an abundance of choice, but meaning remains scarce. That said, I almost didn't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I gave the game a bit over an hour of my time and I was rather disappointed. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from a card game that dictates the story but the game is extremely confusing when first playing. The concepts aren't fully explained in a way that a player can understand and it leads to the development and necessity of a "hint" button. Although I had gotten the game on sale, even then, I feel there needs to be more to the game then what I have seen here.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has qualities, but I do not like it. The graphics and sound environment are enjoyable, but the gameplay is an immense disappointment. The more you progress, the worst it gets. Some parties make some missions impossible, and you can figure it out only by die and retry. Some objectives and achievements are not intuitive at all and will be very probably random. You would expect your characters to get stronger when they succeed missions but no, they remain the same during the whole…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: The amount of content Foretales has, including different mission choices affecting the branching storyline, would put many AAA games to shame. However, while you need multiple playthroughs to finish the game, the game doesn’t value your time as a player because there is no way to skip/speed up dialogues and repeated content. At a time when big game developers shy away from putting missable content in their games, Foretales is designed in a way that you would only experience about half of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have a lot more hours of play than what steam knows, because offline play on Steam Deck is not accounted for. An excellent game, original, gorgeous, fun... However, it's not for everyone. If you want a good ending, you need to make the right choices. If you want to make the right choices, you need to make bad choices first to learn. In the end, a complete run is quite long, gets somewhat repetitive despite various welcome mechanisms which help you take shortcuts after a while. At times, it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like the art style and the way the game presents the story, It's really creative and interesting at first. But the game itself gets repetitive after a while. Basically all you do is use some cards to get more cards and so forth. So I can't really recommend it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautiful artwork, nice writing and innovative story telling through card play buuuuut... gameplay becomes repetitive and boring just after a couple of hours.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A story-heavy card adventure with irksome mechanics. This game is clearly crafted with a lot of care. The method of story advancement and the way you can choose how to resolve world events are both clever. The story itself is pretty fun as are the characters. Unfortunately I did not enjoy the actual gameplay at all. Having to drag every card over every event to see the outcomes was tedious. And there's no getting around that because there's a wide variety of events and outcomes, so you can't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I do think this game is pretty great. Managing and exchanging resources, helpers and items to achieve victory is pretty fun. Enjoyable Narrator Artstyle and so on. Story works too. The game expects you to fail at least two times, so try out the missions you have not before. After some runs, you may take some inspiration from a guide, most things I found myself but some things tend to be just easier to find out that way. Now after 30h I got far enough to know what I need to do to reach a good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the artstyle of this game, and I do enjoy the story. But some of the missions and mechanics feel really frustrating to me. I dont see myself doing a second run. I do not like the feeling of repetition.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Humble Choice September 2023. List of games: * Tiny Tina's Wonderlands Chaotic Great Edition * Deceive Inc. * The Forgotten City * Aces & Adventures * Patch Quest * Foretales * Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus * Autonauts vs PirateBots
neutral · AI labelView post →August’s ‘free’ games with Amazon Prime Gaming have been revealed | VGC. - August 3: PayDay 2 + ‘The Gage Mod Courier’ DLC (Epic Games Store) - August 10: Farming Simulator 19 (Epic Games Store) - August 10: Blade Assault (Amazon Games App) - August 10: Quake 4 (GOG) - August 17: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (Amazon Games App) - August 17: Foretales (Amazon Games App) - August 17: Driftland: The Magic Revival (Amazon Games App) - August 24: In Sound Mind (Amazon Games App) -…
neutral · AI labelView post →Far too slow paced for a game thats designed around repeat playthroughs.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I give this game a rank D+ (50-55%) Forgettable game - sadly nothing really good here.. See my profile for more details about my reviews. Oh no! I am so disappointed and I feel quite sad to give this game a 52%. It is almost mediocre, if it was not for the art (fantastic) and the story (quite intriguing). Unfortunately, I was really hoping Foretales would provide with a great gameplay, that is a compelling card mechanism such as all the recent games (Slay the Spire, Inscryption, Heartstone,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed this game so much I still think about it a year after finishing it. I really hope Alkemi makes another similar game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Way too much repetition with the whole redo mechanic they've added to flesh out a short story and give it the illusion of length.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get 🀄️"Foretales"🀄️ for #FREE at Epic Games | Store Link:⬇️ store.epicgames.com/p/foretales-... ⏰Get this game for free at Epic Games Store until 5 PM CET Thursday, JULY 30th 2026‼️ 🍋Steam Random Keys➡️ www.g2a.com/n/randomkey471 #FreeGame #EpicGames #EpicGamesStore #FreeGames
neutral · AI labelView post →Buy it NOW! Absolutely worth the money. You get a very charming puzzle/card game. The game has a lot of charm and care. Some solutions might be cryptic but you should experiment and figure how things work. The story branches quite a lot and has a lot of secrets. But please don't try to do completely everything. Mistakes happen and you can't do everything
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game, was fun on the first 3-4 playthroughs. To experience all of the mission, story, secrets and unique solutions to the problems. After that it becomes an achievement slog, because for some of them you might have locked yourself out of them or have to do specific playthroughs and/or choices in 1 or more missions. It's a good experience, but not one I would recommend 100%, unless you want to keep hearing the same dialogue and have to wait for animations to finish every few seconds. 7/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game's flavor is AMAZING. The music, the artstyle, the voice actor's performance, this feels exactly like how it's supposed to feel. Let's get into that! This game is clearly inspired by old furry animations adapting different tales and stories and books. In this case, french and middle ages set up. A classic! And like I said, it is all executed and coming together to do it perfectly. And I mean perfectly. There are plenty of ways to play around with the cards, back and forth, mixing it…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Unsure whether to consider this a hidden gem or not, but it's really good nonetheless. There's a PLETHORA of experimenting you can do that lead to different results, with both minor and major consequences. I was still finding new character abilities I had no idea existed with over 50 hours of playtime. In that sense, it often feels like a sort of lite immersive sim. Granted, there's also a lot of repetition if you decide to explore it comprehensively (achievement hunters be warned), along with…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kind of cool idea, but weird balance that encourages grinding... but takes away all your stuff at seemingly random times. Also, multiple playthroughs are required, and getting everything is pretty unintuitive and requires too much repetition. It is super weird about choosing pacifist/violent options too - it warns you not to kill people and then makes you kill people? I don't get it. Might be okay with a comprehensive wiki, but no such thing exists at this time. The devs tried to be too clever…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I normally do not like completly card-based games, but actually enjoyed this. It is funny and different, although it can be a bit repetitive. There are different ways to progress in the story and it gives you a feeling of freedom, but you still have to do some steps exactly right, which takes a way from the feeling of you being in control of the game. But it is still a good game, and if you want an interesting story and a chill way to play a game, this one is for you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Foretales is a Nintendo Switch game that's somehow ended up on Steam as well. This furry friendly visual novel has a twist... instead of just clicking next/skip to plod through the badly written E-book dialogue, you have to play Old Maid or something with a bunch of cards. Like, combining inventory objects and using trial and error to see which cards will work together. I suppose you could see this as a Monkey Island adventure game with the adventure game component ripped out, leaving you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Foretales is an intriguing card-based choose-your-own-adventure game that effectively channels the spirit of classic board games. It introduces a fresh gameplay concept, but regrettably, it can become somewhat monotonous during repeated playthroughs of its various story scenarios. While it provides cozy entertainment for a couple of gaming sessions, it's evident that there's great potential for an expanded sequel. However, what's presented here might leave you yearning for more even after just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This review is specially made for those who like to get all the achievements in games. Some story and gameplay spoilers ahead. Foretales a card deck based puzzle game that, unlike Cultist Simulator, it’s very easy to play and accessible. The results of the card combinations are shown before you do your move, and the illustrations and descriptions of the cards are clear enough for you to understand them and easily guess what works and what doesn’t. The story is very complex and can branch out…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never seen a game like this before. It has so much good art in it, with lots of branching choices to navigate.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very ambitious game in terms of story, character, and mechanics truthfully didn't appreciate the third act twist and when I thought I was almost finished with the game, it turns out I hadn't even really started. I just was not enjoying the game enough to replay through it multiple times for the "real ending." If I had more time on my hands, or was enjoying the moment to moment gameplay more, than I would be overjoyed that there was yet more game to play, but I really just wasn't. There plenty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a fun narrative game presented in the form of card / resource management game, gameplay is simple and intuitive.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would recc on sale Pros: [Art and UI] The art and ui is very polished and are what caught my attention in the first place. The story is decent enough and will definitely feel fresh for 2 playthoughs at least, which is worth it if u buy during a sale. Also u get to place the location of your chosing on top of the loc deck on later playthroughs. Cons: The game more is of a choices and resource management thing than a card game, after 2 playthroughs I lost the drive as there doesnt seem to be…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is absurd that the studio that created such a great game has to close down. I wonder what was the problem. Is it marketing?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love love love this game. It's unique story telling and game mechanic through the use of the decks, items, and three currency types plus the 'choose your own adventure' style is really engaging. I am bummed to hear the creators are no longer in the business because I would love to see another game like this!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The ressource system is too easy to cheat. Just cycle the decks, Get fame and Grim, avoid all the fights, rince repeat. There are good elements in the game but the core is boring
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cons: * Some things in this can be aggravating. If you're trying to get a certain side-quest and accidentally choose the path that exits the current storyline, too bad. Start all over, you can't re-play it. * You can't skip long dialogue interactions, you have to click through each one, no matter how many dozen times you seen the damn thing. I highly recommend silencing the narrator as well, he gets annoying fast. Pros: * Good sense of humor * Fun, consistent art style * Good sound design…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Been playing this game called Foretales, it's a deck building narrative game making choices and changing the story, but all the card art is fun, charming, and got great anthro designs. Might have to draw some of these guys eventually
positive · AI labelView post →In theory, this should be a good game. The visuals are stunning. It's got a nice sense of humour. The story enhances the gameplay. Unfortunately, the gameplay loop itself is not fun. You can start a level and straight up not be able to complete it purely because of RNG, and there's no way of knowing this until you've wasted an ungodly amount of time trying to clear it, only to find all the 'progress cards' were stuck on the bottom of the deck.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I hesitatingly said yes to the recommendation for this game because it isn't bad, but it is by design repetitive. And the repetition gets on my nerves. Like the cute VO is just not cute after a hundred times of bribing a guard. The gameplay is simple, but the puzzle is kind of difficult. 6/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly, I went in wanting to enjoy this game, and if you really like the story and don't mind feeling frustrated, needing to repeat the game to find the best solution as well as being OK with making sacrifices, then you might like it. Overall, the card game aspect was incredibly shallow and felt really just like a visual novel with pretty minor puzzles and frustrating mechanics. Was not at all motivated to repeat after running out of time on the first run (and therefore failing)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is quite special and not what I expected (in a good way)! It sets itself apart from other card games. I want to give some info to set the right expectations. Unlike other card games this one is less focused on deck building, multipliers, RNG and game breaking synergies. It's a time loop puzzle game. Much more like an adventure game where each card is an action that you apply onto a location/character. There are no clear texts and numbers that tell you what each do. Context and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →6.5/10. An episodic card battler deckbuilder in which you strategically select your next battle based on various resources and needs. Very good storylines and narrations and a good amount of interesting content. It plays similarly to Banners of Ruin with more of a puzzle element in the path choices. I rated it slightly lower because combat feels a little too punishing.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not a game for everyone, but a game with one of the most unique experiences I have ever played. I would highly recommend to patient fans of puzzle games. It's less a card game in the traditional sense (deck building does not exist) and more a game where you have to use your characters' social abilities (each represented by a card) to progress through situations in changing circumstances. Every character ability can be played in any situation, though they do not all have unique effects, giving…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →3/10 the RNG is awful i also keep running out of goods and cards. you cant rest anymore...you lose!!!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →loved the game, story and all about the game. Just a bit dissapointed at the final showdown. Expected some final battle with all available characters you will get throughout the story (run), instead it was just fast cutscene and ending...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very lukewarm thumbs up. A mix of narrative, puzzle adventure game, resource management, and light tactics. I'm glad I experienced its eclectic mechanical mix and great production values, but ultimately the gameplay didn't land for me beyond the first hour or two and caused more far more bored "sighs" than enthusiastic "ahas". Dropped halfway through.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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