Info about Aces & Adventures:

Official game description:
  
**A poker-powered deckbuilding adventure**  
Three tables stand in a circle of stones in the misty heart of the old woods, forming a portal to a soaring world drawn from the pages of ancient Norse and Middle Eastern mythology. There, you will embark on a journey to save Cardrasil, the Life Tree, from the evil that gnaws at her roots. Each card of the enchanted deck she entrusts to you are leaves plucked from her very branches. Use them to evoke your abilities and unleash devastating, poker-powered attacks. Grow your own power, prune your own deck, but make haste! The seasons are changing; warmth won’t be free for long.  
**
New Invernal Spiral Game Mode
-----------------------------
**  
Brand new way to play Aces & Adventures: The Invernal Spiral, a deck-manager mode inspired by games like Slay the Spire that allows you to build and curate your deck throughout a lengthier adventure.  
*   Fast-paced gameplay delivered in highly consumable 10-20 minute sessions.  
*   5 Characters, each with their own library of abilities and 30 levels of advancement.  
*   Unlock powerful traits and equipment as you progress through your journey.  
*   13 fully-voiced campaigns and 4 games for a total of 52 levels of escalating challenge  
*   Procedurally generated runs ensure endless unique experiences.  
*   Build your own decks, and upgrade your abilities to Elite and Legendary potency.
**Gameplay**  
A unique combination of traditional playing cards and special ability cards sits at the heart of Aces & Adventures. You’ll craft a deck and choose how to use your resources – do you aim to defeat your opponents through attacks and spells, or play cards in order to potentially draw devastating high-value poker hands and obliterate your foes in a mighty blow?  
*   Use the four suits as mana to activate your abilities.  
*   Throw a single card as an attack; high card wins.  
*   Go poker-powered and throw a pair, triple, four-of-a-kind, or valid five-card poker hand.  
*   The defender tries to match the number of cards in attack. If the defender plays a better hand of that size, the attacker takes the damage  
*   Combine buffs, debuffs, abilities and spells to unleash combination attacks of catastrophic power.

Release date: Feb 23, 2023

Categories: Deckbuilding, Roguelike, Card-based Gameplay, Procedural Generation, Character Progression, Turn-based Combat, Poker-based Mechanics, Story-driven Gameplay

Feature scans:
- Steam Deck: score 60; verdict: Tinkering Required; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals several key issues with the Steam Deck experience. Performance issues, such as graphical glitches and slowdowns, are relatively common but do not severely impact gameplay. Controller support is a significant concern, with multiple users expressing dissatisfaction. Crashes and stability issues are critical problems that severely affect the playability of the game. Additionally, text readability is a minor issue that needs attention.

- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price:
  - Community fair range: $2.00 - $10.00
  - Reasoning: The evidence shows that users find the game worth purchasing at a discounted price, typically around $2 to a few euros. However, there is a sentiment that the full price of $20 is not considered fair by the community. The majority of positive reviews highlight the value at discounted prices, suggesting that the fair price range is significantly lower than the current base price.
- Playtime Metrics:
  - Game completion: 15.0h
  - Story completion: N/A
  - Session length: 4.0h
  - Endgame: N/A
  - Reasoning: The evidence provides direct and indirect indications of playtime. The first quote suggests that the game can be completed in under 15 hours, which aligns with the game completion time. The second quote mentions 'many more hours' but does not specify an exact number, making it less useful for precise metrics. The third and fourth quotes indicate session lengths and focused playtime with specific characters, suggesting that players can spend significant time on individual characters and sessions.
- Time-to-fun:
  - Summary: The game starts slow and requires some initial investment in time to unlock characters and gamemodes, after which it becomes more enjoyable and engaging.
  - Stance: Clicks after
  - Anchor: Unlocking characters and gamemodes
  - Time to anchor: 2h 0m
  - Friction: slow start; obscure UI; repetitive gameplay initially
  - Unlock drivers: progression system; leveling up characters; unlocking new cards and gamemodes
  - Conditions: understanding game mechanics; patience to reach mid-game; short play sessions
- Player Archetypes:
  - Genre Enthusiast (buy)
    - Motivation: Seeking games similar to their favorites.
    - Playstyle: Explores new games based on genre preferences.
    - Experience: familiar
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: roguelike/lite player; fan of specific games
    - Reference games: Slay the Spire; Balatro
  - Grind-Averse Player (sale)
    - Motivation: Avoiding excessive grinding.
    - Playstyle: Prefers games with quicker progression and less repetitive tasks.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: sale
    - Labels: casual player
    - Reference games: N/A
  - Aesthetic Appreciator (buy)
    - Motivation: Enjoying visually appealing and well-crafted games.
    - Playstyle: Values high-quality artwork, voice acting, and storytelling.
    - Experience: mixed
    - Purchase stance: buy
    - Labels: fan of polished games
    - Reference games: Baldur's Gate 3


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Innovative deck-building mechanics (weight 0.43): The game combines deck-building with roguelike and poker mechanics, offering a unique and captivating gameplay experience.
- Variety of characters (weight 0.39): The game offers a variety of playable characters with different playstyles and unique skills.
- Excellent voice acting (weight 0.28): The game is praised for its professional and well-done voice acting, which enhances the overall experience.
- Fun and enjoyable gameplay (weight 0.22): Many players found the game to be fun and enjoyable, with some mentioning it as charming and cool despite some bugs.
- Beautiful graphics and UI (weight 0.22): The game features beautiful 2D graphics and a well-designed user interface that is both attractive and responsive.
- Interesting story (weight 0.2): The game has an interesting and well-written storyline that players enjoy.
- High replayability (weight 0.17): Players highlight the game's high replay value due to its rich content, various character classes, and different deck strategies.
- Enjoyable poker gameplay (weight 0.14): The game mixes poker with card-based combat, making it enjoyable for fans of poker-like games.
- Multiple game modes (weight 0.14): The game features different game modes, including daily challenges, roguelite modes, and story modes.
- Many cards to unlock (weight 0.12): The game offers a vast variety of cards to unlock, providing many different builds and strategies.
- Balanced difficulty (weight 0.12): The game offers a well-balanced difficulty curve, making it challenging yet fair.

Common complaints:
- Over-reliance on luck (weight 0.27): The game is heavily dependent on luck, particularly with card draws, making it easy to lose continuously if low cards are drawn. This reliance on luck reduces replay value and makes the gameplay feel more like gambling.
- Repetitive gameplay (weight 0.23): Gameplay is criticized for being repetitive, especially on higher difficulties. This repetitiveness extends to equipment and overall gameplay mechanics, making the game feel monotonous.
- Poor UI design (weight 0.22): The user interface is described as confusing, obscure, and clunky. This poor design affects the overall user experience and makes navigation and gameplay less enjoyable.
- Poor poker mechanics integration (weight 0.17): The integration of poker mechanics is criticized as gimmicky and uninteresting. Some poker hands cannot be played, and the mechanics feel poorly integrated into the overall gameplay.
- Lack of updates and information (weight 0.11): The game suffers from a lack of updates, which contributes to a lack of growth and challenge. Players feel there is insufficient information provided, leading to a stagnant gaming experience.
- Performance and optimization issues (weight 0.11): The game has notable performance issues, including frame drops and poor optimization. These technical problems detract from the overall gaming experience.
- Lack of controller support (weight 0.1): There is no support for gamepads or controllers, which limits the accessibility and convenience for players who prefer using controllers over other input methods.
- Unengaging post-story content (weight 0.1): After completing the story with one character, players do not feel motivated to continue with others. The leveling process and rewards are not engaging enough to sustain long-term interest.
- High price point (weight 0.08): Many players feel that the game is not worth its full price, suggesting that the cost is too high relative to the value and enjoyment derived from the game.
- Slow leveling process (weight 0.08): Leveling characters is described as too slow and time-consuming, which can be frustrating for players and detracts from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Confusing game mechanics (weight 0.08): The game mechanics are difficult to understand and non-intuitive, making it challenging for players to fully grasp and enjoy the gameplay.
- Unclear game modes (weight 0.08): The game modes are criticized for being unclear and using vague names, which can confuse players and make it difficult to understand the different gameplay options.
- Lack of explanations (weight 0.07): There is a lack of explanation for interface elements, certain rules, and mechanics, making it difficult for players to understand and navigate the game effectively.
- Tedious character upgrades (weight 0.07): Permanent upgrades are powerful but take a long time to unlock and are separate for each character, making it tedious to level up multiple characters. Achieving all accomplishments is not recommended due to the repetitive process.
- Weak card interactions (weight 0.07): The interaction between skill cards and poker cards is weak, with few opportunities to create combos. This makes the gameplay feel less dynamic and engaging.

Gameplay feedback:
- Poker mechanics integration (weight 0.55): The game integrates poker mechanics into its combat system, using poker hands for attacking and defending, and incorporating Texas Hold'em elements.
- Card-based roguelike gameplay (weight 0.47): The game features card-based combat and roguelike elements, combining deck-building mechanics with procedural gameplay.
- Character-specific abilities (weight 0.32): Each character has unique abilities and playstyles, offering a variety of strategies and customization options for players.
- Character progression system (weight 0.26): The game includes a progression system with choices affecting character development, persistent upgrades, and a leveling system.
- Story and campaign modes (weight 0.24): The game offers a narrative-driven campaign mode with a linear storyline, as well as procedural and story-based missions.
- Luck-based gameplay elements (weight 0.15): The gameplay involves a high degree of luck and randomness, particularly in the initial card-playing mechanisms.
- Mission challenges (weight 0.11): The game includes replayable challenges and a mission ranking system, adding to its replayability.
- Difficulty levels (weight 0.1): The game features different difficulty levels, including seasonal themes and a roguelike mode.
- Card interactions and synergies (weight 0.07): The game features card interactions and ability synergies, enhancing the strategic depth of the gameplay.
- Chinese card game elements (weight 0.07): The game includes elements of traditional Chinese card games, combining skill cards and poker cards in unique ways.

Performance notes:
- Optimization and performance issues (weight 0.19): Multiple players have reported various optimization and performance issues, including general performance problems and specific concerns related to performance optimization.
- Frequent stutters and crashes (weight 0.11): The game experiences frequent stutters and crashes, which can disrupt the gaming experience. Some crashes are reported after updates.
- High GPU usage (weight 0.09): The game is noted to be GPU-intensive, leading to high GPU usage which can affect performance and potentially cause overheating.
- Steam Deck compatibility issues (weight 0.09): Players have experienced issues specific to the Steam Deck, including small text, slowdowns, and general compatibility concerns.
- Controller and cursor issues (weight 0.08): There are issues related to controller support and cursor behavior, including changes in cursor shape that cause problems.
- Black screen issues (weight 0.06): There are reports of black screen issues occurring during gameplay, specifically during the player's turn.
- Good performance on Linux (weight 0.06): The game performs well on Linux, although there are some minor graphical glitches reported.
- No major issues (weight 0.05): Some players have reported no major issues, bugs, glitches, or crashes while playing the game.
- Slow animations (weight 0.03): Animations in the game are reported to be too slow and cannot be sped up, affecting the overall gameplay experience.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for card game fans (weight 0.33): The game is highly recommended for fans of card battle games, deck-building games, and those who enjoy storylines and high-quality production. It is particularly suggested for enthusiasts of card games and roguelikes.
- Worth buying on sale (weight 0.25): Many reviews suggest that the game is worth purchasing, especially when it is on sale. This makes it more accessible and affordable for a broader audience.
- Gameplay depth and variety (weight 0.11): The game is praised for its engaging storyline and depth of gameplay, offering a variety of experiences that keep players invested.
- Mixed recommendations on gameplay (weight 0.1): While many reviews highly recommend the game for its depth and variety, some find the gameplay repetitive and frustrating, leading to mixed recommendations.
- Suggestions for future updates (weight 0.05): Players have suggested future updates, such as adding more jokers from Balatro and introducing card exchanging and new cards to enhance the gameplay experience.
- Worth the high price (weight 0.03): Despite some reviews suggesting to buy the game on sale, others believe the game is worth its high price due to its quality and depth.

Other player notes:
- Credits to narrators and artists (weight 0.06): Players appreciate the work of Margaret Ashley for narration and Enrique Dryere & Courtney Dryere for artwork.
- Skip upgrade animations (weight 0.04): Players can use the space bar to skip upgrade animations, allowing for quicker character upgrades.
- Appreciation for developers (weight 0.03): Players are showing gratitude towards the developers and everyone involved in the game.

Emotions:
- Frustration (weight 0.21): Players are frustrated primarily due to the game's high difficulty, reliance on luck, and various performance issues. The grinding process, repetitive gameplay, and unbalanced mechanics, such as enemy advantages and poorly explained rules, contribute significantly to this frustration.
- Enjoyment (weight 0.16): Players enjoy the game's unique blend of poker and card game mechanics, along with its engaging storyline and character progression. The variety of playstyles, beautiful graphics, and deep gameplay also contribute to a positive experience.
- Disappointment (weight 0.09): Players feel disappointed due to the game's lack of depth, repetitive gameplay, and balance issues. The reliance on luck and the absence of significant updates or online modes also contribute to this sentiment.
- Satisfaction (weight 0.07): Players are satisfied with the game's unique mechanics, replay value, and overall gameplay experience. The art style, card interactions, and strategic depth are also highlighted as positive aspects.
- Excitement (weight 0.07): Players are excited about the game's unique mechanics, high replayability, and engaging storyline. The combination of strategy and sorcery, along with the depth and beauty of the game, contributes to this excitement.
- Positive (weight 0.05): Players have a positive impression of the game due to its unique mechanics, engaging storyline, and high-quality production. The game's addictive nature and enjoyable gameplay also contribute to this sentiment.
- Excited (weight 0.04): Players are excited about the game's unique mechanics, high replayability, and engaging gameplay. The combination of strategy and sorcery, along with the depth and beauty of the game, contributes to this excitement.
- Frustrated (weight 0.03): Players are frustrated with the game's complexity, poor translation, and imbalanced mechanics. The grading system based on real-time play speed and frequent errors also contribute to this frustration.
- Boredom (weight 0.02): Players find the game boring due to its repetitive gameplay and lack of depth. The unclear story and conservative effects also contribute to this sentiment.
- Enthusiasm (weight 0.01): Players are enthusiastic about the game's unique design, good value for money, and long-lasting entertainment. The enjoyable deck-building mechanics and interesting campaign also contribute to this enthusiasm.
- Engaged (weight 0.01): Players are engaged by the game's unique blend of deck-building and poker-based combat. The depth and variety of the game's mechanics and characters, along with the well-written story, contribute to this engagement.
- Appreciation (weight 0.01): Players appreciate the game's attention to detail, innovative fusion of card game mechanics, and the work of the narrators, artists, and developers. The lighting and visuals are also highlighted as positive aspects.
- Surprise (weight 0.01): Players are surprised by the game's enjoyment despite not liking poker mechanics and the realization of the game mechanics. The Korean language support and effective gameplay loop also contribute to this surprise.
- Happy (weight 0.01): Players are happy with the game's enjoyable gameplay, high ratings for art, music, and innovation. The sound design is also highlighted as a positive aspect.
- Admiration (weight 0.01): Players admire the game's beautiful and poetic narrative prose, along with the character Leilah. The unique blend of mechanics and strategic depth also contribute to this admiration.
- Confusion (weight 0.01): Players are confused due to the game's poor translation and unclear gameplay mechanics. The lack of clear instructions and misleading level design also contribute to this confusion.}