Clonizer Review Summary

Last updated: 2025-04-17
  • Unique, charming gameplay with strategic depth.
  • Easy to learn, difficult to master gameplay.
  • Appealing art style and humorous actions.
  • Roguelike deckbuilding meets hex-grid tactics.
  • Poor numerical balance impacts gameplay experience.
  • Translation errors present in the game.
Clonizer header

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Unique, charming, and engaging gameplay: The game is praised for its unique and creative blend of deckbuilding, strategy, and roguelike elements, resulting in an engaging and enjoyable experience. Many reviewers highlight its approachability, replayability, and overall charm, making it a standout title in the genre. Some reviewers found the game to be 'chill'.

Strategic depth and diverse playstyles: The game features strategic depth through card combinations, diverse playstyles, and base-building mechanics. Players can experiment with different clone soldier mutations, equipment, and spaceship builds to create unique and effective strategies. The first ship offers an RTS-like experience.

Easy to learn, hard to master: The game is easy to pick up and play but offers surprising depth and complexity as players delve deeper. This balance makes it accessible to newcomers while still providing a challenge for experienced strategy gamers.

Appealing and cute art style: The game's art style is consistently described as cute, appealing, and minimalist. This visual aesthetic enhances the overall charm and accessibility of the game, making it suitable for a wide audience.

Humorous in-game actions: One reviewer highlighted the ability to use a 'TAXATION RAY' on employees to collect money as a particularly enjoyable aspect of the game. This point is very specific, but also somewhat humorous and may not represent a core gameplay element for all players.

Common complaints

Poor numerical balance: The game suffers from poor numerical balancing, leading to unsatisfying gameplay. This manifests as weak cards, unbalanced damage, underwhelming relic stats, and a need to sacrifice health to progress. Reviewers hope for adjustments to improve the overall balance.

Translation errors: The game contains translation errors that cause frustration and confusion. These errors appear in card descriptions, event choices, and general text, sometimes leading to unintended consequences and ruined runs.

Low health, limited healing: The ship's low maximum health and limited, costly healing options create a sense of vulnerability. Shields are ineffective against normal enemies and are lost after each UFO attack, further exacerbating the problem.

Simplifies 4X genre: The game simplifies the 4X genre by removing much of the management and campaign duration. This may appeal to some players but could disappoint those seeking a deeper experience.

No controller support: The game lacks controller support, which may be a drawback for some players.

Gameplay and performance

Roguelike deckbuilding meets hex-grid tactics: The game blends roguelike deckbuilding with turn-based, hex-grid strategy. Players manage resources, complete objectives, and battle enemies using cards and clones. The game also incorporates base defense elements.

Character actions and base building: The game involves character actions such as clearing monsters, finding resources, and completing tasks. Players can construct various buildings to grow their operations, and fast movement provides advantages.

Unlockable cards and deck deletion: The game incorporates roguelike elements such as deck deletion and unlockable cards and artifacts. Card variations become more important as the player progresses, adding complexity to the deck-building aspect.

Base defense and persistent damage: The game features a base defense system where the base takes damage, and damage to the Clonizer ship carries over between missions. Victory conditions vary by map, such as eliminating enemies or surviving specific turns.

Planets offer unique strategic challenges: Each planet offers unique challenges with different monsters and environmental mechanics. Players must adapt their strategies to the specific conditions of each planet they visit.

Smooth performance, minor clone bug: The game generally runs smoothly, with crisp visuals and fluid animations. One specific bug was noted involving clones disappearing or behaving incorrectly, but overall performance is solid, including on Steam Deck.

Recommendations

Strongly recommended for genre fans: The game is highly recommended, especially for fans of card games, turn-based strategy, roguelikes, and sci-fi themes. Some reviewers suggest even those not typically interested in these genres should try it, drawing comparisons to Slay the Spire.

Deck-building and battlefield strategy: The game emphasizes deck-building mechanics and strategic battlefield decisions. Reviewers highlight the depth of content available for players who enjoy deckbuilders.

One-hour runs, child-friendly: A single run lasts about an hour, and the game is suitable for children. This provides insight into the game's pacing and target audience.

Second ship needs rework: One of the ships in the game, the second ship, is considered underperforming and in need of a rework to improve its gameplay and balance. This suggests an imbalance in the game's content.

Request: custom starter decks: A desired feature is the ability to create custom starter decks with upgrade points. This would allow for more player customization and strategic depth from the beginning of each run.

Other review notes

Ascension system, condition-based achievements: The game features an ascension system that progressively increases the difficulty up to level 20 after the initial completion. It also contains achievements that are based on specific conditions but do not impact the core gameplay content.

Developed by small Turkish team: The game was developed by a small team, specifically mentioned as two core developers from Turkey. This context can help set expectations regarding the scope and potential limitations of the game.

Requires genre familiarity, Steam account: The game requires players to have a Steam account and some familiarity with deckbuilding, roguelike/lite elements, and turn-based strategy mechanics. This suggests a target audience already engaged with these genres.

Discounted price: 11.83 euros: The game's discounted price is mentioned as 11.83 euros. This provides a specific data point for potential buyers to consider the game's value proposition.