Book of Demons Review Summary

Last updated: 2026-05-11
  • Unique and appealing art style
  • Innovative card-based mechanics
  • Relaxing and enjoyable gameplay
  • Repetitive gameplay mechanics
  • Frustrating enemy mechanics
  • Clunky character movement
Book of Demons header

Emotions

Archetypes

What players like:

Common complaints:

Gameplay feedback:

Performance notes:

Recommendations:

Other player notes:

Review evidence

Why players say this

What players like

Unique and appealing art style: The game features a distinctive and creative visual style, often described as unique, cute, and reminiscent of paper cutouts. Players appreciate the high production value and elegant, cartoony aesthetic.

Innovative card-based mechanics: The game combines card-based mechanics with role-playing elements, creating a distinctive hybrid that includes deck-building and interesting card combinations.

Relaxing and enjoyable gameplay: The gameplay is designed to be stress-free and enjoyable, offering a casual and nostalgic experience that players find relaxing and fun.

High replayability with procedural generation: Procedurally generated dungeons ensure a high level of replayability, keeping the gameplay experience fresh and engaging.

Flexiscope system for flexible sessions: The Flexiscope system allows players to adjust the length of their gameplay sessions, providing flexibility and convenience.

Common complaints

Repetitive gameplay mechanics: Many players find the gameplay to be repetitive, with repetitive tasks and mechanics that quickly become tedious.

Frustrating enemy mechanics: Enemies have various abilities that can be frustrating, including healing, spawning mechanics, and invincibility during spellcasting.

Clunky character movement: The character movement is described as clunky and slow, with limited movement options that restrict players to straight lines or fixed paths.

Card system issues: The card system has several problems, including a fixed equipment slot limit, limited card variety, and the inability to appraise multiple cards at once.

High difficulty and balance issues: The game has high difficulty, especially on the hardest settings, and suffers from balance issues, particularly near the endgame.

Gameplay and performance

Card-based combat and skill system: The game features a card-based combat and skill system, where players use cards for skills, inventory management, and overall gameplay mechanics. This system is central to the game's ARPG and hack-and-slash elements.

Procedural dungeon generation: The game includes procedural dungeon generation, offering players randomly-generated dungeons for exploration. This feature enhances replayability and adds variety to the gameplay experience.

Varied enemy behaviors: Enemies in the game exhibit various behaviors such as jumping, hiding, teleporting, summoning, and blocking paths. These behaviors add complexity and challenge to combat.

Flexiscope system for session lengths: The Flexiscope system allows players to adjust session lengths and dungeon sizes, providing flexibility in gameplay duration. This feature caters to different playstyles and time constraints.

Character progression system: The game includes a class-based progression system where players can unlock new classes and abilities. This system encourages long-term engagement and character development.

Good performance overall: The game generally performs well, providing a smooth experience for most players.

Performance issues with multiple enemies: The game experiences performance issues, including lags and standstill images, particularly when multiple enemies are on screen.

Bugs affecting gameplay: There are reports of bugs that significantly impact the gameplay experience, causing frustration among players.

Low graphics quality: Some players have expressed dissatisfaction with the graphics quality, finding it to be subpar.

Steam Deck control issues: Players have reported problems with the controls specifically when using the Steam Deck.

Recommendations

Worth buying on sale: Many players recommend the game if it is purchased at a discounted price, citing good graphics and audio.

Unique art and fun gameplay: The game is praised for its unique art style and enjoyable gameplay mechanics, which players find relaxing and fun.

Recommended for RPG and hack 'n slash fans: The game is recommended for fans of RPG and hack 'n slash genres, offering a unique twist through the use of cards.

Class and item recommendations: Players recommend choosing the archer class and using specific items like the three sisters for an optimal experience.

Use of cheat engine for grinding: Some players suggest using cheat engine (CE) to max out gold and experience, especially with a 3x multiplier for mindless grinding.

Buying context

Community fair range: $15.00 - $25.00.

Game completion: 100.0h.

Story completion: 9.4h.

The game starts fun and addictive but becomes progressively boring and tedious due to repetitive gameplay and grinding mechanics.

Reported time to anchor: 30m.

Friction: Repetitive gameplay; Lack of unique animations; Grinding mechanics; Tedious boss fights.

Unlock drivers: Unique mechanics; Progression system.

Player profiles

Genre Enthusiast: Engages deeply with the game mechanics and enjoys multiple playthroughs. Motivation: Enjoyment of the hack and slash genre and dungeon crawling. Stance: buy.

Completionist: Grinds through repetitive tasks and challenges to complete all achievements. Motivation: Achieving 100% completion and unlocking all achievements. Stance: sale.

Casual Gamer: Prefers shorter play sessions and less complex gameplay mechanics. Motivation: Enjoyment of gaming in short, manageable sessions. Stance: buy.

Platform notes

Steam Deck: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant issues with controller support, which is a critical aspect of the Steam Deck experience. Many users find the controls to be non-intuitive and unresponsive, leading to frustration. Additionally, there are complaints about misleading advertisements, which set incorrect expectations for the game. However, there are also positive remarks about the controller support, suggesting that it works well in certain contexts. Overall, the technical barriers and user experience issues are notable and impact the overall satisfaction with the game.

Other review notes

Polished game experience: The game is noted for its polished feel, indicating a high level of refinement and attention to detail.

Effective developer communication: Players appreciate the good communication with developers, suggesting a responsive and engaged development team.