I’ve always struggled with roguelike games. They’re traditionally battles of attrition, where only players that are skillful or stubborn enough to push through the repetition of failure and loss of progress come out on top–which can sometimes make reaching the endgame goal seem like an insurmountable task. Loop Hero, however, is structured as one big challenging deck building-focused roguelike that’s composed of many tiny easier runs that always build towards progress without intimidation.
In Loop Hero, you begin a new run by travelling from your camp and walking along the looping path laid for you. You always travel forwards, fighting everything you come across. Fights are automated, so you just sit back and watch them unfold. As you walk, time passes and new monsters spawn at random points on the loop with the dawn of every new day, creating an endless cycle of conflict. But defeating enemies nets you new weapons and pieces of armor that make you stronger, and, more importantly, the chance to draw cards from your deck.
Outside of combat, you can momentarily pause your journey around the loop at any time to play as many of the cards in your hand as you want. Some are beneficial: For example, placing “Meadow” gives you health regen with each passing day and each “Rock” card you play increases your base health. Others can present greater risk though: “Battlefield” spawns a chest of powerful gear but enemies that die nearby may become resurrected as dangerous ghosts and “Village” heals you partway through a loop but randomly makes one enemy on the loop significantly stronger every time it activates.
