Meteorfall: Krumit's Tale is a Roguelite Deckbuilder That Finds a Happy Home on Consoles
Ever since I picked up Slay the Spire for the first time many moons ago when it still hadn’t been released yet, I’ve been in love with the roguelike deckbuilding genre. And while I do tend to find some of the games in the genre to be a bit overly complicated, when you find something truly special like Dicey Dungeons or, for example, Krumit’s Tale, it really sparks joy and has me obsessed.
In Krumit’s Tale, your goal is to battle bearbearians, snotwolves, icky ogres and more in order to protect the world from the hands of Uberlich. Players that are familiar with the previous Meteorfall title, Meteorfall: Journeys, will feel right at home here as it involves the same core deck building mechanics, but expands upon it with the game’s grid based system. I didn’t play Journeys, nor did I play Krumit’s Tale when it first released a few years ago, but I found the mechanics to be pretty simple to pick up.
In the game your hero starts out with a basic set of cards that will be shuffled for you to use against a variety of monsters. The level is laid out on a grid system and you choose to tackle it in pretty much any order that you like. For example, if you don’t want to fight right away you can choose to grab an item or remove a tile altogether if you simply don’t like the look of it. As you complete each grid successfully, you’ll unlock new cards, perks, etc. to use on your next go.
The more you play, the more you’ll unlock. Much like the other roguelike’s I mentioned above, you’ll get used to dying again and again, but each death will be a lesson for your future runs. You’ll learn what items go well together, what hits the hardest, how enemies work and more. Each run is procedurally generated so you’re not likely to encounter the same dungeon twice but you will encounter similar situations and enemies so your lessons will come in handy.
Krumit’s Tale features five heroes that each have their own playstyle, loads of perks and cards specific to each hero, different types of enemies and a unique style that makes it truly fun to play, even if you find yourself struggling in the beginning to understand some of the gameplay mechanics. I’m not sure if I can say that it’s welcoming for first timers to the genre, but as someone who has played more than her fair share, I really liked the challenge.
Krumit’s Tale is available on PC and is now also available on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 and 5.