Despite its originality, Stacklands does not satisfy as much I hoped it would. The gameplay somewhere in the middle of the game (after you’ve set up a viable food source, but before traveling from the main land) is probably the most enjoyable; you get ways to automate your supplies, grow your military, and set up your board of cards in a clean and manageable way. However, before and after the midway point, you’re basically just managing the cards that get thrown around due to limited space and enemies/animals.

One of my biggest gripes with the game is the fact that every card looks pretty much the same except for 6 colours and hard to discern card art. Many more colours could have been introduced to clarify card types, and the font and art could have definitely been made clearer as well. Thankfully, you’re able to zoom in and out while pausing the game’s cycle to look at the cards more closely at your own pace.

If you’re into sorting cards and collecting a boatload of them in an encyclopedia of sorts, you will definitely enjoy this game. If you’re going in with the expectation of a fun Roguelike experience like I did, you will be disappointed. I finished the game 100% in meagre 2 runs, and did not feel like going to any of the cursed lands of the DLC either because they do not add any value.