Update: As per the comment at the bottom of the post, you can sign up on the Steam page to help out on the full playtest soon!
First and foremost, I am not a card game expert. Sure, I sell a lot of Pokémon and Magic cards to people in my day job, and I’ve picked up some myself, obviously, but my knowledge of them when I see them is like “Ooooh, that’s shiny!”
So I can’t tell you if anything in Slumber Realm is “OP,” whether my decks were ever decent, or if I was making choices that would make a seasoned card game player pull out their hair. What I can tell you is that the Windows virus I picked up during one of my recent runs absolutely WRECKED me.
And y’all, I had a blast.
That’s what immediately clicked for me with Slumber Realm. It’s fun! It’s fun even when you’re losing, and there are vibes (of the 90s variety) for days. The game is easy to pick up, too. Collect cards, roll a d6, and let the game take it from there. Most of my runs landed in that sweet 20-to-30-minute range, which made it incredibly easy to say, “I’ll just do one more,” repeat that cycle a few times, and realize I’ll be late for work if I don’t stop.
(Or lose to a mountain of popups spawned by a 90s-era computer virus that triggered a Windows Millennium-era panic attack.)
The art was another big win for me. As someone who grew up in the ’90s, Slumber Realm feels like it understands the particular magic of that era. The cards are full of personality, with attacks and effects like Laser Tag Blaster, Slammers (if you remember playing with Pogs, this is your reminder to take some aspirin), and Hot Glue Gun.
Between battles, you can spend gold on new cards, snacks, and memories that can change the outcome of future fights. There’s enough going on to make each run feel different, without the game ever feeling overwhelming.
And honestly, the more I played, the more impressed I became by the fact that Slumber Realm is being made by a team of two: Brian Cronin and Juliana Rabelo.
It’s a fun, approachable roguelite with a ton of personality. I don’t need to know whether my deck is perfectly optimized to know that I enjoyed my time with the demo, and I’m definitely NOT sleeping on Slumber Realm.
Thanks for reading! If you’d like to help out around the Cafe, I’ve started a Ko-Fi that I’ve been reasonably ‘okay’ with updating. I’ve kept it simple, giving folks the option to tip one-off or subscribe via a monthly membership like Patreon. One of the perks is early access to articles like this one! Head over to https://ko-fi.com/theindiegamecafe to check it out!
-Amanda