As I noted just a few days ago, there’s no shortage of roguelike deckbuilders in the Steam store. Between games imitating Slay the Spire and games copying Balatro, it’s a very well-represented genre – and in Dog Witch, we have one more to add to the pile.
In this case, we have a game that borrows from Slay the Spire. It adds a bit of a dice mechanic to the mix, where every turn you roll and you have a bunch of random cards pop up, but overall, the structure feels awfully similar.
Unfortunately for Dog Witch, the gameplay does very little to differentiate itself or to set the game apart. The game claims to have 150+ items that can be mixed and matched in different ways, but all in all, it mostly feels like you’re playing the same actions over and over again. While it certainly takes a little longer to master than your average Slay the Spire clone – in part, I think, because every run feels so short – the gameplay feels a little lacking in the sort of inspiration that will keep you coming back again and again.
That said, whatever Dog Witch lacks on the gameplay front, it nearly makes up for it in personality. The game’s star is the eponymous magical dog, and you can customize him to your heart’s content, from his fur to his bark to his tail. As you guide him through various battles, you’ll find yourself up against all kinds of weird and wacky foes, from Russian nesting dolls to giant bees vending machines – all of them looking adorable, even as they try to kill you. I wouldn’t say it’s a cozy take on Slay the Spire, but it’s certainly not far off from how one of those would look.
Mind you, the problem is that no matter how cute and whimsical Dog Witch may be, you still need to play it in the end – and that’s where it doesn’t quite measure up, in no small part because the field is so incredibly crowded right now. Still, it gets all kinds of bonus points for effort, and if you want a bit of adorableness injected into your roguelike deckbuilders, you’ll get that in spades here.
Mystic Forge provided us with a Dog Witch PC code for review purposes.
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