Ooooh, I get it. Rogue Light Deck Builder. Like roguelite deck-builder, but way more literal. Because you’re building a deck. And there’s a light that keeps flickering. Rogue Light Deck Builder.

Yeah, it’s a game based on one singular snappy joke, but hear me out. It’s not an actual roguelite deck-builder, I swear.

GETTING HAMMERED

Rogue Light Deck Builder is from Gil Lawson, who is best known for working on goblinAmerica, a game that isn’t out yet but has a terrific demo.

Notably, goblinAmerica, even in its pre-release state, has an unmistakeable art style. It’s captivatingly grotesque. And that’s enough to make Rogue Light Deck Builder stand out.

Aaanyway, deck building. I mentioned building a deck earlier, but it should be pretty obvious by now that I mean a deck. A deck deck. Like, the one that’s attached to a house that you roast in the sun and drink lemonade while sitting on.

Why? Because your “husband” tells you to. He typically tells you to in a direct but stilted way. And once you finish the deck, you build another. A house can never have too many decks. That’s what I always say.

GETTING NAILED

This might be a bit counter-intuitive, but on top of not involving cards, Rogue Light Deck Builder isn’t a roguelite. You just build deck until deck is built. Once deck is built, you can spend the money you earn at the store.

Construction is generally just setting up a nail in a designated spot, then hammering it down. The controls are deliberately loosey-goosey, so there’s a good chance you’ll miss entirely, or worse, you’ll give your hand a good mashing. Hammering your hand subtracts money, hitting the nail perfectly (what the game considers “perfect” is a bit of a mystery) will give you a bonus, and hammering the nail down entirely pays out. You can build up a multiplier if you nail a nail perfectly, but good luck with that.

You spend your money to upgrade your tools in the shop. Largely, the tools just make it easier to amass a fortune by improving payout. Landing a perfect hit becomes easier with an upgraded hand and hammer. One item gives you passive income. Another upgrades a bug that wanders around. Early on, smooshing that bug was my biggest source of income. Sorry, bug. Nothing personal.

“Deviant” nails show up occasionally to be weird. There’s a nail that wants to be bonked. A guy who wants you to hit him softly. A naked alien. Etcetera.

A GOOD BONK

That’s about it. It’s a short game. It’s about $4 American greenbacks or $5 Canadian loonies, but I bought it on sale for half of those loonies. You build decks, things get weird, and when you pile up enough money, there’s a strangely pleasant ending. You’re done in maybe an hour or something.

Yeah, it’s not a long time, but it’s a good time. Floppy hand hammering is more fun than it probably sounds. It’s a warped slice of reality warped by Gil Lawson’s surreal imagination. It might not improve your life in any substantial way. Unless home improvement counts.

7/10

This review was conducted using a digital Steam copy of the game. It was paid for by the author.