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Dark Souls: The Card Game is a co-operative ‘deck evolution’ game for 1-4 players. It is a significant redevelopment and reimagining of Dark Souls: The Board Game that was also published by Steamforged Games back in 2016 following a hugely successful Kickstarter. The Card Game is designed by David Carl, who had a hand in designing its predecessor, and while they call it a ‘deck evolution’ game, a more informative description is a co-operative dungeon crawler card game that involves some light deck-building and hand management.
In the base game, players can choose from 4 different classes that are taken from the video game series: Assassin, Herald, Knight, and Sorcerer. Each class has its own unique deck, consisting of equipment (weapons, shields, armour, spells) and stamina cards. The stamina cards represent different stats (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, and Faith) that are needed to use the equipment, much like Energy Cards in Pokémon. In the game, players use these cards to fight the multitude of enemies that populate the path to the iconic boss fights. By defeating enemies, players gather Souls and Treasure that can be used to expand and evolve their decks, making them more powerful and tailored to the tasks at hand.
There are 3 boards which the action plays out across: a double-sided Exploration Board that represents the players’ movement between encounters and bosses, and the Player Board and Enemy Boards that represent in-battle positions, movements, and lines of attack. The Player and Enemy Boards are 2x3 and are nice and simple to use. There are also 5 Bonfire cards, and like the video games, each time you rest at a Bonfire everything resets, enemies are shuffled back into their decks, you gain any Treasure and Souls that you have accumulated, and you have the opportunity to buy further stamina cards.
One of the most original aspects of the gameplay is that your hand doubles up as your health, so 1 card = 1 health point. For example, if you take 3 damage, and are unable to Block or Dodge, then you must discard 3 cards. This makes the entire game a delicate balancing act and adds a nerve-racking push-your-luck aspect to the combat. If you use too many of your stamina cards on an all-out assault you will leave yourself vulnerable, but if you spend too many stamina cards on defensive moves you may not have enough stamina to attack at all. With a hand limit of 6 for each turn, either of these eventualities can easily happen.
It must be said that what hand you draw does have a big impact on what you can do on your turn. If you do not draw any weapons, for example, you can take a mulligan to (hopefully) remedy this. There is plenty to think about during the actual combat, such as status effects (such as Poison, Stagger, Frostbite), Armour values, taunt values, spawn locations, and different types of attacks that some enemies may be weak to (Heavy, Precise, Magical, etc). Each enemy also has a different attack range and pattern, which emphasizes the need for effective communication between players.
The push-your-luck aspect I mentioned above also extends to the post-battle collection of rewards, as whatever Souls you earn from killing enemies or Treasure you pick up both go into a Loot Pile that can only be claimed by resting at the Bonfire (which uses 1 of your 5 available resets). If you are defeated in an encounter, you must discard all Souls and Treasures from your Loot Pile.
The component quality is pretty good, with decent card stock, a visually appealing (if a little erroneous and confusing at times) rulebook, some fairly standard tokens, and 3 good quality boards. There are plenty of instantly recognizable enemies in the base game to keep things fresh for many playthroughs, and expansions on the way to keep things fresher still. All bosses are taken from Dark Souls 3, and they are an absolute highlight. Included in the base game are High Lord Wolnir, Pontiff Sulyvahn, Abyss Watcher, and Vordt of the Boreal Valley. Each boss has very different combat mechanics (I won't spoil it by saying what they are!), and each comes with their own deck of attacks, meaning that every encounter with them plays out differently.
And now for 3 key questions:
Does the game capture/recreate/embody the essence of the Dark Souls series?
The world of the Dark Souls series is one of the things that fans and critics alike rave about. It is a hopeless world bathed in a dark atmosphere and a Gothic nihilism, where the characters are stuck in endless cycles of horror and despair. The Card Game captures the cyclical aspect of Dark Souls very well indeed. As in the video games, every time the players rest at a Bonfire, either through choice or through death, everything resets and the challenges must be faced all over again.
The high level of difficulty of the Dark Souls games has become somewhat notorious; it is both over-hyped and entirely true. When playing the video games, even the most seasoned gamers die again and again (‘Prepare to Die’). Crucially, thanks to the sublime skills of Hidetaka Miyazaki and the FromSoftware team, this constant punishment is not a dull grind that prompts rage quitting but an exceptionally fun part of the gameplay. Steamforged Games have got this aspect just right with their Card Game; it is very hard to win. I often find myself on the cusp of victory only to be snapped up by the jaws of defeat once more. This tendency to ‘only just win’ reminds me of Pandemic, where victory can be equally hard to come by. Crucial to the difficulty is the scaling, which works well according to the number of players. The scaling device is simple, consisting of a greater number of enemies drawn for each encounter and a greater amount of Treasure that can be gained. The weighting feels correct for each player count, and rarely feels too easy or unfair.
Two aspects of the video games that are particularly praised are the atmosphere and the level design. Sadly, neither of these aspects make the transfer to the Card Game effectively. The artwork on the cards and boards does conjure up the gloomy aesthetic of the video games to a certain extent, although the image sizes are a little on the small side (likely to accommodate the required information on the cards). The garish colours on the stamina cards are also a strange choice, given the ready-made death and decay aesthetic that Dark Souls comes with.
There has been no attempt to mimic the innovative level design and movement of the video games, where players frequently forge off into new areas only to find themselves back where they started, or take a quick look down a seemingly small side path and discover the entire next section of the game. In Dark Souls: The Card Game the movement around the Exploration Board feels completely arbitrary and has little bearing on the encounters, other than deciding the level of the enemies you will face. Is the game enjoyable for players who aren't fans of the Dark Souls series?
Absolutely, I would say the mechanics more than hold their own if the Dark Souls context is removed. However, a certain investment or interest in RPGs more generally (or at least not being averse to them) is likely to be a key factor in whether you love the game or simply like it a little. The 4 character classes in the base game are fairly typical in RPG terms, and the while the weapons look cool and are varied enough, unless you recognise them from the Souls series they are unlikely to give you that surge of bonus excitement. Crucially, however, the pace of the gameplay, the variety of the combat, and the collaborative player interaction ensures that the game is a worthwhile experience for everyone.
How does Dark Souls: The Card Game compare to Dark Souls: The Board Game?
Dark Souls: The Card Game is a much more streamlined experience than the Board Game, requiring significantly less time to set-up and play. A solo game usually takes me around 60 mins, with more players taking it up to around 80 mins. When compared with the 3-4 hours (minimum) needed to play Dark Souls: The Board Game, this feels positively rapid. I found that the set-up of the Card Game took around 30 mins during my first couple of games, but this dropped to around 15 mins after a few playthroughs. The word ‘grind’ recurs frequently in relation to Dark Souls: The Board Game, with extensive level ups and upgrades required to progress through the game. This has been extensively stripped back for the Card Game, with the ‘deck evolution’ occurring only occasionally and not taking up too much time. Ultimately whether you prefer the Board Game or the Card Game will depend on what kind of experience you are looking for, but the Card Game edges it for me, offering a similar cooperative combat experience in a fraction of the time.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Dark Souls: The Card Game is an enjoyable experience. If you like the Soulsborne series, RPGs more generally, or games like Magic: The Gathering and Arkham Horror: The Card Game, then chances are you'll find plenty to love here. It is not without its flaws, but ultimately Dark Souls: The Card Game delivers a fun challenge that requires cooperation, strategy, and a dash of luck to win.
Cthulhu Reviews: 5 out of 8 tentacles 🐙🐙🐙🐙🐙
Designer: David Carl
Publisher: Steamforged Games
Players: 1-4
Age: 14+
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