Enter a world ravaged by Wildfrost, an ominous, never-ending snowstorm. Each day, another brave adventurer departs from Snowdwell on a mission to banish the storm over the Sun Temple and bring warmth back to the world. But none have returned. The 3 tribes of Snowdwell are a hardy lot, and they’ll never stop trying to put an end to this endless winter. 

Card- battler Wildfrost has been out since April of 2023, but Deadpan Games have been busy giving players constant updates including the recent Friends and Foes v1.2.0 content and mod support. With new enemies, cards, companions, and more, we couldn’t think of a better time to do a review. 

An endless winter & ominous storm

Winter isn’t coming. t’s here, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The heart of the Wildfrost rests atop the Sun Temple, but how many adventurers must be lost before the people have some answers? Snowdwell stands as the last stronghold of humanity, and for those nestled in this little mountaintop village there is still hope. 

Snowdwell serves as a sort of main base for players between runs. It could have honestly been just a few menus for picking starting champions and pets, and viewing unlockables, but the town adds world building and charm to the game. It’s also our first look at the amount of world-building that went into Wildfrost. 

While Wildfrost doesn’t offer a defined narrative, there is still a lot of history here. You get a taste of what life has been like when you run across fallen comrades from previous runs as you traverse the snow. You see it in the bloody notes left behind in the snow from other fallen adventurers, and from the flavorful differences in culture between the 3 different tribes co existing within the city. I don’t expect much from roguelike deck builders in terms of narrative and worldbuilding outside of creative design, but Wildfrost really delivered for me. 

Masterclass in tutorial

This thoughtfulness extends to your first playthrough. The tutorial of Wildfrost in a masterclass on how tutorials should be done. I know most of time we just skip through tutorials. The mechanics are simple enough in Wildfrost that many won’t understand how amazing this tutorial really is.  

For example, at one point in the tutorial, Wildfrost is teaching us about positional movement. While forcing us to change a character’s position we also get to see that an enemy will take the opposite row if we don’t have something across from them. It shows rather than tells. This approach gives a lot of respect for the player’s time and intelligence while not teaching bad habits to newer card players. 

Gameplay that scales based on player

Enough about the tutorial, what about the actual gameplay? Wildfrost is your typical roguelike deck builder that goes heavy on the card battler elements and difficulty that scales with player ability. The journey to the Sun Temple feels like a board game with branching paths containing randomized events for players to collect companions, items, charms, or earn money to spend at one of the potential vendors you can encounter along the way.  

It’s a gameplay loop that just works. You learn from your failures, revel in your victories, and can earn handicaps to further increase the difficulty of your gaming experience. With weekly challenges offered alongside the traditional campaign mode, Wildfrost offers a ton of gameplay variety with the potential to get lost in the game for hours at a time. 

Approachable and challenging

I’ve been working on this review for almost a month now, but there is a good reason for that. Before playing a game, I like to glance at what others are saying. One of the critiques brought up regularly was that the game plateaus from fun to impossible over time. After my first run I couldn’t believe that. The balance seemed fine, and although encounters are randomized, I didn’t see any mechanics that I felt I wouldn’t be able to handle with a well-built deck. 

For all my hubris, there was one boss I could not defeat, but I wasn’t giving up. I’m a card game person and win or lose, each round was too much fun to just walk away from the challenge. After a while I was able to defeat this fierce boss encounter, and I still wanted to keep playing. Some may say Wildfrost is too difficult, but the game will never throw anything at you that you can’t handle. It’s a difficulty for the sake of growth as opposed to difficulty for the sake of difficulty kind of situation, and I feel Wildfrost handles this delicate balance perfectly. 

Tips & Tricks

I have a few tips and tricks if you’re having some difficulty. Followers are fun but stick to two, if you happen to pick up another, I would still try to keep yourself to two or less in your deck. Remember sometimes less is more unless it’s crowns, always buy more crowns. Playing cards before the game starts is strong. 

 Don’t be afraid of the Muncher; you don’t need all those cards. Less beginner junk that doesn’t play to your strategy means more chances to draw the cool stuff you pick up, meaning feeding the muncher is often the right decision. 

Speaking of strategy, build for what you know. Wildfrost is a game with scaling difficulty, but you’ll always know what the final boss’ deck is built around. Plan for that battle and think of the mini bosses along the way as tests to fine tune your strategy. If your deck is struggling against the mini bosses, it’s probably because your synergy is weak, not because you didn’t prepare for the Spice Mokos. 

Mod Support

With the Friends V. Foes update mod support was added to the game. The addition of mod support through the Steam Workshop opens a world of possibilities for Wildfrost. From Hollow Knight inspired campaigns to game modes that let you play as the villains in Snowfall, the future of Wildfrost is limited only by the creativity of its players.  

I didn’t get to experiment with any of the mods during my playthrough because I wanted to experience the base game for what it is. But mod support is such an incredible way to invite your community to engage with your game, and potentially inspire the next generation of indie game developers at the same time. I’m so excited to jump into some of these mods and go on even more adventures set in the world of Wildfrost. 

Final Thoughts

Wildfrost is an amazing roguelike deckbuilding game that perfectly walks the delicate line between approachable and challenging. With a compelling story and endless replayability, it’s a game well worth your time and money.  

I’m giving Wildfrost 5 out of 5 stars, fans of card battlers do not want to miss this one. 

Wildfrost is available today on Nintendo Switch, and Steam for $19.99, or play the mobile version on iOS and Android devices for $6.99. Make sure to check out the official Wildfrost Discord for the latest news and theory crafting. Review key provided by publisher Chucklefish.