Part 1 (Sep 2023) · #24 of 35 in that tierWatch the moment (1:12:46)
Hand of Fate 2
- Developed by
- Defiant Development
- Published by
- Defiant Development
$29.99
A new hero rises to challenge the Dealer in Hand of Fate 2! Master a living boardgame of infinitely replayable quests - unlock new cards, build your adventure, then defeat your foes in brutal real-time combat! Draw your cards, play your hand and discover your fate!
Consensus
B72.7/100
Steam players84.3% positiveVery Positive5,826 reviews
Metacritic ↗80/100Users: 7/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈296K copies · ≈$6.1M gross
What creators say
Ranked Aug 2024 · #6 of 10 in that tierWatch the moment (0:53:42)
Ranked Apr 2023 · #2 of 48 in that tierListen to the episode
Scored 7.47/10 · tier derived from the score
What players say
A third-person action RPG wrapped in a roguelite deck-builder, where a mysterious Dealer lays out a card-built board-game dungeon and you fight real-time combat whenever the cards demand it.
Critics and players largely agree it is a clear, more ambitious step up from the 2015 original, with a Metacritic score of 80 and Steam 'Very Positive' (about 84% of roughly 5.8k reviews). The atmosphere, writing, narrator and the unusual card-as-dungeon loop are the main draws. The persistent complaints are combat that is serviceable but shallow and repetitive, randomness that can ruin a run, and bloat or grind in longer play. The developer Defiant stopped making new games in 2019 and only maintains the title, so the game is effectively in maintenance mode (not early access). The Steam store page showed recent reviews as only Mixed (66% of 15) against Very Positive overall, which suggests a small, aging player base with some lingering technical complaints.
Players love
- Atmosphere and presentation: art, music, sound design and the Dealer narrator's personality are repeatedly called out as the standout feature
- A genuinely unusual gameplay loop: you build a hand of encounter and equipment cards, then navigate a board-game map that unfolds like a choose-your-own-adventure
- Strong writing and story-driven scenarios (20+ campaign quests plus endless mode) with varied outcomes built from the cards you unlock
- New mini-game-style challenges (dice, pendulum, wheel) add skill-based variety beyond the original's card-shuffle challenge
- Companions with their own questlines and abilities improve both exploration and combat compared with the first game
- Unlockable gear that levels up and token challenges give a steady reason to keep unlocking cards and equipment
- Combat grows more satisfying in later acts once riposte and block-breaking mechanics open up (Arkham-style comparison appears in several Steam reviews)
- Character customization and more diverse cast were noted as improvements
Common complaints
- Combat is the weakest pillar: Arkham-lite, one-enemy-at-a-time feel, repetitive and often just spam-attack once you out-gear encounters (echoed by PC Gamer and Game Informer per Wikipedia summary)
- Randomness and luck-based challenges can be run-killing or feel unfair in later campaigns; GameSpot noted some quests lean too heavily on luck
- Late-game bloat: decks of 20+ cards with no search or filter make pre-run deck building a chore
- Technical rough edges in some Steam reviews: long loading screens before each fight, enemy AI breaking (reported fix: turn vsync on), bugged dice rerolls, an unlocked sword not appearing in equipment
- Sluggish-feeling hero evade and chaotic, hard-to-read fights in crowded encounters according to negative reviewers
- Progression and grind: Wccftech scored it 60 citing unsatisfying progression, punishing randomness and clunky combat; some Steam reviewers call it overpriced at $30 and repetitive
- Later campaigns spike in difficulty and feel unfair to some players, leading to frustration (and grinding for gold-token gear) before progress is possible
Can feel tedious
- Repeating the same lock-on combat over many encounters; some players mash attack to get through it
- Scrolling a large card collection to build a deck before each run
- Long loading and intro sequences each time you retry a level
- Luck-heavy mini-games that must be passed for story progress and can be frustrating
- Grinding the campaign to unlock the cards and gear needed for later, harder scenarios
- Endless mode's item degradation making some weapon types feel pointless
What's unique
- The dungeon is literally a tabletop built from cards that the Dealer lays out, and the cards you choose determine encounters, loot and events
- A sitting-in-the-Dealer's-wagon framing with a charismatic narrator who comments on your successes and failures
- Hybrid of deckbuilding and real-time third-person action combat, often compared to Arkham-style fighting with a card-game shell
- Tarot-flavoured theming and choose-your-own-adventure storytelling rather than a pure arena roguelike
- Hand-built campaign scenarios with persistent unlocks, rather than fully random runs, plus a separate Endless mode
- Steam tags label it a roguelike deckbuilder, but most players describe it as closer to a narrative adventure with roguelite unlock progression
Players want
- Deeper, more varied combat: more enemy variety and more tactical options beyond attack, counter and block
- Deck-management quality of life: a search or filter for the growing card collection and a faster way to build hands
- Shorter or skippable loading screens and intro animations when restarting encounters
- Better balance for Endless mode, where item degradation makes daggers nearly useless
- Less punishing RNG or more mitigation tools so one bad draw does not sink a long run
- Bug fixes, since the studio is in maintenance mode and some bugs reported in 2025 remain
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
RPGRoguelike DeckbuilderCard GameActionDeckbuildingRogue-liteIndieAction RoguelikeSingleplayerBoard Game
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
Hand of Fate 2 is the sequel to Hand of Fate, a deck-building game mixed with real-time action combat. He tried it because he likes deck builders and the reviews were strong. It keeps the same vibe as the first game but improves nearly everything. He enjoyed it, yet the clash between slow strategic deck building and fast action still bothers him. He places it in low B and would not recommend it as a deck-building game.
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