RoguedexPart 1 (Sep 2023) · #10 of 14 in that tierWatch the moment (1:11:10)
Hand of Fate
- Developed by
- Defiant Development
- Published by
- Defiant Development
$19.99
Deckbuilding comes to life in Hand of Fate! An infinitely replayable series of quests - earn new cards, build your deck, then try to defeat it! In a cabin at the end of the world, the game of life and death is played. Draw your cards, play your hand, and discover your fate.
Consensus
C70.2/100
Steam players89.2% positiveVery Positive10,689 reviews
Metacritic ↗78/100Users: 7.9/10
VG Insights estimate ↗≈725K copies · ≈$10.1M gross
What creators say
Ranked Aug 2024 · #4 of 12 in that tierWatch the moment (0:53:42)
Ranked Apr 2023 · #1 of 13 in that tierListen to the episode
Scored 5.87/10 · tier derived from the score
What players say
A 2015 hybrid from Defiant Development in which you play through randomly dealt card-based dungeon quests against a talking Dealer, with real-time third-person action combat whenever a fight card turns up.
Hand of Fate is widely regarded as a distinctive, charming genre mash-up that predates Slay the Spire and helped seed the roguelike deckbuilder space. Steam players rate it Very Positive (about 89% of roughly 10,700 reviews), and critics landed at a Metacritic 78 on PC (79 PS4, 80 Xbox One), with user score 7.9. The Dealer, the card-driven storytelling and the unlock loop are loved; the simple Arkham-style combat, heavy RNG, repetition and a harsh final boss are the standing complaints. Many current players recommend it mainly on sale and say the sequel is the better entry, though some prefer the original's looser deckbuilding and flavor. It is a finished game (studio closed in 2019) and is not early access.
Players love
- The Dealer: a menacing, talkative, witty narrator whose voice acting and banter are the glue of the game and the most-praised element
- Original concept: a physical-feeling card table that generates the dungeon, events and shops, with the cards acting as the storytelling layer
- Unlock loop: completing encounters awards tokens that unlock new equipment and encounter cards, so each run feels like it grows your deck and gives a sense of progress
- Risk/reward encounters, where choices, dice, and gambles on the board can pay off or punish, and failure still yields unlocks
- Atmosphere and presentation: beautiful card art, dark-fantasy tone, and a thematic soundtrack that reviewers called strong for an indie budget
- Over-the-top, satisfying combat effects and slow-motion finishers for players who like a simple action layer
- Accessible deckbuilding that lets you stuff in newly found cards and experiment without heavy optimization
- Good value and a long tail for completionists (users report 20-190 hours chasing unlocks, endless mode and achievements)
Common complaints
- Combat is simplistic, Arkham-style button mashing with little depth, and many reviewers called it clunky, floaty or repetitive
- Camera control is restrictive; players can be stuck with an angle that hides off-screen attacks and traps, both in combat and on the board
- Heavy RNG: whether you assemble a workable kit before the boss can feel out of your control, and one reviewer alleges failed quests resurface more often
- The final boss and final level are a sharp difficulty spike, described as a boss rush and unfair by several reviewers, and some never finished
- Limited variety of encounters and enemies means the same fights and events repeat quickly
- Jank and unpolished balance: unfixed bugs, inconsistent mouse/controller handling, endless-mode glitches, and uninterruptible attacks not clearly telegraphed
- The Dealer's long lines and the slow card dealing animation grate on repeat runs
- Marketing mismatch: several reviewers say it is an action game with cards as a storytelling layer, not a real card game or deckbuilder, so the roguelike-deckbuilder label disappoints
Can feel tedious
- Repeating the same encounters several times, sometimes with specific choices, to unlock certain upgrades
- Early-game slog: several reviewers found the first half slow before it becomes engaging
- Mashing through waves of swarming enemies, which feels repetitive and mindless to some
- Endless mode after unlocking everything reduces to replaying similar runs for a better score
- Long Dealer monologues and slow dealing animations that cannot be skipped easily
- Grinding through RNG-dependent runs to land a viable build and non-crippling curses before the final boss
What's unique
- Two decks: one for equipment and one for the encounters that define the dungeon, so you literally choose the events you might face
- A fusion of tabletop-style board progression with real-time action RPG combat, rare in its period
- A personified adversary Dealer who narrates, taunts and reacts to your luck as the game master
- Cards that both unlock and chain into follow-up encounters, weaving side quests into the main campaign through the deck
- Predates Slay the Spire by about two years yet plays very differently from later roguelike deckbuilders, since cards are narrative and loadout rather than a combat hand
- Spawned a physical companion board game (Hand of Fate: Ordeals) and a stronger sequel, and a new spin-off in the same universe is reported in development
Players want
- Make combat deeper with better telegraphs and readable distinction between interruptible and non-interruptible attacks
- Add camera control, or at least a better fixed angle in combat and on the board
- Give the player more agency over builds and RNG, with a smoother difficulty curve into the final boss
- Allow skipping or speeding up the initial deal and repeated Dealer dialogue
- More encounter and enemy variety, and a more meaningful post-campaign/endless mode beyond repeating runs for score
- Clean up the achievement list, which players say is bloated with build-specific or pure-luck entries
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Roguelike DeckbuilderRogue-likeDeckbuildingCard GameAction RoguelikeRPGSingleplayerActionFantasyIndie
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
Hand of Fate (2015) is a deck-building roguelite that mixes a tabletop card-and-dealer layer with real-time 3D action combat. He likes the concept and especially the narrator, but feels the two halves clash. The card sections are slow and low on visual information, while the action part feels like a generic 3D brawler. He finds the fighting underwhelming and places it in the middle of C tier.
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