We Love It's Guide to…
Lead survivors across a frozen wasteland, building a card deck and timing movable allies’ attacks in tactical battles.
Released 12 Apr 2023
Move Allies Midbattle
Time Every Attack
Charm Your Companions
Take on the elements in Wildfrost, a tactical roguelike deckbuilder! Journey across a frozen tundra, collecting cards strong enough to banish the eternal winter…
Developed by Deadpan Games, Gaziter · Published by Chucklefish
In a world locked in winter, you lead survivors from Snowdwell on expeditions through a frozen landscape. Choose a tribe and leader, chart a route, and build a new deck during each run by recruiting companions, finding items, and visiting merchants.
Battles play out on a board where allies and enemies act according to countdown timers. Reposition your units, play cards, and use effects to influence when attacks happen and who takes them. Companions can be upgraded with charms, letting you shape their abilities and combine card effects into different strategies.
Between runs, Snowdwell can be expanded with buildings that unlock cards, tribes, challenges, and other options. Additional difficulty modifiers and daily runs offer further ways to play.
Players often enjoy the tactical board battles, the freedom to experiment with card and charm combinations, and the charming art and music. Many describe the challenge as rewarding once its systems click, while others find that small mistakes can end a run abruptly. The twist that a winning team returns in a later run is called clever by some players and frustrating by others.
The world has succumbed to the Wildfrost. Now only Snowdwell and its survivors stand as the last bastion against an eternal winter... Build up a deck of powerful card companions and elemental items, as you battle to banish the frost once and for all!
Perfect your card battling and deck-building skills, and set out on a quest to bring an end to The Wildfrost! Begin each journey with your chosen tribe Leader, each gifted with different randomised skills and stats, before mapping out your chosen path into the unforgiving frosty landscape.
Rescue and recruit frozen companions you find along the way, unearth lost treasures, and spend your hard-earned blings with travelling merchants. The decisions you make and routes you take during each run will help craft a powerful deck, unique to you each time you play.
Collect a huge array of cute, but mighty card companions, as well as handy items and clunker cards to aid you in battle. Experiment with different elemental card combinations to find your winning formula.
Your companion cards aren’t just disposable minions for dealing out damage; upgrade and customise your favourites by adding wobbly charms to enhance their powers, making your deck a powerful (and adorable) force to be reckoned with!
Plan ahead with the help of a dynamic counter system to map out your next move and fend off frosty foes. While Wildfrost battles are turn-based, cards don’t attack every turn. Instead they have a ‘counter’ which counts down the amount of turns until they’re ready to automatically make their move!
By keeping an eye on enemy monsters’ counters, you can plot ahead your perfect play. Buff your companions? Stall an enemy attack? Or maybe count down your own timer to wreak havoc fast! It’s up to you to strategically turn the tide in your favour.
Need a rest? Take shelter in the cosy town of Snowdwell. Here survivors have gathered to keep warm using the power of the Luminice, a giant shard of hot ice.
As you progress after each run you’ll be able to return and gradually help expand the hub town itself, constructing buildings such as a Pet Shop, Inventors Hut and more! These new areas will unlock fun and useful new things to use during your adventures, with new cards, tribes, cosmetics, challenges to complete, and events to encounter.
Think you’ve defeated the Frost Guardian? Even after you’ve beaten back the frost, Wildfrost offers endless replayability, with daily runs and challenges! Test your skills and improve your score!
| Platforms | Windows |
|---|---|
| Achievements | 27 |
| Age ratings |
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| Controller support | PlayStation, Xbox |
| Controller required | No |
| DLC / extras | 1 listed on Steam |
| Metacritic | 80/100 View on Metacritic |
| Website | Official website |
