Banners of Ruin

Very good roguelike deckbuilder. I prefer this one over Slay the Spire: better art, better soundtrack, better atmosphere. 10/10.

That is a fun game for sure

banners: ruined

[Note: as of this writing Steam says my play time is 13 minutes probably because I have overwhelmingly been playing this off line. My actual play time is approaching 40 hours, so this review is not as superficial as the incorrectly listed 13 minutes would imply. In evidence of my actual play time, I have unlocked 87% of the achievements which I doubt is possible in only 13 minutes of total play.]

On initial playthrough I initially mistook Banners of Ruin as basically as DLC reskin for Slay the Spire being passed off as a different game. This initial misconception was based on the fact that beyond merely being a deck-building card strategy there are a large number of similarities between the two, most notably the starter-deck for non-DLC-hero-characters in Banners of Ruin superficially looks all but identical to the one from Slay the Spire. One unlocks cards and talents on repeated playthroughs through experience points just like Slay the Spire. Even on further playthoughs the “fake ending” with the “fake final boss” being replaced by the option to push further to a proper ending with a real final boss if additional work was done and sacrifices were made, felt almost verbatim from Slay the Spire. Numerous other smaller things like the racial ability of the weasels to produce three disposable poisoned throwing-blades will also feel a little too familiar.

This initial take, however, proved to be very shallow as while there are many similarities between these two titles there are also a lot of differences to the point where Banners of Ruin is not just effectively a “DLC reskin” of Slay the Spire but is own beast entirely. Among the many differences between the two titles, the most significant in their differentiation I found to be the approaches in strategy required by Banners of Ruin resulting from the mechanics of positioning with ranks and lanes, as well as the whole aspect of the party / team instead of a single player controlled character as per Slay the Spire. The interplay of not merely the cards with the cards, or the cards with the races/characters using them – both of which are experienced in Slay the Spire – is made considerably more rich and complicated in Banners of Ruin by interacting the aforementioned pairing combinations between different party members (up to six at a time) in different positions on the board (both absolute and sometimes relative to one another), and also against the positioning of the opponents on their board. While there were many moments later in Slay the Spire where I had to really stop and think about the best use of my resources across the numerous possibilities presented to me each turn, the possibilities of action in Banners of Ruin in the later game just become shockingly more diverse, rich, and complicated beyond what ever occurs in Slay the Spire. Most of the time I enjoyed that richness of possibility, but in some difficult and complicated battles I occasionally felt a bit overwhelmed by the massive combinatorics of competing cost-benefit analyses I had to try and weigh against each other to make even a single move.

There seem to be a few subtle bugs, or rather missed mechanic-combinations here and there in Banners of Ruin (at least as of this writing.) I assume this is a result of the massive amount of potential complexity of operational options possible making play-testing all possible strange and nuanced combinations a little hard. For example, there is a particular “Sacrifice” card (I forget its exact name among the few that contain the word “sacrifice”) – a card that is clearly about making a blood sacrifice to aid an ally – whose cost can actually be dodged. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure it was not intended to allow one to give a ridiculous benefit to an ally at no cost to one’s other character by allowing them to dodge their own self-blood-sacrifice but have it count as properly paid anyway. Similarly there are a number of cards that specify characters be equipped for either 2-handed weapons or dual wielding, and some of these cards accept both when they don’t specify that (and don’t seem like they should.) Further on that topic, some of the cards giving bonuses specifically to dual wielding actually also give their bonus to a normal load out consisting of weapon + shield when that looks wrong based on the nature of the card – I believe it was the card “Akimbo” seems to accidentally work in this way.

Banners of Ruin is definitely an enjoyable game and its own thing despite the superficial appearance of high-similarity in mechanics and structure to Slay the Spire, but for reasons I can’t fully understand or articulate I never found Banners of Ruin quite as thrilling or addictive as Slay the Spire. Slay the Spire is a very high bar IMHO and so that is not a strike against Banners of Ruin that it does quite make it there in my book as it is fairly close. In Banners of Ruin’s favor, I like the parties, equipment, art, world, and atmosphere a little more than Slay the Spire, but that is a subtle matter of personal taste that many might disagree with.

i played around 10 hours on the switch and my first impressions were mostly positive, the game was fun, original, looked good, but it was pretty imbalanced, some runs i would be hit with some terrible RNG and have 0 chance of finishing it, in other runs i have such good RNG that i have fully leveled character in every slot with no issue, and the endgame was... not good really, it doesnt feel like you accomplished something that you care about.
After such a mixed experience im amazed they released not 1 but 4 dlcs, which i have not tried but i assume only makes the imbalancing worst.

This game isn't just another deck builder, its thoroughly tactical and enjoyable. Bear with the info dump of a tutorial though. Once you have started playing it you will get it really fast :)

Visually, Banners of Ruin is stunning, but it just doesn’t offer enough substance to back up its good looks. I really wanted a roguelite deck-builder with meaningful troop placement and movement, but the game barely lets you take advantage of those mechanics. The ruin system, for instance, feels half-baked, and there are so many underwhelming cards that just end up bloating your deck. Recruiting new party members just makes the bloat worse, so a lot of the systems feel like they exist solely to slow you down.

I haven’t tried any of the DLC, but I suspect its required to make the game fun. After a few hours felt like I’d already seen most of what the base game has to offer. Compared to other deckbuilders, Banners of Ruin feels limited and stiff, with slower progression that leans more heavily into grind than strategy. It left me wishing for a deeper system where synergies actually come together in a satisfying way, rather than a handful of random events and mechanics that never quite gel.

Its not completely unplayable, but I'm adding it to the "unplayable" steam game category I made so I don't have to look at it, and don't accidentally reinstall it, play it again, and experience the irritable mood it puts me in.

A generic attempt at recreating Slay the Spire...there's just nothing that really stands out, and as a result, the game is boring. The character art is the best part of this game, unfortunately.

rAd

Something feels off and lacking in general. Seems like the devs tried to make something simple more complex than it needed to be, consequently the result is confusing and bland. I do regret buying it.

Banners of Ruin is my favorite rouguelite deckbuilder:
+ complex combat mechanics
+ brilliant artstyle
+ epic music
+ big differences between the playable races
- not beginner-friendly

A good deckbuilding roguelike with a decent amount of depth and some interesting mechanics that set it aside from other games of the genre. The art is stunning, there is no getting around it and in a genre where artwork can be so mediocre (looking at you Slay the Spire) this is a massive plus. The game is quite challenging, despite what some people say in their reviews and the campaigns are long enough to have enough deckbuilding to keep hardcore fans of the genre happy.

My only criticism is that the races (different animals) don't feel as distinct as they could do and choosing equipment, particularly weapons, don't feel that meaningful because of the limited affect it has on the deck itself.

Overall, really solid game, definitely recommend, and a no-brainer if its on sale.

Perhaps one of he dumbest games I've played. Installed it, and clicked new game. No intro or tutorial, just threw me into the game and there is no feedback on why some cards work/dont work. There seems to be some type of action point system, but I can't see or figure out where it displays who has what action points left. What a turd of a game.

Great experience. Running very well on a 2024 working laptop. Looking forward to play more games from this dev team.

honestly I really liked this game. But there's a steep learning curve and unlike slay the spire, once you beat it you just...beat it and restart your campaign. No seeing how far you go. Even for the price, I put 11hrs into this and while I enjoyed it, I can't justify the time spent. I don't feel the urge to keep playing after I win the campaign and they stopped my run. This game could have been great. It just needs more content. could have been an early access 10/10

I genuinely love this game, and have played many hours on the Switch version. I have developed some bias then, but such is life.

Something about the atmosphere and the "show don't tell" narrative helps you to slash through run after run. Challenging enough that ineffective builds WILL be demolished by an elite squad, but when you get all of your ducks in a row it's very satisfying. The artwork, music, and overall aesthetic fits perfectly with the tone of the world and story.

I haven't even beaten the whole game yet (damn you Prince), and have just started using the DLC characters, which add a lot of new depth. It has flaws, I'm sure, and I have set it down in frustration once or twice...but the passion and creative energy flowing through this thing really makes it stand out for me.

Buy it full price if you can, but if it's on sale for anywhere close to the 50% off mark you should most certainly give it a buy.

This game feels like it's trying to mix a cardbuilder and a JRPG-style combat and it doesn't work well, I think the general level/gameplay design is lacking compared to other game. I don't know why this says 25 hours of gameplay but I've played maybe 3 hours and couldn't get into it.

Overall I would very much recommend Banners of Ruin.

Lots of solid card and world mechanics, interesting interactions between the different character/weapon/skill archetypes, and just generally I dig the 'Redwall but just more violent' vibes. The progression ramp is also very good, allowing you to uncover the progression-hidden content in what feels like a very natural way.

I would also recommend the DLC characters, as they add quite a few fun ways to play through runs. Without giving too much away, one of them does make the most difficult Challenge a lot more straightforward to get through, but I'm not complaining.

I only encountered a few bugs, only one of which might have made me lose a run but luckily didn't, but otherwise the game is solid from that standpoint.

I like the concept, but I would not be able to recommend it.

Some cards have their mechanics being bugged, well I found 2 that turned my battles to the worse because they did not work as intended (based on description on card. Yes, either the card mechanic is bugged or the text is wrong, I will classify both as a bug based on how important correct card play is).
Finding those 2 bugged cards was enough for me to put down the game, instead of searching for more bugged cards.

I just couldn't get excited for this game after the first few runs. Felt slow and was lacking a lot of standard QoL features. Still fun enough if you can get it on sale

Great game. My favorite deckbuilder. Good atmosphere, its not just a digital card game, but it all works together to create an experience.

The game is looking good graphically - the gameplay is weird: it has a steep learning curve and then everything is over easy.
The story ? to be honest there is no introduction what you are doing there with your party, you get some info left and right, and well nothing interesting.
I beat the game after around 10 tries and even the conclusion is not that great - it feels and is basic.
Pick it up only if it is on sale.

Felt uninspired and worse than other similar games. The art is good, but the animations are like a jpg is being draged

I swear, the number of runs this game has fk'd me has me thinking this is a furry r18 title.

ITS... FINE. Definitely watch someone play it before you purchase in case its not for you though.

To say that game is frustrating is to say nothing. Beggining is just tiresome combatrs and deaths until gained experience enables us to hire some more heroes.

?Hidden-Gem?

I love the game ,but it's a buggy mess. Instant regret getting it now. Constantly encounter cards and characters that frequently do not work. Sigh.

It has great character design and art; the mechanics are accptable if uninspiring; but unfortunately the interface and presentation are really just fucking awful.

Mechanics are not explained well. Fortunately, most of the gameplay is very rote for any deckbuilding card battler (not helpful if you are new to these games, I guess).

During gameplay there is no confirm option, no way to undo/rewind if you misclick or mistarget, and worst of all there's no "are you sure?" confirmation box when you're about to do something that will absolutely FUCK UP your run. These issues are serious because the HUD and interface are extremely poor. Card battlers are games of information, you need to know all the status effects, costs, and tons of other variables that affect gameplay to make smart decisions. Ideally, you need to be given the option to "take back" a play if it doesn't change the game state. This game offers none of that and hides a lot of information behind bad interface and art decisions.

The graphics, while nice to look at, often prevent you from easily clicking on or mousing over things, hiding valuable icon information, etc. The card design is similarly poor and does not transmit information well. In addition there are huge gaps in text uniformity; two cards with identical effects will have their play text written differently, or cards may have effects that were later given keywords but were never updated to use the keyword instead of their old description.

Overall this contributes to a game that feels half-finished and lazy. But the devs have put out several DLCs, so my guess is they're happy with the product and have no intention of addressing these quality-of-life issues. I would recommend many other deckbuilding card battlers before you get down to this one: try Slay The Spire, Monster Train, or Inscryption.

Game is dog water.

Interesting, and I like the atmosphere/setting painted. I think it gets a bit redundant, and some deck/strategy approaches seem greatly underwhelming compared to others. Still, pretty fun for a few runs.

It is a pretty straight forward deck builder and rouge lite. Very fun and worth its price.

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