Aces & Adventures Review (PC)

Three-of-a-kind is not the greatest hand in poker but I still think it can do some damage. My opponent will be able to draw four cards to defend, which is probably not enough to beat my triple-nine threat. So I commit to the hand and watch as his cards come in.

The sandworm only gets a pair to defend with, which means I take a chunk out of its hitpoints. Now it’s time to go on the defensive. He manages a pair of kings but I can intimidate one of them away and I only take one hit. The draw is good for my next turn. I get the hearts I need to play a potion card, getting my own health up to maximum.

Maybe I should have waited to do that but it is a good idea not to waste an opportunity for healing. The card use means I only have a ten to try and hit with, which gets parried away. But my topped-up HP means I will probably win this fight, even if I have bad luck when it comes to drawing high cards.

Aces & Adventures is developed by Triple.B.Titles and published by Yogscast Games. I played on the PC using Steam. The title manages to combine the classic game of poker with deck-building and rogue-lite ideas.

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The game opens with the player walking to a forest clearing with three tables, with the one in the middle ready to open a portal to a new world filled with adventures. The studio says its universe is based on both Norse and Middle Eastern mythology and they power a number of campaigns, as gamers try to save the Cardrasil, the Life tree, from evil.

Most of the narrative beats are familiar as are the five hero archetypes that gamers can use. There’s a lot of lore to dig into and a few choices to make. I would have liked more weirdness and a bigger connection to the poker concept but the universe works and offers a good setting for its gameplay.

Aces & Adventures is a deck-builder. Players will get a range of cards to play around with, unlocking more as they win fights and gain levels. Each of the five featured characters has special abilities and unique cards to work with.

But, at its core, combat is all about playing poker. A hand is dealt, mixing classic playing cards with ones that feature abilities. Any poker valid combination can be used to attack. The defender needs to beat it to reflect damage back at the attacker or at least match it to negate it. Ability cards use the suits as a source of mana. Turns switch between combatants until one’s health drops to zero.

The system is easy to understand but hard to master. The game helpfully highlights the best poker hands players have on both attack and defense. Highlighting a non-poker card also shows what’s needed to play it.

Winning encounters requires good strategy and a bit of luck. Always explore what the ability cards can do, both to the player’s avatar and enemies, before launching the poker-powered assault. Shields are good if you can get them. Each character’s special power always offers a good alternative to simply attacking with low cards.

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Enemies have both attack and defense stats, which determine how many cards they can draw in the two combat phases (they can also have keywords that affect their behavior). Going after high-defense opponents with single-card attacks is very risky, although character-specific cards can help with that.

laying good defense and re-directing attacks can be a very powerful strategy. Players do not need to be poker masters to enjoy the core gameplay loop but a love of deck building and clever combo use helps a lot.

Aces & Adventures has 13 campaigns, each with a lot of both battles and other encounters. That’s a lot of content to explore, with a high level of challenge. Each of the five characters has ways to tweak the cards and use them efficiently. But there’s no way of winning when your highest card is a seven and the enemy deploys three aces.

Players can put together their own deck at any time, although it’s fun playing with the standard ones. After each run, the game shows players how close they are to unlock both new card packs and extra levels for their heroes.

Play the Spring content to unlock all the featured characters and then experiment to see how their cards and abilities react with the poker elements. The idea is to find the one that fits each player’s playstyle and then invest levels to gain extra power.

This does lead to moments of grinding, playing the same content again and again to get more cards and upgrades. Frustration can appear and I found Aces & Adventures works best in sessions of around half an hour, which are long enough to get a new card pack or maybe a new level.

Aces & Adventures’ presentation is carefully calibrated to match the universe and mechanics. The interface makes it easy to explore cards and use them well. The art draws from a wide variety of inspirations and gives players enough details to imagine a bigger universe and their character's cool moves. The game’s sound design is less interesting. The narrative bits are fully voiced, which adds to the immersion, but the soundtrack is a little too generic.

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The Good

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