Feels like you’re solving a puzzle and playing a card game at the same time | Full Review - Card Hog

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Card Hog - Dungeon Crawler is a card swiping rogue-lite mobile game that combines elements of card game, dungeon crawling, and sliding mechanics as seen in block or number puzzle games such as Unblock me or 2048.

🟩Pros

+Easy to pick-up and learn

+bright, colorful, and cartoony visuals

+High degree of replayability

🟥Cons

-No Cons

Players control a hero character who has the option to slide in any of the four directions in a customizable grid map setup represented by cards. The character starts with a base health and weapon, and a numerical stat that determines its strength when encountering other cards. Every turn, the character can head to any of the four directions which can either be an empty space, a hazard, an enemy, or an item like weapons and healing potions.

The system is easy to pick-up and is a splendid mix of puzzle and card-based gameplay that is sure to challenge players while also giving them a pretty simplistic pick-up and play gameplay experience. In other words; easy to learn, hard to master.

The game's graphics are bright, colorful, and cartoony, giving it a lighthearted and whimsical feel. The characters, especially the titular Card Hog, are adorable and endearing, and the dungeons themselves are creatively designed and filled with interesting details.

Card Hog - Dungeon Crawler offers an engaging gameplay experience. Although there are multiple game modes, the main mode is structured around a series of dungeons, each with its own layout, traps, and enemies. The dungeons and its cards are procedurally generated, each playthrough will be different, so you can pretty much play endlessly.

When your character encounters an enemy, both your numerical stat that represents the health points are compared with the enemy, bolstered by the number stat of your weapon. The higher numbered stat wins the conflict with points depleted depending on the stat of the enemy defeated. When a weapon stat reaches 0, it breaks, leaving the character vulnerable to damage. However, there are upgrades and healing potions that can restore your HP, or even increase the limit. New weapons can be picked up across the map as well.

The combat is simple but with the procedurally generated roster of cards constantly surrounding the player, it can become a challenging ordeal that both feels like you’re solving a puzzle and playing a card game at the same time.  Defeated enemies and treasure chests drop a variety of items, including coins, healing potions, and new cards for the player's deck.

As the player progresses through the dungeons, they will encounter boss battles, which are some of the most challenging with their own gimmicks in moving across the grid. These battles require careful planning, anticipation, and execution, and defeating a boss feels like a significant accomplishment.

Speaking of game modes, it features a traditional dungeon crawling system, with visits to a town named Hogsville in between as a reprieve for the players to buy temporary weapons, upgrades, and items from friendly merchants. Card Hog also features an endless mode, one with no breaks to Hogville and the game just continues endlessly until your character dies. There is also a zombie survival mode where the enemies are instead zombies that pop-out of the ground.

When you die, the game scores you based on your total moves survived, kills, and damage dealt. All progress is reset to the next game, but there is persistent progress in the form of upgrades, cosmetics, and different unlockable characters.

Conclusion

Card Hog - Dungeon Crawler is a decent game that offers a unique and engaging gameplay experience. Its procedurally generated levels and card-based mechanics offer a high degree of replayability. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys strategy card games and dungeon-crawlers.