Tech: Across the Obelisk review

My friends and I were big fans of the roguelike deckbuilder Slay the Spire, so it was perhaps inevitable that we'd play Dreamsite Games's homage/clone/ripoff, cheekily titled Across the Obelisk:

It's a tad reductive to describe the game as Slay the Spire meets Darkest Dungeon, but that's really what it is.  You lead a party of four cartoony characters through a multitude of turn-based, RPG-style fights. Positioning is critical (some monster attacks only target the front, back, or rear of the party), as is your deckbuilding prowess.  Overstuff your deck with cards and you'll rarely draw the ones you need, but skimp on adding them and you'll be ill-prepared to handle crippling status effects later in the game.

The (big) advantage for Across the Obelisk is that the game supports online co-op.  My friend and I each controlled two characters, which lead to plenty of entertaining coordinated attacks and death-defying saves.  The netcode was stable and we had no problems hosting and joining games.  

If you don't have anyone to play with, Across the Obelisk is nowhere near as balanced, quirky, or varied as Slay the Spire.  If you do have friends, though, this is easily the best co-op deckbuiling game out there.

Rating: 89/100 (80/100 if playing solo)