I have a tenuous relationship with rougelikes (and -lites). I’ve dipped into the Mystery Dungeon games with the surprisingly fun Pokemon spin-offs, and I liked, but didn’t love  Hades. It’s not helped that the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games are aimed at kids, and Hades was a game I enjoyed more for its narrative, characters, and visual aesthetics. I got odd enjoyment out of the rouguelike mode (‘Integrated Strategies;) in Arknights for a few months, but have yet to sit down and power through it again. Roguelikes were ultimately a “not for me” genre; I never got the “just one more try” dopamine from the gameplay cycle and often found the minimal carryover of progress frustrating.

Until recently.

While upcycling an old smartphone to turn it into a PS2 emulator, I picked up a few cheap premium games and demos from the Google Play Store. One of the games on sale was Dawncaster, a “mobile deckbuilding RPG”. Part of my brain had a weird turnover over the past half year, resulting in a conceited interest in deckbuilders since, plus it was only a couple of bucks if I didn’t like the game. Instead, Dawncaster started a spiral through various roguelike deckbuilders, mobile and otherwise. And, in the end, what was found was an odd trove of…coziness?