SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech

SteamWorld Quest's card-based RPG combat offers an insane amount of choice, making it as flexible as it is fun.

SteamWorld Quest's accessible take on card-based combat is undermined by an uneven difficulty curve that frustrates more than it encourages.

A card-battling RPG enlivened with wit and character.

The latest must-own Nintendo Switch game is SteamWorld Quest

Cobbling together the right assortment of cards, combat, and characters is fun. However, shortcomings in progression, story, and complexity create a sterile experience

SteamWorld Quest isn’t going to be the next Slay the Spire, and to be honest, die hard Spire-ites will probably find its one-and-done story a bit, well, restricting. But for card novices (which I count myself one of), it’s still a real charmer, no matter how sluggish it might get in those early hours.

The thing is, I would have played SteamWorld Quest for 40 hours, flaws and all. It's brief in more ways than one but charming as hell. I hope Image & Form continues to make games and, to go one step further, never stops creating SteamWorld experiences.

Remarkably solid and satisfying, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech is a card battler with an abundance of charm in its art, mechanics and writing. The presentation is slick, the dialogue's witty and the gameplay's addictive, although nothing about it feels particularly special – not in the way SteamWorld Dig 2 felt special. It does what it does well, though, and it's still a thoroughly enjoyable time in that universe. As long as you're not expecting anything revolutionary, we recommend anybody who likes turn-based battling or who enjoyed any previous games in the series check it out.

Image & Form's latest SteamWorld entry dips its toes into the realm of RPGs as it delightfully integrates a deck-building card game into a turn-based RPG.

SteamWorld Dig 2 took everything great about the original and improved upon it. Let's hope the same happens with SteamWorld Quest, should it get a sequel.