Game­play Codex #1: Pick a Card

What is it

The “Pick a Card” mechan­ic is sim­ple: play­ers are pre­sent­ed with a few upgrade options in the form of cards, usu­al­ly select­ed ran­dom­ly from a pool of avail­able ones, and they pick one.

In rogue­likes, this mechan­ic adds replay val­ue because no two runs feel the same, and your choic­es can sig­nif­i­cant­ly impact your strat­e­gy. It’s a nice mix of plan­ning and luck, which makes it so enjoyable.

Games with this mechanic

  • Slay the Spire – after each bat­tle, you choose one of three cards to add to your deck, allow­ing you to shape your strat­e­gy as you go.
  • Hades – At the end of each room, you pick a “boon” from the gods, which gives you new abil­i­ties and changes how you play.
  • Halls of Tor­ment – After lev­el­ing up, you get to choose from a set of ran­dom upgrades to improve your character’s stats or abilities.
  • The Last Stand: After­math – As the dis­ease progress, you’re offered to pick one of the muta­tions, let­ting you adapt your char­ac­ter for the inevitable doom of each survivor.