Wildfrost is a cute and colourful turn-based rogue-lite deck-builder that offers a smooth and tactical experience set in a charming fantasy world that’s trapped in an eternal winter. The game released back in 2023 and, unfortunately, received some flak for being a little too challenging. Since then, Wildfrost has thankfully received the praise it deserves.
Unlike games such as Slay The Spire, Wildfrost takes inspiration from games like Hearthstone, tasking players with positioning units on a battlefield and supporting them with their ever-changing deck. Players collect more of these companions as each run progresses, improving them with unique charms to create synergies and improve their chances of survival. Along the way, players also get a hold of new cards and passive upgrades, and there’s a handy merchant that shows up fairly frequently, as well.
Make no mistake, Wildfrost can definitely be challenging, but the sheer variety of cards and strategies, as well as the game’s brilliant progression system, help to keep things consistently fun.
STORY
Being a rogue-lite deck-builder, Wildfrost is inherently lacking in story. However, the developers have made an admirable attempt to set the scene and provide context for the player. A variety of colourful characters and a series of journal pages outline the game’s world and its denizens, but much of the world-building is done through the game’s charming visuals.
GAMEPLAY
Although Wildfrost is a rogue-lite deck-builder, and shares many similarities with genre hits like Slay The Spire and, more noticeably, Monster Train, this game is a different beast altogether. The main difference in Wildfrost is its tactical gameplay, facilitated by the plethora of aforementioned companions. These companions are the heart and soul of Wildfrost. These companions are also extremely powerful, and as a result, there’s a limit to the number of them that players can use at any one time.
At the beginning of every battle, players place their leader (selected from three random choices at the start of each run) out onto the battlefield. If this leader dies, it’s game over. Turn-by-turn, players put more companions out onto the board, buffing them with cards and attacking enemies with others. Enemies also show up in waves, with the boss tending to jump out toward the end of each encounter.
Instead of manually using each character on the battlefield, every character takes their turn automatically. However, players must wait a certain number of turns before each character can act. This is called “cooldown”, and there are a variety of ways for players to manipulate not only their cooldowns, but those of the enemies, as well. This is a key mechanic in Wildfrost, and managing the cooldowns of companions and enemies alike plays a major part in the player’s success.
Assisting these companions are “Clunkers,” which – most of the time – act as deployable passive upgrades, allowing players to supplement their build with powerful effects. However, since players need to deploy these units to get access to their passive abilities, they can also be removed from the fight by enemies.
The rest of the cards that make up any one deck are the usual deck-builder affair, albeit utilizing Wildfrost’s variety of unique mechanics. Cards that manipulate cooldown and an array of distinctive – and creatively designed – elemental effects make up for most of the game’s synergies. However, there are also plenty of ways to heal your companions and directly damage enemies.
VISUALS
One of Wildfrost’s greatest strengths is its visual style, with the game’s fantasy world and winter theme providing ample inspiration for unique character designs. Gnomes, robots, and a variety of fantastical creatures await the player in the game’s variety of combat encounters. Furthermore, the three factions provide a great deal of visual variety, with each of them being themed around specific kinds of characters.
The user-interface is incredibly clean, and for the most part the text on the cards is easy to read. However, the lack of visual warnings in certain situations can lead to some frustration. All in all, these charming visuals only add to the already smooth experience that Wildfrost is. No complaints here.
SOUND & MUSIC
Wildfrost features an atmospheric sound-scape and a variety of satisfying sounds that add weight to each action. Playing cards, hitting enemies, and taking out bosses are made all the more memorable with the game’s well-designed sounds. The game’s original soundtrack is also a stand-out feature of the game, containing a variety of ear-worms that add tension and urgency to each encounter.
Flutes, subtle percussion, and stringed instruments make up much of the sound-scape, but there are a variety of instruments thrown in throughout. Each track treads a subtle line between intense and tranquil, driving the rhythm of combat and keeping up the pace of the game.
PERFORMANCE & SETTINGS
In my hours with Wildfrost I’ve yet to experience a single bug or crash, but the game does feature options to change the maximum FPS and display mode, as well as a toggle for vsync. Visual effects can also be changed and/or turned down, even allowing players to change blood into rainbows. Furthermore, blood can be reduced using a slider, and even the snowy screen transition can be swapped out for a simple fade.
Other options, such as camera effects, can also be toned down or turned off entirely. These settings, while minimal, allow Wildfrost to be accessible to every kind of player and are greatly appreciated additions.
CONCLUSION
Overall, Wildfrost offers an extremely unique take on the rogue-lite deck-builder, combining elements of Hearthstone and Slay The Spire alike. The cooldown mechanic is also a breath of fresh air while being easy to read. However, the larger encounters are generally tedious to evaluate, resulting in some runs ending prematurely and sometimes making the end-game a little stressful.
Despite its few setbacks, every fan of deck-builders should consider giving Wildfrost a go, if only to experience its unique twist on an otherwise tired formula. The artwork, sound design, and variety of strategies make Wildfrost a consistently engaging experience that should keep deck-building fans entertained for hours.
