Griftlands

Talk your way out of trouble, or fight your way through it. In Griftlands, both are always on the table, and the choices made in conversation carry just as much weight as the cards played in combat.

Griftlands is a narrative-focused deckbuilder roguelike from developer Klei Entertainment. Playing as one of several morally grey mercenaries, you’ll negotiate, deceive, and battle your way across a corrupt world, building two decks simultaneously, one for combat and one for persuasion, as every choice shapes a story that never plays out the same way twice.

What Makes It Different?

• Build two decks at once, one for combat and one for persuasion
• Talk, threaten, or charm your way through negotiations instead of always fighting
• Play as distinct mercenary protagonists, each with their own story and motivations
• Face consequences that ripple outward from every decision, big or small
• Encounter a deeply reactive world where relationships and reputation genuinely matter
• Take on Brawl Mode for pure, story-free deckbuilding combat
• Explore branching narratives that shift dramatically based on choices made

Words Can Be Just as Sharp as Blades

Griftlands treats negotiation as seriously as it treats combat, giving arguments and threats their own dedicated deck built from persuasion cards. Bluffing, intimidating, or charming an opponent into backing down opens up entirely different outcomes than simply fighting them, and building a character around social maneuvering feels every bit as viable as building one around raw combat power. That dual-deck structure gives Griftlands a genuinely different flavor from most roguelike deckbuilders.

A World That Remembers Everything

Choices made early in a run don’t just vanish once the moment passes. Relationships built or burned along the way, reputations earned through past decisions, and consequences from favors owed all carry forward, shaping how the rest of a run unfolds. With multiple protagonists to choose from, each bringing their own story and personal stakes, replaying Griftlands means uncovering a genuinely different narrative each time.

How Long Does a Run Take?

The average individual run length takes about 2 to 3 hours to complete. As the game is a narrative-focused deckbuilder, individual run times can vary significantly based on playstyle and reading speed. Fully listening to the story usually results in 2.5 to 3.5 hour runs, while skipping or fast-forwarding through narrative portions can bring runs down to 1 to 1.5 hours. Brawl Mode removes the story entirely to focus on continuous battles, typically lasting about 3 hours.

Controller Support

Griftlands features Partial Controller Support for Xbox Controllers. Support for other devices is not known.

Good If You Like…

If you enjoyed Slay the Spire, Roguebook, or Monster Train, Griftlands’ combination of deckbuilding and consequence-driven storytelling should be well worth a look. Its dual-deck negotiation system gives it a genuinely different angle on the roguelike deckbuilder formula.