If your Steam library is full of deckbuilders, you’ll know many of them often take inspiration from Slay the Spire. While it’s understandable given how successful the game has become, it can get a little repetitive playing the same type of game over and over again. This week’s hidden gem is a deckbuilder that’s managed to successfully build its own identity.
Released in 2023, Triple.B.Titles‘ fantasy roguelite Aces & Adventures. replaces traditional deckbuilding combat with poker. It’s a combination that earned the game a Very Positive Steam rating from more than 2,000 player reviews, yet it rarely gets mentioned alongside the biggest names in the genre.
That’s a shame, because this is one of the more inventive deckbuilders you’re likely to come across.
A Deckbuilder That Plays by Different Rules
Most deckbuilders get you to think about energy costs, attack values, and carefully sequencing your cards. Aces & Adventures certainly has strategy, but it gets you to ask different questions.
Every battle revolves around building poker hands. Singles, pairs, three of a kind, straights, flushes, and full houses, all become attacks or defensive plays, while the suits on each card also fuel your hero’s abilities. Suddenly, every draw creates multiple possibilities. Do you use that ace to survive the current turn, or keep hold of it in the hope of completing something much stronger a minute later?
It’s a system that feels refreshingly different without becoming difficult to understand. If you know the basics of poker, you’ll feel comfortable almost immediately. If you don’t, the game does a good job of easing you into its ideas without making them overwhelming.
Five Heroes, Countless Ways to Play
The poker mechanics might be what initially catches your eye, but they aren’t the only reason Aces & Adventures stands out.
The game features five playable heroes, each bringing their own abilities, progression, and playstyle to the table. As you continue playing, you’ll unlock new traits, upgrade abilities into Elite and Legendary versions, and collect equipment that opens up entirely new strategies.
Rather than simply learning one deck and repeating the same approach, each character encourages you to think differently about the cards you’re holding. A hand that feels average for one hero might become the centrepiece of another’s strategy, giving every run a slightly different rhythm.
More Than Just Another Run
While many roguelites focus entirely on procedural progression, Aces & Adventures offers a little more variety.
Its fully voiced story campaigns take you through the fantasy world of Cardrasil, introducing new encounters and gradually expanding the game’s mechanics across dozens of handcrafted levels. Once you’re comfortable with everything the game has to offer, the Invernal Spiral provides a more traditional roguelite experience, letting you build and manage your deck across procedurally generated adventures.
That combination gives you the best of both worlds. There’s a structured adventure to work through, but also a mode built for the kind of replayability deckbuilder fans usually look for.
Why We Recommend It
The poker mechanics feel genuinely different, rather than a simple gimmick and the variety between the five heroes, the quality of the voice acting, and the amount of content packed into the game, make this game one of a kind. It’s approachable too, even players with little poker experience quickly find themselves hooked by the combat.
Perhaps the biggest advantage is that rather than feeling like another game chasing Slay the Spire, Aces & Adventures manages to carve out its own identity with a combat system that simply doesn’t feel like anything else.
A Hidden Gem Every Deckbuilder Fan Should Play
There are plenty of excellent roguelite deckbuilders available today, which also makes it easy for good ones to disappear beneath the weight of bigger releases. Aces & Adventures deserves better than that.
Its poker-inspired combat gives every battle a personality of its own, while its heroes, progression systems, and replayable roguelite modes ensure there’s far more here than a clever idea. If you’ve been searching for a deckbuilder that genuinely does something different, this week’s Hidden Gem should be at the top of your wishlist.