Humanity is almost finished, enormous creatures are waiting outside, and the last remaining city is struggling with political infighting. Welcome to As We Descend.
Developed by Box Dragon and published by Coffee Stain Publishing, As We Descend is a strategy roguelike deckbuilder set in an apocalyptic world where humanity has been pushed into one final underground Vault-City. Keeping everyone alive means heading out on dangerous expeditions, building squads, scavenging resources, and dealing with some truly enormous enemies. Then you get to return home and deal with politicians.
Build a Squad, Then Build Its Deck
You’re not wandering into battle alone. As We Descend has you recruiting squads using technology recovered during your expeditions, with each one specializing in a particular role.
Those squads also bring their own cards, which can be added, removed, and upgraded as you gradually shape your deck. That makes deciding who actually comes with you pretty important. Your squad composition determines the tools available once combat starts, so preparing for whatever is waiting ahead is about considerably more than finding a couple of powerful cards and hoping for the best.
Considering some of the things waiting ahead are several times larger than your entire squad, a little preparation probably isn’t a bad idea.
Standing in the Wrong Place Might Hurt
Battles are turn-based, but positioning plays a major role in keeping everyone alive. Your units can move between Guard and Support Zones during combat, allowing you to reposition them based on what an enemy is preparing to do. You can move vulnerable units away from incoming attacks, put somebody considerably sturdier in the way, and arrange your squad to set up whatever you’re planning next.
Enemies telegraph their intentions, giving you an opportunity to react before something horrible happens. Whether you actually make the correct decision is another matter entirely. It adds another tactical element to the deckbuilding, especially when you’re staring down one of the game’s titanic creatures and trying to figure out exactly which unfortunate member of the squad should stand closest to it.
Somehow, The City Is Another Deckbuilding Problem
Surviving outside the Vault-City is only half the problem. Back home, you’ll need to make allies, gather resources, and navigate the feudal politics keeping humanity’s final stronghold running. You’ll visit different locations around the city, interact with its inhabitants, and decide how to spend the limited time available before you have to worry about whatever comes next.
You’ll also represent one of the city’s three major factions, meaning there’s considerably more happening below ground than a bunch of survivors patiently waiting for you to save them.
The city side of As We Descend has actually undergone some major changes during Early Access, with Box Dragon continuing to rework its systems and expand the decisions available between expeditions.
Going Down
Each descent sends you through three biomes as you attempt to reach the mysterious core below, scavenging the resources needed to strengthen both your forces and the city along the way. Failure doesn’t mean everything was wasted either. New secrets, knowledge, and tools can be uncovered across attempts, giving you more to work with when you inevitably head underground again.
As We Descend launched into Steam Early Access in May 2025 and has attracted more than 1,000 user reviews, with the overall rating currently sitting at Very Positive.
It’s a little bigger than some of the games we usually stumble across for Rogue Discovery, but its combination of tactical squad management, deckbuilding, enormous monsters, and an entire second strategy layer inside the Vault-City makes it difficult to ignore.