Simply speaking, it’s a drain-their-health-before-they-drain-yours deal. These “arguments” are power-ups or damage-dealers that do things every turn (if you play Slay the Spire, they kind of act like the Defect’s orbs). But both you and the other debater will play cards to slot “arguments” into orbit around that central health number. Basically, you need to bash a big number called your opponent’s “resolve” until it reaches zero. These talkfights are hard to understand at first. The quick and dirty tutorials leave you to figure out the finer points of number-smashing and health-restoring, especially when it comes to the negotiation game. They’re both still framed as card-based conflicts, it’s just that there’s a card game for violent battles and a slightly different card game for chatty battles in which nobody will come out dead. Quests typically go one of two ways – you end up fighting or you end up negotiating. There are really two card games going on here. It isn’t quite as welcoming when it comes to explaining the card game parts. I think I last saw this in Pyre, and it’s a good trick for introducing the nonsense words of videogameland. You’ll sometimes see underlined words and if you hover over them you’ll get a handy explanation of the lore jargon. Most of this is established in bits of dialogue. But Kashio is likewise out for your blood, among other factions keen to mess everything up. As a former derrick worker called Sal, you’re out to kill Kashio, a crime lord who ruined your life. And there are moments of story embedded among the card-fights. It’s got a cartoon look somewhere between Samurai Jack and Titan A.E. Griftlands isn’t as brush-strokey as Slay The Spire, for one thing. Maybe the direct comparison to the current lord of card games isn’t fair.

And while I’m at it – bartender - drinks for all my new friends! But it has enough character that I’ll happily pull up a stool and sip my spacejuice as developers Klei finish things off. This is basically a card game based on the pondlife of Mos Eisley cantina, and as a deck-building roguelike of Slay The Spire flavour, it’s too short-lived to confidently recommend just yet. Cultists, bent cops, and bounty hunters of all kinds. There are hairy bouncers, froglike bartenders, and scar-faced bandits. The mingling crimefolk of this sci-fi card game hang out in bars and harbours, lounging on static screens hoping to sell you stuff, or waiting for a fight to break out so they can jump in for either side. You can buy drinks for reprobates in Griftlands. This week Steve is still MIA, so Brendan is playing Griftlands, a roguelike card game mostly about arguing. Premature Evaluation is the weekly column in which Steve Hogarty explores the wilds of early access.

Griftlands boon list