Vault of the Void has left Early Access. It's a strategic deckbuilder, where you got lots of control about your deck and your run while you pick one of four characters to travel four floors of the Vault, beat their bosses and try to destroy the corrupting Void in it's core.
View: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1135810/Vault_of_the_Void/
View: https://youtu.be/c6KP_7c0U58
The thing that sets Vault of the Void apart from most similar deckbuilders is that get much more direct control over your deckbuilding. Your deck always has 20 cards (plus possible temporary malus cards you can get rid of) and you can always shuffle cards in your collection in and out of active deck between fights. Another big special mechanic is that you can purge cards in your hand to get yourself some instant energy (action points) to play another more expensive card you need right now - just hope you don't need the cards you purged right away next turn, because they go to your discard pile until reshuffling!
You also got wider strategic control over deckbuilding since you can see the reward cards for each battle in the bad beforehand, and can plan your way to the floor boss according to what you want in your decks! Most of the pure randomization in runs comes from other buffs you can get - upgrades, relics, spells and other encounters, some of them rare such as run altering run-ins with the embodiments of seven deadly sins.
This freedom and predictability comes as cost though. The game knows you can try to adapt to it's bullshit and try to pick optimal tools for the job, and brutality of the encounters on Hard difficulty and up can really make you optimize for your life. Also, the you never get the entire card pool of the game available as rewards during a single run, so no matter your grand scemes you are going to have to improvise.
The game currently has four characters, each with their distinct playstyles and mechanics.
The Hidden is a cloak-and-dagger warrior who specializes in Bleed damage over time and accumulating Combo points which multiply the damage of his certain attacks and Bleeds. He also has utility Clot skills which remove Bleed stacks of enemies for positive effects. He is the simplest character to start out with.
The Tempest has unique Zeal abilities which she can utilize once her Zeal in combat reaches certain thresholds. Zeal is gained by spending energy, so The Tempest really benefits from playing expensive cards. Her cards can also cause Shock debuffs which increase damage enemies take, and she can Discharge her Overcharges (stacking buff which gives extra energy per turn and increases max energy) for positive effects. In the dungeon map, she can find special Heretic Site locations which allow her to learn new Zeal abilities after winning the battle in them.
The Enlightened is a timebender who can send both damage and defense in the future, building up to enemies suffering massive damage accumulated over several turns or to mitigating their inflicted damage before it has to be blocked. He also has unique Fatigue and Shii abilities. Shii is special damage that practically reduces the maximum HP of enemies. Enemies fighting The Enlightened passively get more Fatigue stacks as the battle goes on, and it makes them more vulnerable to The Enlightened's special attacks.
The Daughter of the Void is the most tricky character of the roster, but also a rewarding one to play with huge potential. She gains positive effects from discarding her cards, and can discard special cards giving her boons both from hand and directly from the deck. She gains Corruption stacks by purging her cards from hand, which empowers the damage she does. She also has access to Soultithe buffs which can give her even more sweet Corruption to reach absurd damage numbers, but she also inflicts blockable self-damage on herself every turn per each Soultithe stack she has. Last but not least, she is the only character who can freely rearrange void stone upgrades between her cards between the battles.
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After all the basic introductions are out of the way, one last important thing is that progression in Vault of the Void is all about cosmetics, alternative card art and unlocking higher difficulties. None of the characters, relics or cards are locked. Every tool in the toolbox is available for players right from the start, and any card and relic can appear in any runs right from the beginning. I personally love it since metaprogression in roguelikes isn't really one of my favorite things, but I thought that I should mention it since there are some who like the gradual unlocking aspect of these games. The lack of metaprogression also means that you have potential to be as powerful as you are going to ever get from the very beginning, so best of luck in reaching for those highest highs!
The developer has already announced his post-launch plans for
so more is on the way!
