One Turn Kill: Mini Thoughts
Written & Produced by Devin M. Gabriel (Sage)
One Turn Kill is a tightly designed PVE card game with light rouge-like mechanics that commits to its core fantasy of becoming a true one-turn killer. The developers made sure this game is immediately approachable to hook you in then keep you chasing a carrot “More Cards” through an absolutely engaging gameplay loop. I spent over nine hours clearing every enemy and their amplified versions at their highest difficulty.
The draw / return card system is the game's main mechanic and it's fleshed out very well. It transforms randomness into a malleable resource for finite loops of destructive power. The developers did a great job to take that feeling we get from understanding loops and applies layers of skill checks through boss abilities to see if those loops of destruction can be continued with tedious and devastating drawbacks
With all this in mind, the overall satisfaction of each run stayed consistent and engaging. Its progression system really helped prop up that consistency as you always felt you were getting stronger physically in the game mentally through new combos that allowed for more combos which allowed for in-game skill checks to be decimated. I would recommend this game as a player to anyone who enjoys cards games.
My Iteration Wishlist
Expand Card Types
Introduce more cards and unique functions. At a certain point we are rewarded upgrade points rather than cards. I would love to see more combo cards.
An introduction of a new card type that can change behavior based on if a player returns, draws or discards it. Some cards already exist to have one effect based on the three conditions but cards that evolve based on all three at any time based on the player's creativity could be interesting.
More Enemies & Rougelike Pathing.
Additional enemy archetypes and boss gimmicks to test a player’s mastery.
Remixing encounter order that also remixes their ability to maybe have players think twice of what could be next.
Different Rewards Post Encounter
Additional post battle skill effects that help with the next round.
Dev Lessons
Learn how to turn a simple conventional mechanic on its head.
Skill checks over stat checks.
Player agency throughout the experience regardless of constraints
Constant progression markers with player adjustability.