Dark Mist is a card game that combines elements of the roguelike deckbuilder genre with enemies that appear in waves. Defeat monsters and level up during battle to keep yourself going.
The game sets itself apart by using your deck of cards as your health/life points. Whenever an enemy successfully attacks you, they steal cards from your discard pile, and if your deck is depleted, the game ends. This risk/reward dynamic forces you to carefully manage your deck size and composition to survive.
Enemies appear in rows of three (and later four), requiring you to strategically plan your attacks to target and defeat specific enemies in the optimal order. The positioning and special abilities of enemies create complex scenarios where you must consider the ripple effects of your actions. Mastering this grid-based combat is essential.
The game offers six distinct character classes, each with unique mechanics and playstyles. For example, the Berserker focuses on repeatedly playing high-cost attack cards, while the Bug Master utilizes "parasitic" cards that weaken enemies. Experimenting with these varied approaches adds significant replayability.
While your starting deck is fixed for each character, you can gradually expand and customize it by acquiring new cards. The ability to synergize different card types and build around specific mechanics creates a satisfying deckbuilding metagame.
Since your health is tied directly to your deck size, you must carefully balance offensive and defensive play. Adding more powerful cards may strengthen your offense, but also increases the risk of your deck being depleted. Maintaining an optimal deck size and composition is crucial for survival.
The game features eight difficulty levels that can be unlocked for each character. Defeating higher difficulties not only increases the challenge, but also rewards unique relics that further differentiate each character's playstyle. This progression system encourages you to master the game's mechanics across multiple runs.
Each run consists of navigating through five stages, with a boss battle at the end of each. This roguelike structure, combined with the procedurally generated enemies and events, ensures that no two runs are exactly the same, further enhancing the game's replayability.