The unhinged roguelike for the tactically obsessed. A retro pixel-art fantasy RPG where your map is a deck of Tarot cards. Turn-based fights, questionable combos, and strangers you really shouldn’t trust… but will.
Actual gameplay, muted, so nobody hears you lose.
Watch the full launch trailerAs fate would have it, you’ve stumbled upon this game. Might as well give it a try. Who knows what you might encounter… ayyy. Get it?
No map, no branching paths. Each morning, fate deals the day ahead: five cards, face up, in the order you’ll meet them. You can’t change what’s coming, only how ready you are for it. Save the potion for the fight on card four? Blow your coin at the shop on card two? Survive long enough and the Major Arcana join your deck, and the deck you’ve built becomes the road.
Every move costs stamina. Chain actions into combos and mix Physical, Magical and Pierce attacks with Shield Breaks, Stuns and the occasional Steal. Spamming attack is a plan. It’s just not a good one.
Your bag, equipment, pouch and stash never have quite enough room. Items wear down and break, and food runs out. Every pickup is a commitment: taking one thing usually means leaving another behind.
Got unlucky? When you die, Judgment weighs your Virtue against your Sin and decides who gets back up. The virtuous can resurrect. The sinful, however… meet Lily, who guards the way out and is not impressed to see you again.
A deck full of strangers you’ll wish you hadn’t met. Well, mostly. Here are a few from the Minor Arcana: flip a card to see which one deals them in.
Free to play on your phone. On Steam, try the free demo before you buy.
Windows, Linux and Steam Deck (Verified)
iOS
Android
On iOS and Android it’s free to start, but runs are rationed: each one costs a Scroll, and free players get a new Scroll every 16 hours. A one-time Premium purchase lifts the limit. On Steam you pay once and play as many runs as you like, with a free demo to try first.
Steam on Windows and Linux, and it’s Steam Deck Verified. On phones, it’s on the App Store for iOS and on Google Play for Android. Every version is in 10 languages: English, Simplified Chinese, Russian, French, German, Spanish (Spain), Japanese, Korean, Polish and Portuguese (Brazil).
Yes. The free demo is on the Steam store page, next to the button to buy the game. On iOS and Android, the game itself is free to start.
No. Encounter is a solo game: just you, the deck, and whatever fate deals next.
Each day, fate deals five Tarot cards that you meet in order, along with an ambush, a scripted event and a boss you can’t run from. Inns in the morning and evening let you rest and restock. The cards climb in rank as the days go on. Death isn’t the end, the first three times: Judgment weighs your Virtue against your Sin to decide what it takes to get back up. Nothing you carry survives the run, but your XP does, unlocking new heroes and better starting loot.
The App Store rates it 16+: frequent cartoon or fantasy violence, mature or suggestive themes, and guns or other weapons; infrequent profanity or crude humor, horror, references to alcohol, tobacco or drugs, and sexual content or nudity. It also contains loot boxes. Google Play rates it Teen.
