This deckbuilding roguelike peers into the guts of the genre and makes some big changes on a mechanical level. It’s still a case of playing your cards to defeat or delay enemies before they can hurt you, but you only have four cards to play with—and each card is actually a character.
These characters adhere to basic archetypes in Lowland Keepers. One deals direct damage, one sets enemies alight, another steals enemy mana so you can buy a few extra goes during your turn. It’s difficult to decide who to play during a turn, as the resources you use to play them are all shared between them. Sure, mana regenerates every turn, but you can also get more of it if you can kill enemies to snaffle their mana.
More than any other roguelike deckbuilder I’ve played, mana/energy is paramount here. It’s split up into three resources, and each character uses one resource, or a combination. This is where the thief comes into their own, by stealing mana from enemies. And if you can buy an upgrade that deals damage as well—or stuns the enemy as it steals? This is when the fingers become steepled and the evil grin begins.