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As I stared at my run history in Demon’s Mirror, I realized something: I have a high tolerance for punishment. Seeing over 20 runs with “Defeat” next to them compared to one “Victory” should be enough to make me quit. But that didn’t happen. Demon’s Mirror will hand you your butt repeatedly. It will give you a sense of safety and hope that you’re about to beat a boss finally. And at the last moment, you’ll lose your run. But instead of throwing the towel, you’ll start a new game faster than you think because that’s just how engaging this game is.
Out of all deck-builder roguelikes, Demon’s Mirror is one of the most unique. As I mentioned in my two previews, it combines two systems perfectly: match 3 with many roguelike elements and a deck-builder akin to Slay the Spire. On paper, it doesn’t sound like the best combination, but in practice is terrific. And while I loved the challenge of every single run that mostly led to a “You Died” screen, I can tell you that after playing the full version, it is a game that will hook you, but it lacks that reward element other challenging roguelikes provide.
A Tale of Three Survivors
The story begins with a couple of beautifully painted pictures mentioning a mirror that draws people in. After heeding the call, you jump into it in the shoes of any of the three playable characters: Wulf, Draga, or Axo, a wolf, a dragon, and an axolotl, respectively. Each of these electric characters has one goal only: to reach the end of the perilous labyrinth they’ve just stepped in. To do so, these poor souls have several weapons at their disposal that make the foundation of Demon’s Mirror.
As you choose your hero, you’ll notice each one has a different playstyle. For example, Wulf is all about high-damage cards and focusing on attack tiles. Draga, for instance, focuses on applying an HP debuff to enemies and different buffs to increase your card’s effects. Finally, Axo is all about tile manipulation. Their skill allows them to reduce the cost of tile chains while increasing the effect of these.
In turn, all of these skills and abilities lead to exciting builds. Since Axo was my favorite character, I did most of my runs as this tinkerer axolotl. In one of my runs, I tried to focus on arrow damage, so I grabbed cards categorized as arrows. In another run, I focused on cards that added as many conductor tiles as possible to the board, thus providing free tile chains. Even after your twentieth run, you won’t get tired of experimenting with the vast number of cards in the game. Furthermore, the trinkets you get as you traverse the map will change things up for better or for worse.
However, cards aren’t everything. Whenever you don’t have a good hand, you can use the Candy Crush-like board to connect tiles. These tiles can do damage, gather essence and willpower, or collect shields. This puts another strategic layer to a fight, which is something I hadn’t seen before. For instance, in one fight, I had unplayable cards in my hand, but thanks to the tiles, I could shield myself and activate my character’s willpower skill. Even if Demon’s Mirror punishes you constantly, it gives you enough weapons to soften your eventual demise.
A Hellish Case of RNG
We all know that a roguelike is all about luck, and Demon’s Mirror isn’t an exception. As soon as you enter the map, you’ll notice each road is different. Some lead to regular fights, others to elite encounters, and others to the many random events in the game. Planning your run is essential, as some paths might be more dangerous. One road full of treasures might lead to an elite fight you won’t be prepared for.
Throughout these encounters, you’ll be rewarded with trinkets that provide useful bonuses such as extra action points or more HP. Also, you’ll get the option to select between three cards after a fight. However, the more I leveled up my characters and explored the map, the more I noticed it wasn’t as rewarding. Let’s take Slay the Spire as an example. Even the shortest run or tiniest event provided a worthy reward. In Demon’s Mirror, they aren’t bad, but it feels like the RNG is constantly stacked against you. Even after reaching the final boss of an act, you don’t get enough experience or a good card for your next run, leaving most of the new stuff up for discovery as you traverse the map.
While I understand Demon’s Mirror is sticking to its roguelike roots through and through, many times, it felt a bit too punishing. While I was able to endure that, I don’t know how other players might feel. For instance, I reached the third act’s final boss in one of my runs. I lost, but I got nothing since my Axo reached the maximum level. Yes, the trinkets I unlocked would be their next run, but no new cards for me to get.
Ultimately, this didn’t encourage me enough to continue as Axo and I switched characters. Now, this might be a way to encourage players to try other heroes, and I understand that. However, if someone likes a specific character, they might feel burned out, especially if luck isn’t on their side.
Variety is the Spice of a Run
Even if I felt the rewards weren’t that great after all the effort, enemy variety made up for it. Each run presented new challenges and even some wild combinations of enemies I wasn’t expecting. A few can add enemy tiles to your board that, if left untouched, will damage you or heal enemies. Others get a barbed effect, where damaging them with cards damages you, too, thus forcing you to stick to tiles. The ones I despised the most were those who added junk tiles to my board, breaking my chains and forcing me to use action points to clear the mess. Every encounter felt completely different and led me to adapt to whatever situation was in front of me.
Equally, the bosses are superb. Every encounter is extremely challenging and frustrating if you don’t have the right build. Some have three enemies at once, others summon tiles that buff their attacks, and others might even call allies for help. However, I noticed some fights felt a bit rigged in some ways. For instance, one boss of act three had a gimmick that forced me to delete one of my cards. This mechanic showed up in this specific fight, and I had no way to counter it. It wasn’t too bad as I could circumvent it, but the difficulty seemed to ramp up ridiculously in some matches that even your stronger build would look paper-thin against an enemy.
Still, that’s the essence of a roguelike, and I never felt like stepping away from my PC. On the contrary, I looked at the clock and was there playing at 2 a.m., lying to myself, “One more run.” Yeah, right. I couldn’t stop. My drive to see new enemies, collect new cards, and find new trinkets kept me up at unholy night hours. Yes, some rewards are a bit lackluster, but the magic of Demon’s Mirror is how you adapt despite everything being against you. It won’t always work, and some runs will be cut short, but it is a wild ride I don’t mind taking repeatedly.
Speaking of doing runs repeatedly, you can spice things up. After reaching certain milestones, you can unlock modifiers. These modifiers add difficulty or make things easier. For example, you can reduce enemies’ health by 30%, but that will increase the overall run’s difficulty. To prevent this, you can add a difficulty modifier, such as making your turns last only 30 seconds. I loved these modifiers as they add another reason to constantly replay the game. Still, unlocking some of them takes a lot of time, so I hope you’re patient enough.
A Must-Play for Roguelike Fans
Ultimately, Demon’s Mirror is a must-have for deck-builders and roguelike fans. While it takes a lot of inspiration from Slay the Spire, it finds its footing without leaning much into something we’ve already played. Add to that a unique art style and gameplay mechanics, and you have a recipe for success anywhere you look. Regardless of the lackluster leveling process of characters, the game is extremely engaging, and you won’t want to quit even if the game punishes you at every turn.
When I got my hands on this game for the first time, I said, “This is the only roguelike deck-builder you’ll need this year.” I stand by it. With an amazing mash-up of gameplay mechanics and an excellent gameplay loop, it is hard to step away after just one run. I sincerely hope the developers will keep working on it because Demon’s Mirror has all the potential to be one of the biggest roguelikes out there.
Demon's Mirror (PC)
Demon's Mirror is an excellent roguelike deck-builder with many systems that never get convoluted. Even if the odds are almost always against you and the rewards aren't too great, the gameplay loop is extremely addictive and you won't stop playing.
Pros
- Superb gameplay loop
- A vast number of cards that lead to interesting builds
- Boss fights are the highlights of the game
Cons
- Level-up rewards aren't too great
- It may be too challenging for newcomers
