One of the more interesting parts of running a site like this, especially for 8+ years, is that you end up exposed to all kinds of genres and genre conventions that you wouldn't ordinarily seek out, some of which inevitably make enough of an impact to alter your gaming preferences. Point-and-click adventures, twin-stick shooters, side-scrolling beat-em-ups, and other extraordinarily hyphenated genres have gone from being "games for other people" to some of my best/favorite genres. Card games are the most recent addition to this list—for years, I've avoided games that revolve around cards because I felt that only so many interesting things could be accomplished with them, but I was wrong and some of the most enjoyable games I've played in 2020 have been card games. Ancient Enemy is the latest deeply enjoyable card game I've played, blending a vaguely solitaire-inspired counting mechanic with Slay the Spire-esque attack and defense cards, and all while minimizing any potential RNG problems.
As always, my full screenshot gallery (895 .pngs at 3840x2160) is available to backers. I got pretty obsessive about obtaining 3 stars on every level.
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