'Death Roads: Tournament' Is Mad Max Behind the Wheel, but With Cards

Combining racing, deckbuilding, and roguelite genres, Death Roads: Tournament is trying to offer fans a change from the standard gameplay these types of games provide separately. Set in a post-apocalyptic America where few people survived, and those who did are fixated on winning a crazy competition race, Death Roads: Tournament wants you to be Mad Max behind the wheel.

As the title says, Death Roads: Tournament’s gameplay revolves around building a deck and trying to kill your opponents. Cards in the game are split into different categories based on what they do. A deck is defined by how these cards synergize with each other, although there’s little time to experiment during a run.

The main objective is to win the final race, but there’s a very long and dangerous road just to reach it. You’re limited to just one driver and one car at the beginning of the game. Still, as you progress, you unlock more drivers with more powerful abilities and, obviously, better cars.

Cards are typically split into move action and weapons and are usually grouped together. To add new cards to your deck, you have to replace one part of your car. You always have to find the synergies that work best for your ride; otherwise, your run will be short. Having weapons that shoot forward from your car and move cards that will only position your vehicle in front of the opponents is undoubtedly not a good deck synergy.

Then there’s a so-called “skid” part of the deck that includes cards you don’t actually play. Whenever your car is attacked by certain weapons it can “skid,” so cards are drawn from that deck to see what happens with your vehicle. Skid cards involve switching lanes, ramming into opponents, and moving back or in front.

Combat is turn-based, so once you play your cards, the opponent is free to act. Sometimes you face more than one enemy, so you need to strategize and remove those who either are weaker or more powerful, depending on what kind of deck you’re using.

Because the deckbuilding aspect is restricted to parts and weapons, there aren’t too many types of decks that you can create, but it also keeps things simpler for players. Progression is similar to Slay the Spire: you choose a route and keep to it until you reach the end of the chapter. Along the way, you’ll encounter enemies, shops, gas stations, and random events.

Fights are not always to the death, so if you’re allowed, you escape an enemy by driving forward farther enough. However, you have a limited number of “escapes,” so it’s better not to take advantage of this strategy until at least mid-way to your objective when things become harder.

The random events usually offer you parts that you can use to buy cards, but there’s a high chance you’ll lose some health in the process. Gas stations are the most important things in the game because these are where you repair your car. When your car’s health reaches zero, it’s game over, so it’s important to keep your car in good shape after each battle.

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many gas stations on the map, and while the cost of replenishing health has been reduced, the challenge is still there. I struggled to survive from gas station to gas station because they’re positioned so far apart. It’s also one of the main reasons I decided to completely ignore all random events for fear of losing health.

For each fight you win, you are rewarded with newer cards and parts. You can equip the cards immediately if you think they’ll work better in your deck, or you can simply collect them and sell them once you hit the shop. The parts can be used to buy other cards from the shop, which you’ll probably do quite often since there’s nothing else to spend on except health.

Conclusion

Death Roads: Tournament is an enjoyable car combat deckbuilder that combines many genres to offer a deep strategy gameplay experience. Unfortunately, the game suffers from balance issues, so runs are a bit frustrating because there’s a lot of RNG involved.

On the bright side, all the different elements combine seamlessly. Hence, the only thing that developers must do is balance some of the mechanics. Right now, the game is brutal, especially in the latter stages. Even so, I’d recommend Death Roads: Tournament to those passionate about cars and strategy games. While the game is in Early Access, the team will likely iron out these balance issues, so I’m confident the final build won’t be as frustrating as the current version.