Chris InglisKnock on the Coffin Lid is a dark fantasy roguelike that blends turn-based card combat with an intriguing story, out now on Steam after 5 years of early access. You are immersed in a medieval atmosphere of dark fantasy with music to set the tone and superb voice acting bringing characters to life. Here you investigate your own death, find ways to break free from a time loop and choose a hero who will ascend to the throne to rule the Northern Gate.
The game’s atmosphere is grim and captivating, the likes of The Witcher and Gord, and the art style and music fit the tone well. Each death is a learning experience and the encounters you visit on the map are remembered on successive runs. It gives you potential pathways to known benefits and allows you to revisit a location to try a different option the second time around. While the map appeared overwhelming at first, clicking a point of interest will highlight the path to get there and this helps you choose which direction you want to head.
The tutorial introduces combat and map progression well, though you’ll need to read between lines and learn by doing and dying. I wouldn’t say the difficulty curve is too steep, but the final tutorial fight is destined for you to fail as this introduces the roguelike nature of resurrecting and getting to start the journey over. We start with a single character class initially, and later you can unlock different classes to play that will have different strengths and weaknesses, and these can be enhanced with items you find along the journey.
The core gameplay of Knock on the Coffin Lid revolves around a card-based combat system. Hover your mouse over enemy units will highlight who they are going to attack next, and mouse over their buffs and keywords on cards will briefly explain their benefit or hindrance. The diverse array of cards and abilities allows you to assess whether to balance your defence or offence and plan your next steps. If you have enemies that are going to attack you on the next turn, you may want to do some damage and use one or two cards to add armour to your character in anticipation of the next turn.
You will come across random encounters and most will have multiple action and conversation options to take. Sometimes it will be as simple as helping someone, choosing to flee, finding loot, and sometimes your choices will find you caught in a trap or some reason to go into combat. This may put you against an elite fight earlier than anticipated and in your first few runs you will likely be vanquished quickly. At this point you don’t have upgraded HP or cards and haven’t yet gained some valuable items, so don’t be perturbed by thinking the game is too difficult. Knowledge is power.
One of the aspects that surprised me was the gear and loot system. Weapons will have skill cards attached, and items like helmets and boots will give you passive bonuses like health regen or extra agility. Some items have icons, and you can build sets with the same icon that provide bonuses depending on if you have 2 or 5 of them. This really lets you specialise your character to maximise the output of the cards in your deck. Despite going through runs and dying, each run would give me ideas and paths to optimise my build.
This all plays to the strengths of Knock on the Coffin Lid in that each death brings learnings from previous encounters and your experiences in combat. You may have come up against a new monster type, or faced a new condition that you didn’t have cards to counteract at that time, but you know what to look for in your next run. The more encounters I unveiled and the more runs I completed, the more my overarching strategy revealed itself. I was able to get some upgraded items quickly and prepare for the boss battle ahead and eventually triumphed which was a great feeling of accomplishment.
Overall, Knock on the Coffin Lid is a grimly satisfying roguelike with strategic card battles, an intriguing premise and atmospheric setting. The RPG elements with gear you can loot and buy allows you to strengthen your card collection for optimal output, and this gives you the edge you need to succeed further. If you are a fan of roguelike deckbuilding games, this game is definitely worth a look.
This review utilised a key provided by Evolve PR and Knock on the Coffin Lid is available now on Steam.
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