The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck Review

The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck is a rogue-like strategy card game developed by SMART Technologies who are the team that invented the Smart Board for education. The game has been in Steam Early Access since November 2022 and will launch version 1.0 on February 17, 2023. Based on the young-adult novel and Netflix series The Last Kids on Earth by Max Brallier, this game sees players inhabit the group of Jack Sullivan and his friends June, Quint, and Dirk as they defend their Tree Fortress of Awesomeness and fend off hordes of drooling zombies and giganto monsters from another dimension.

Back in June 2021 I played through Last Kids on Earth: Staff of Doom which was an ARPG set in the same universe. In The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck we switch from isometric action combat to turn-based card battles which start off nice and easy then build to be quite challenging. This is in part due to it being designed by a team of Wizards of the Coast R&D Alumni who developed the original MTG: Duels of the Planeswalkers. A couple of missions in and I thought I could cheese the zombies, but I quickly found myself out of health pips and having to run the quest missions again.

We first choose our main character to play from, of which I went with Quint as he is who I mainly played in Staff of Doom as I liked his RPG playstyle. In this game, Quint can choose his gear on the fly and is exception at using buffs and debuffs. Each character has strengths and weaknesses, and Quint gets hit pretty hard. Jack is great at teamwork and fights harder when his health is down. June is an expert at kicking zombie butt as she is adept at seeing monster intentions and evading attacks. Finally, there is Dirk who is a super-strong monster-battling tornado who can shield anyone in combat.

As you complete quests and return to the Tree Fortress of Awesomeness, you are able to upgrade weapons and craft new cards providing you have the resources. You will gain Atomic Cola Caps which is the game’s currency as well as various items and cards that will help you on your journey. There are more than 50 pieces of gear to collect, like Fridge-a-pult and the Scream Machine, as well as smaller consumable items like smoke blast capsules that do AoE damage, and we will progressively add to our card decks from a pool of nearly 400 unique cards in total. When able to create cards, you can choose from things like energy, attack, character bonuses, buffs and debuffs to create to real unique cards. You also get to name the cards from some pretty funny preset names such as Armored Avenger, Booger Beast, and more.

Each quest has a number of points to progress through, some of which are known, such as zombie fights or boss fights, while others are mystery points. Some of these mystery points are places to search like gas station and you can choose to search for items or pose for a photo which has a 25% change to upgrade a card. Other mystery points were places to rest, and you choose to search the room with 50% chance to find new gear or try enhancing your gear with 50% chance for success (I never succeeded with this option). There are also multiple quests to choose from and at first I thought you had to do them in order, but when I came up against a boss with 600 hitpoints and failing multiple times, it was then I realised you can choose other quests. I completed a few more, unlocked some more items and cards then took down that boss.

If you have read the first book or watched the first episode of the Netflix series, you will be familiar with the story of The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck as it follows the book/series quite faithfully, with over 30 quests to work through. Having not watched the show myself, I found the cutscenes to be enjoyable and a good story filler to the turn-based card battles that often tested my brain power, planning whether to evade or to attack myself. I felt each character’s card decks had some great versatility and I was able to counter most of the zombie attacks early on. I did die a few times, so it’s not a walk in the park, that’s for sure. The game’s graphics are cartoony but have a good level of polish. I liked that when you complete particular quests, it will take a ‘photo’ of you in action which you can then share outside of the game.

Overall, The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck is a lot of good lighthearted fun with a decent challenge if you’re not paying attention. The game is aimed at players aged 4 and over, though a parent would be needed to choose the right cards to counter the zombie attacks. The content is balanced with great cartoon graphics and humorous story elements.

This review utilised a key provided by Plan of Attack and The Last Kids on Earth: Hit the Deck is available now in Steam Early Access and launches v1.0 on February 17, 2023. It is also coming to iOS and Android mobiles in early 2023.

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