Keep your deck small, read what the enemy will do before you play, and spend your health on purpose. Most early losses come from a deck that grew too fast, or a turn played without checking the enemy's next move.
Seven habits that win more runs
- Read the enemy first. Most deck builders show the enemy's next action. Before you play a card, ask what will hurt you this turn. Block what you must, then spend the rest on damage.
- Keep the deck lean. Every card you add makes your best cards come up less often. You can skip a card reward. Remove weak starter cards when the game lets you.
- Take cards that solve today's problem. Early on you need steady damage and defence. A clever combo card is worth little if you lose the next fight.
- Commit when a plan appears. When two or three cards point the same way, build around them and stop taking cards that do not fit.
- Spend health on purpose. A hit taken to end a fight sooner, or to beat an elite, can be right. Damage that buys nothing is the leak to fix.
- Pick the route for your deck. Elite fights pay more and hurt more. Take them when your deck is strong. Head for rest and upgrade stops when it is not.
- Plan for long fights. A deck that wins the first two turns can still lose to a boss. Look for upgrades and cards that keep paying off.
After a loss, ask one question: was it one bad fight, or a deck that never came together?
How Saltreckon does it
Saltreckon is a roguelike deck builder at sea for one player. The habits above apply, with one more thing to read: the tide.
The tide turns every turn in a fixed order: low, flood, high, ebb, and it never resets between fights. The screen shows the mark now and names the next three. Many cards hit harder at high or guard better at low, and every enemy reacts to the tide in its own way.
- Read the enemy. A ticket under each enemy says what it will do when you end your turn: attack, block or a trick. Its tide lines show how each mark changes that.
- Hold a card. You get 3 energy each turn, and cards you do not play stay in your hand. Keep one for high water, or play it now. Some cards move the tide on, or hold it.
- Keep the deck lean. After a fight you pick one card, or skip it for a few coins. At a market you can remove a card: 60 coins, then 25 more for each later removal that run.
- Choose your stops. The sea chart shows each stop and how many marks the tide moves on the way. At a harbour you rest, upgrade one card, or wait so the boss fight starts on the tide you want.
Act 1 is free on Calm, from the first stop to the boss. One purchase, paid once, opens the rest.
Get Saltreckon
- Google Play
- App Store: not yet. The iPhone and iPad version is coming to the App Store.
- Saltreckon page
Related questions
- Should I always take a card after a fight?
- No. A card that does not fit your plan makes your good cards come up less often. Skipping is often the stronger choice.
- What is a good first step in a new deck builder?
- Play slowly. Read every enemy action and every card before you end the turn.
- How long is act 1 in Saltreckon?
- Act 1 is 8 stops on a branching sea chart, then the boss. The daily voyage gives everyone the same new chart each day.
Saltreckon is a Trueframe Digital app. No account, and your records stay on your device unless you back up or export them. See the Saltreckon page for screenshots, the full feature list, prices and privacy details.