It is an understatement to say I am a massive fan of Balatro. The roguelike card game has swept the gaming world and it was bound to inspire other developers. Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers from Purple Moss Collectors is a similar game with a unique take, but missing some of the magic.
Much as with Balatro, the concept is to play rounds of a card game – in this case blackjack instead of poker – with ever-modifying decks and special cards to choose from. In Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers the player starts at a tavern (so appropriate to the D&D theme) and works through various levels to the end goal.
Blackjack is a relatively simple game – get to 21 or as close as possible – but the tactics can get very complex. With special cards, modifiers and changing rules added to the mix, matches can be quite complex.
Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers throws in a ton of things to try in the form of special cards, abilities that activate, and mini games in between matches. Still, ultimately I found the game got stale quickly because of the slow pace of progression. In Balatro the constantly increasing multipliers and pot amounts made the game exciting round after round. This game it just doesn’t move at the same pace.
Different levels are encountered, from the tavern proper to basements and VIP lounges, but in the end players just have more health and different cards. Some have frustrating decks that move at a snail’s pace with low-value cards; others have decks that heal or add shields.
That is the inherent problem with 1-on-1 blackjack, when there is no dealer making the wall as at a casino: Strategizing with other players becomes a moot point. Poker against a single player is more dynamic; blackjack in this vacuum feels more shallow and that is the ultimate problem I had with Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers.
Even though there is a lot of variety in the special cards, in the end much of the losses are just bad luck and poor card draws. This could be an aspect of the design, but I felt it was a limitation of how the 1-on-1 game was structured. The progression aspects are also fairly limited and I felt I was starting over with no variation time and time again.
The cards are interesting and have a lot of variety, the levels are distinct with different enemies to battle, and the simple but effective graphics work great; I just found the matches to be less compelling than in Balatro. Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is its own game but the inspiration is obvious so it has a lot to live up to and ultimately falls short despite being fun for a while.
I was hoping for more variation since 1-on-1 blackjack is a little vanilla, but the game sticks with that formula and goes with varied cards and modifiers to add a dynamic sheen. Unfortunately that ended up being fairly thin and I found my interest drifting even as I was eager to keep progressing.
There are some great thoughts and designs here, but the game itself could use some more variety to stand out in what will likely be a crowded genre. Dungeons & Degenerate Gamblers is available now on PC via Steam and Itch.io.
We were provided a Steam key by the publisher for review purposes.
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