Knock on the Coffin Lid Review - Grimdark Deckbuilding - Try Hard Guides (2024)

There’s a type of fantasy genre that is very near and dear to my heart. It exists somewhere near Dark or Low Fantasy, where whimsical concepts such as elven kingdoms, dwarven holds, and magic exist alongside dirty, dank, realistic (yet with an emphasis on grime and crime, making everything just a bit crueler), and dark. It’s a unique genre that I would say was likely popularized by the Witcher franchise and one that I just don’t see done well very often. Not only does Knock on the Coffin Lid do this specific taste of fantasy very well, but it also combines it with one of my absolute favorite genres, the roguelike, making for a very special kind of game.

Knock on the Coffin Lid is a roguelike deckbuilding game that challenges players to fight through a dark, bloody world shrouded in conflict and cult activity. Players must assemble a party, collect gear, and fight through progressively difficult card-based combat encounters and story-rich events to see just how far they can go before meeting their inevitable fate.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m a big fan of roguelikes, and I’ve got to say that Knock on the Coffin Lid is already one of my new favorites.

The concept of a deck-building roguelike isn’t new. This subgenre of the roguelike setup sees you playing through multiple TCG (or “Trading Card Game,” think Hearthstone, Magic: The Gathering, Legends of Runeterra, etc.) battles across some path or campaign map, with the encounters near the beginning being easier and getting progressively harder as you progress. The roguelike elements come into play mainly through deckbuilding, with you starting with a pretty basic deck, often with only a few cards, with randomized choices for more cards being offered as you progress and win encounters.

Randomizing a player’s choice of which cards to add to their deck adds a tricky and undeniably interesting bit of strategic depth to the card game experience. It challenges you to think about card synergy and make the best of the options you’re given.

I’ve reviewed a couple of titles like this, and I think they stand out in the roguelike genre for strategic-minded players. While Knock on the Coffin Lid’s gameplay mechanics aren’t exactly new, I’m a pretty big fan of how the game implements them.

Your deck in Knock on the Coffin Lid is portrayed as a series of attacks or maneuvers made by your player character. Simple cards like jabbing an enemy or raising your shield are performed by your hero on your turn, with a “mana cost” or resource allowance for how many cards you can play at once. I’ve found that many of the combos are pretty ingenious, allowing you some great deckbuilding diversity with the use of attack and defense cards, support or mechanical cards, and buffs and debuffs.

Essentially, every combat encounter in Knock on the Coffin Lid is a turn-based RPG-style fight, with your moveset being a hand of cards drawn from a larger deck at the start of your turn.

Something the game does that I especially enjoy is tie not only stats but cards to certain pieces of gear. Your character gets the opportunity to equip helmets, boots, weapons, armor, and gloves during your runs. These mostly give you stat bonuses, like a flat increase to the damage dealt by your cards or bolstering your health. Many pieces of gear, however, provide cards and effects that you can use in your deck. A favorite of mine is the Lance weapon, which allows my character to cast a 0 resource cost Jab attack twice on every turn.

Knock on the Coffin Lid allows you to see what action your enemies are going to take on their next turn, and if they are going to attack someone, it shows you who the target of said attack will be. The game also makes armor, a buff you gain from using defensive stats, last for only one turn. Essentially, what this does is give your turns a sort of tempo of attacking and defending, choosing when you want to use a turn attacking (often when you stand to take no damage in the next turn) or playing defensive cards (when you would take damage.)

I wasn’t a huge fan of this mechanic initially, but it grew on me quickly and gave Knock on the Coffin Lid a unique feeling to its combat. The attack/defend tempo is especially interesting with the random draw mechanic because you don’t always have the cards you need to optimize your turn.

Mechanically, Knock on the Coffin Lid is solid, but what really sold me on the game was the setting and visuals.

As you can probably tell by my intro, Knock on the Coffin Lid is a sort of grimdark, gritty, reality-based fantasy setting you don’t see much of. I would compare it the most to the Witcher video games, of which Knock on the Coffin Lid feels incredibly inspired. The game’s uniquely terrible setting makes it stand out from other deckbuilding roguelikes I’ve played and would have kept me interested even if the mechanics weren’t so good.

What really brings Knock on the Coffin Lid’s setting to life, though, is the game’s art. Knock on the Coffin Lid features incredible hand-drawn 2D art that makes the game a treat for the eyes. I especially adore the game’s color palette, which masterfully uses blacks, browns, and autumn colors to convey the feeling that the world is grim and gritty but has always been that way. There is no invasion of evil; this is simply the nature of things.

Try Hard Guides received a PC review code for this game. Find more detailed looks at popular and upcoming titles on our Game Reviewspage! Knock on the Coffin Lid is available on Steam.