If you’ve surpassed Slay the Spire, walloped Wildfrost, demolished Dicey Dungeons, and mangled Monster Train, Across the Obelisk might be the next roguelike deck builder on your chart. With 12 characters to form your party, over 500 cards and items, and the ability to play either solo or in up to four-player multiplayer, Across the Obelisk has earned itself a very respectable 9/10 Steam user rating since its launch in April 2021, and it’s now going cheap in a Steam sale alongside a hefty holiday upgrade.
Across the Obelisk comes from developer Dreamsite Games and is part of the Paradox Arc initiative from the Stellaris, Pillars of Eternity, and Cities Skylines 2 publisher. Across the Obelisk patch 1.3 introduces a new feature called rifts, additional monsters to fight, fresh items to equip and events to encounter, new shop trading options, and a sandbox mode for its Obelisk Challenges to the deck-building roguelike game. There are also some special holiday-themed decor and challenges for the season.
Dreamsite Games says that because of “major changes between the two versions, current games will not be compatible with the new update.” It notes that, while your unlocks and game progress should be unaffected, you can return to the 1.2.5 update by using the beta options to select the ‘v125-legacy’ branch in the game’s properties menu from your Steam Library, should you wish to finish off your existing run.
The rifts will appear during the first two acts of the game, offering you new paths through your campaign. Among the additional events you’ll encounter, you’ll have the opportunity to get your hands on ‘blob’ pets, while a new shop option will give you the ability to trade shards for gold if you desire. As mentioned above, there are also seasonal decorations and a range of holiday-themed challenges to take on.
Launching alongside patch 1.3 is new DLC hero Amelia the Queen, whose deck focuses on cold damage and vanishing cards. Amelia is accompanied by Rifty, a handy pet capable of stripping buffs from your opponents. If you decide to pick Amelia up, you’ll also get three skins for her, five emotes, and three new card back designs.
Across the Obelisk is 35% off on Steam until Thursday December 21. Expect to pay just $12.99 / £11.04 to get started, down from its usual price of $19.99 / £16.99. You can also get new DLC hero Amelia the Queen for $4.99 / £4.29, while a bundle including the base game and all three of its previous add-ons is available for 45% off, at $30.11 / £27.47.
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