Announced last year, Killing Stone is an narrative focused folk-meets-occult-horror deck builder game. It takes place in the Arctic Circle during the 17th century where players take on the role of the Maven (voiced by Emma Gregory, Baldur’s Gate III). You’re investigating the death of Mariken Svangard, and throughout your journey will do battle with various demons and, eventually, the Devil himself (Liam O’Brien, Critical Role). The team at Question Games, some of who are former BioShock developers, intends for the story to be the main focus, while offering both unique and familiar mechanics in the card battling genre.
You’ll progress through runs by selecting nodes on a map à la Slay the Spire or Inscryption, which serve both narrative and gameplay functions. Each node represents an argument with the demons, but are where you’ll engage in the tabletop combat experience. You can pick from five different characters, each with their own unique mechanics and deck building sensibilities.
Throughout each run, you’ll come across various Boons and Banes, temporary buffs or debuffs that will help or hinder you. You’ll do battle at the Killing Stone, where the tabletop-style gameplay is done. Your goal is to reduce your opponent’s Eye to zero. This is done by playing figures, casting spells, and taking out enemy units. Since this is a card battler, there will be endless combinations of decks and strategies to achieve victory, and experimenting on other runs with other characters offers tons of replayability.
Play Your Way
Question Game doesn’t consider this to be much of a Roguelike. Some of that style of gameplay and progression are baked into The Killing Stone’s DNA, but it isn’t the focus. Later on in your journey, you’ll gain access to the Bargaining system. This allows you to receive permanent Boons and Banes, which will determine the long-term growth for your decks. There’s even a robust endgame mode called the Reckoning. This will be available for all five playable family members once you’ve progressed far enough.
As this was a hands-off digital preview, I was not able to experience The Killing Stone for myself. But the team at Question Games is pouring in immense love and care into its story and mechanics. Based on the roughly hour-long preview I saw, this is shaping up to be another card battler to keep on your radar.
The Killing Stone launches in early access February 18 on Steam for PC, demo available now.
