Forward: Escape the Fold for Android

Card dungeon crawler

Forward: Escape the Fold is a premium indie game developed by Two Tiny Dice. This dungeon-crawling game will have you enter a procedurally generated dungeon and fight your way forward until you escape. It is a straightforward retro-styled roguelike game played in short sessions.

However, unlike other dungeon crawlers, Forward: Escape the Fold is essentially a card game. There are no action scenes involved. Here, your character and everything else take the form of cards dealt in front of you. Like Hand of Fate, you will use cards to fight your way out of the dungeon. 

How do you play this game?

Forward: Escape the Fold keeps everything easy. As mentioned, there are no action scenes in this game. There are also no puzzles to solve to escape the dungeon. It is all about cards. Once you enter a dungeon, you will make your way through the dungeons by choosing a path from three cards at every turn. However, while it is easy, your decision can lead you to the graveyard.

There are 13 stages generated per dungeon. Each stage has enemies you will fight till you reach the final boss. However, as mentioned, the combat only involves cards. When monsters attack, the number on the card you use as a defense will be subtracted from the damage number that the enemy has. Anything left over will be deducted from your health bar. If you survive, the monster dies.

Your ultimate goal is to have more health at the end of the stage with the boss's card damage number. Your health will increase after every successful escape. More than that, you also gain a treasure. Also, the game offers an Expert mode and a Challenge mode with different setups. However, this overly simplifies the match as you only need to do the math whenever you face an enemy.

A content-rich dimension

Further, this game features nine playable characters with different skills and gameplay mechanics. Each character has three powers influencing the game's outcome—only one is available first. You must win a match with this initial power to unlock the next one—and that’s for Classic mode. The Expert mode in this game offers a higher difficulty level and lets you adjust the settings to meet your skill level. Moreover, in Challenge mode, you must win with a predetermined specific combination of cards.

In this card game, there are more than 100 different cards, each with a unique attribute that can be used during the game to change its outcome. The combination of their qualities will produce surprising results. Cards with rarity levels from common to legendary can be collected, and if you’re lucky enough to amass multiple legendary items, they will help you defeat your enemies. However, be careful not to pick up any corrupted items because doing so will make the game more challenging.

Is the game good?

Overall, Forward: Escape the Fold is a good choice when you don't have time for big, long strategy games. Gameplay-wise, it has a lot to offer with its procedurally generated dungeons and roguelike design. However, don't expect action-packed combat, as it only involves cards with mathematics. It is also not visually significant, as the dungeons, cards, and everything else is a little too basic, even for retro-styled pixel art.