The Devil’s Due is an unhinged roguelike deckbuilder unlike anything you’ve played before, and you’ll love it the more you play it.
Many gamers love the roguelite genre, as evidenced by games like Of Dice and Minions. I’m not really one of them. Many gamers also love deckbuilders, as evidenced by games like Slay the Spire. I, again, am not one of them. When Inscryption was getting all the accolades in 2021, I really tried hard to see what all the hubbub was about. While I agree that it’s a well-crafted game, it simply didn’t hit for me. It’s just not my thing.
Balatro, released in 2024, was one of the few games in both the roguelite and deckbuilder genres that landed with me. Based on poker, the challenge to make it through eight rounds with increasingly high score thresholds, point-multiplying planet cards, and more Jokers than a stand-up comedy convention scratched both the innate pleasures of number-go-up and the strategy required to maximize plays. It was that game that encouraged the “one more go” mentality, and showed up at a time when I was learning the benefits of perseverance. The simple premise held the potential for immense fun.
Balatro is heavenly, but The Devil’s Due is so much fun it should be a sin.
The Devil’s Due is a roguelite deckbuilder that launched on Steam November 11. Like Balatro, the game centers around poker, specifically five-card draw poker. Players find themselves in a hell of a pickle – challenged by the Devil in a card game, the player has lost their immortal soul. To get it back, they must go through Hell challenging the Devil’s minions to a poker game in order to complete contracts. Each contract brings the player one step closer to escaping Hell with their soul intact.
Each leg of a contract corresponds to one of the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, Gluttony, Wrath, Lust, Sloth, Pride, and Envy. Every sin hosts a variety of enemies, ranging from a leather-skinned chain-smoking gold digger to a very cranky baby to someone who is definitely in no way The Dude from The Big Lebowski. The type of hand determines how strong your attack will be; the cards in your hand factor into your defense threshold. Take the sinner’s HP down to zero, and you win and continue the run.
Every sinner has quirks to upping the challenge, such as certain hands increasing their attack or healing under various circumstances. But players aren’t just at the mercy of the Infernal, for they themselves are not without sin.
Players can cheat like hell.
At the beginning of every leg of the contract, players can add another cheat to their abilities, such as being able to change card suits, mark cards, or take cards from their enemy’s hand. While cheating can be used to swing the game in the player’s favor, too much cheating arouses Suspicion, and if the enemy’s Suspicion maxes out, they can unleash a devastating Exposure attack, taking out a big chunk of the player’s HP. Cheat, but cheat judiciously.
Along the way, special events can occur that may help or hinder the player, and campfires can result in healing or doctoring the deck. Shops will also open allowing the player to buy treasures to help during the games, be it increased attack power for every 4, defense buffs from discarding clubs, or powerful attacks released after playing a hand multiple times. The combinations are ridiculously endless, and with a little luck players can tank a boss’s worst attack and reverse the course of a game with just one hand.
After the first leg of the first contract, I knew this was going to be one of those games that I would have to set a timer and force myself to get up and walk away from my laptop or else I would lose hours upon hours of the day and never get anything done. It’s wildly addictive. The simple gameplay loop combined with the inherent chance of a card game and the luck of the roguelite system means no run is ever the same.
Several times I found myself with a decent hand and asking myself if I play it as is or do I go for one more cheat and risk it for the biscuit? Luck and strategy blend seamlessly, stitched together with a devil’s thread of dark comedy that keep players – even ones like myself who don’t normally go for roguelite deckbuilders – gluttonously hungry for more.
Games People Play and Vsoo Games have come up with a smash hit that will certainly steal hours away from your life while leaving you in bliss. While I played it on my laptop, it is a perfect match for those with a Steam Deck, as contracts are self-contained and pair well with on-the-go play.
The art style and theme song (yes, there’s a theme song and it slaps) will stick with you as you wonder what horribly hilarious minion will rock up to the table next. It’s perfect for marathon sessions or quick one-offs, and I predict it’s going to be the next streamer darling, as every run brings something new.
The Devil’s Due gets an A+ from me. It will be one of those games that could cause you to be late because you just have to give it one more shot or run one more contract.
You could say it’s the Devil in disguise.
The Devil’s Due is out on Steam, with a 20% launch discount until November 24.
