Fame or Folly is an upcoming deckbuilder roguelike set in medieval times when you control a group of traveling performers.
In the world of video games, everything is derivative. Much like the Miles Morales meme overlooking what Peter Parker is doing, game developers analyze current trends. PEAK reignited the fun of co-op games. Hollow Knight and its sequel reminded us of the staying power of great Metroidvanias. Balatro stands in a class of its own. The snappy gameplay, the card sound effect when points were accumulated, the replayability. Fame or Folly aims to recreate this irresistible loop in a quirky medieval setting. If the demo is anything to go by, they just might have.
As a caravan of rowdy musicians, tarot readers, and drunkards, Fame or Folly has you traveling through medieval towns all the way to the aristocracy’s castles. Commonly known as the boss of each area, building your deck with new troupers to reach more approval points is essential. Starting with five troupe members, balancing between the miscreants (thieves and drunkards) and the actual entertainers (vendors, troubadours, and mystics) is the key to success.
The game consists of drawing cards from your deck to hopefully gain the town’s approval. Because the miscreants might cause tension, if you go overboard, a certain number of turns will be forfeited, and only coins will be gained. Holding the cards you have on the board without risking the approval means pushing just the right amount of luck. Over the course of seven days, players must reach the required approval to move on to the next town. If not, it is game over and back to the drawing board.
At the end of each day, the collected copper can be used to recruit new troupe members. Building a strong deck that can overcome any judgmental town becomes a thrill of its own. With explanations out of the way, it is best to hone in on what exactly makes Fame or Folly a potentially great game. Successfully pushing your luck to having about 8 cards on the table and having them multiply to dopamine-feasting approval scores nails that Balatro energy. It is not about simply making numbers go up. It’s about understanding what each card does, getting lucky, and completing each level with a mix of strategy and risk.
Banners give permanent improvements to the troupe that can save a play at the last draw. With a special currency obtained at the end of each performance, it can be spent to buy card packs with new troupe members to recruit at the end of each day. To spice things up, an expensive termination letter that removes a trouper from the deck is buyable as well. What makes deckbuilders alluring is starting small and building to a full-fledged card combo that can beat anything that it fights against, and Fame or Folly takes that to heart.
Offering a rich variety of cards to create the ultimate deck, Fame or Folly’s runs can be completed within an hour. While my time with the demo showed much promise, the full game promises to deliver higher difficulties for insatiable players. As an expert-level deckbuilder, more types of decks with virtually infinite possibilities are also planned to be available at launch. And so is the promise of multiplayer. Hopefully it shapes up to become what is already a promising adventure.
Fame or Folly can be wishlisted here.
