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Knock on the Coffin Lid – Tough decisions in a fantasy roguelike

Partnership Article: Knock on the Coffin Lid is a fantasy roguelike where your story decisions matter as much as the cards in your deck.

Knock on the Coffin Lid is a roguelike card game that immerses you in a dark, twisted, yet magical world inspired by Nordic fantasy. Its atmospheric adventure takes you to a continent inhabited by elves, dwarves, and humans – with relations strained between all three races. In this deckbuilding adventure, you will battle monsters, fight fearsome bosses, and uncover a grander mystery that affects the entire world.

Developer RedBoon is particularly committed to serving the story of the game, even more so than limiting itself to the game’s mechanics.

Your adventure begins with the death of the powerful lord Ingvar and the resurrection of his bodyguard Percival. Mortis, the strange man who brought Percival back to life refuses to answer the hero’s questions. To seek the answers he requires, Percival must now journey back home and make difficult decisions both in and out of battle.

What starts as a revenge narrative eventually reveals itself to be a time loop mystery that deepens as you play it. The story is designed like a mosaic, with its many characters and events coming together to compose a greater picture.

Percival isn’t the only protagonist of Knock on the Coffin Lid, however. Although he was the first-developed protagonist for the game, the development has come to add two more protagonists – the renegade werewolf elf Bjorn, and the animal-charming bandit Vanadis.

The player may pick from these characters at the start of each game – knocking on their coffin lid and retrieving them once more. Each character has their own perspective on the story, so that you experience common events through fresh eyes.

As a deckbuilding card game, Knock on the Coffin Lid features over 480 cards with which to build your deck. Each run will be unique, and no two decks you build are likely to be the same. Your character can also experiment with a variety of equipment, which is just as critical to your strategy as the cards you play.

Your deck and circumstances change with each game, so a single strategy won’t serve as well as adaptability. Knock on the Coffin Lid encourages thinking on your feet, building strategies on the fly, and making the most of what you have.

Even apart from gameplay, your character will make tough decisions in their overarching journey. For instance, you may decide to rest, or take on a boss, or resolve a dilemma in a random encounter. A single decision can transform the entire game ahead of you… or lead to your imminent death. Of course, death is only a new beginning in this world. It’s only a matter of opening the coffin back up.

Knock on the Coffin Lid has been in Early Access on Steam since April 2020 and has since acquired a number of industry accolades, including nominations for Best PC Game, Best Audio, Best Art, and People’s Choice at Indie Cup 21. It has also been nominated for Best Gameplay at Indie Blast 2021.

You can get the game right now here on Steam, where it is under continuous development with responsive developers. You can even go the extra mile and buy a Supporter’s Pack to show your support to the devs.

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