As We Descend is set in a postapocalyptic future. Humanity lives exclusively within the Vault-City, a burrowing town that is pretty much the only place people can survive the dangerous creatures that dwell outside. The city is fraught with medieval politics, and it is your job to balance the needs of the various factions with the protection of the city wall. It's not a glamorous job, but someone has to do it. (Unfortunately for you, the alternative is death, as you quickly find out if you try to turn down the job at the start of the game.)

As We Descend has two separate layers to its gameplay. The first is the world map, where you use cards to perform various activities in the city. These cards come in different forms; some represent resources earned after battles, while others represent envoys from various factions. The effectiveness of these actions depends on the resources you spend. Envoys come from different groups, and sending the correct envoy to the correct location will open up more options for greater success. These can unlock new units, upgrades for existing units, passive bonuses, and more. Earning favor with the different factions in the city is the difference between success and defeat.

At some point, you need to send your team to scavenge for supplies outside of the city. This is where the game's combat comes into play, as you'll frequently need to engage in battles to get rewards. As with many modern roguelike games, As We Descend's combat is an energy-based, card-based combat system. If you've played roguelike deckbuilders, the broad strokes of the gameplay should be familiar, but it has its own distinct flavors.

Combat in As We Descend is card-based but also unit-based. You begin with the Lantern, a sort of glowing laser-spewing "base" character, but you can recruit additional units, each with their own sets of cards. These cards are put into a communal pool, and you play and spend them using your energy points. Losing a unit disables their cards until you can return to base and heal them, so it's important to balance when and where you take hits. While you won't instantly lose if one of your squads goes down, it can be crippling.

One of the interesting elements of the combat system is the Zone system. Units can be placed in either the Support or Guard zones, and they can be moved from one zone to the other by using specific cards or abilities. Units in the Guard zone are up front and become the primary target for attacks from enemies, while units in the Support zone are protected as long as someone is in the Guard zone. However, every unit has different effects in different zones. For example, the Vanguard unit likes to be in the Guard zone and will auto-attack enemies at the start of every round. The Arbalist is a flexible unit who can auto-attack in either zone. The Ranger can deal extra damage with their cards in the Guard zone but can't auto-attack. There are some units that have special effects in the Support zone, such as buffing or healing allies. Enemies also have special attacks that can hit either zone, and you may need to move around during combat to minimize damage.

The result is a surprisingly compelling mix of card battler and turn-based RPG. You need to heavily consider team synergy, how well various abilities work together, and the needs and wants of your chosen party matter. The current Early Access build actually has two playable factions: the Votive, who are the beginner class and designed around strong effective units, and the Guild, who are based around chaining combo moves for maximum effect. They play significantly different enough that it changes how you play the game. I found the Votives were far easier to play, but a good Guild run made me feel almost invincible. There's still a lot of tweaking to be done, and at least one more faction will be added before launch, but everything we've seen so far looks darn fun.

As We Descend has the makings of an excellent roguelike deckbuilder. The mix of RPG-like combat and a simple-but-engaging "political" layer mean you have a lot of balls to juggle in your attempts to keep humanity alive. The core gameplay is a lot of fun on its own, and the fact that the in-between segments require more thought than Slay the Spire really helps give it its own flavor. As We Descend is currently available in Early Access on Steam and has been getting regular updates since launch, making it well worth a look.