Card Hunter

I used to love this game. I actually bought it back when it was a for-sale game, not a "freemium" f2p nightmare it has become.
Now, I can't really recommend it, as much I would like to. I like the animation style. I like the gameplay. I think it adds a lot of novelty to the deckbuilding RPG genre. Even now, the few games that have tried to come close to "tactical RPG deck builders" just havent matched the same quality of game.
But now, the game has paywalls--aka, the game slows down and feels like a slog / grindy unless you buy some "pizzas" (gems).
Originally, this game was not f2p. It cost a flat amount of money. The "pizzas" (gems) were actually completely optional and basically just unlocked some DLC (not all, some DLC was free), which was fine. Plenty of devs sell DLC for actual money. You also couldn't really earn pizzas in-game originally either.
After a few years, I'm guessing either original devs sold the game (it felt like it, as the entire game got reworked, lost alot of its charm, and they even gave it a new name) or brought in a MTX team. Anyways, game gets a fresh coat of paint, new name, and rebalanced mechanics to make the game feel much more like a slog if you dont pay for pizzas.
So, yeah, stay away. Which is a shame. Someone got their hands on this game and turned a good paid game into a crummy f2p MTX game.
It's sad that f2p MTX make so much more money than fix-pricing games, but it's the reality. Unfortunately, for this game it meant that a nice gem of an RPG got spoiled.

If you like looking for cards, hunting even, this game is for you.

This game has provided over 4,000 hours of replayability in my case. Amazing card deck building and collective game with zone of control and positional board game elements. Soooo sick!

The best 0€ I ever spent. Very unique and fun game concept. The main campaign is completely free and will provide about 20-40h of gameplay. After completing the campaign each adventure will get 4 additional variants (basically NG+). Additional adventure packs can be purchased in-game, but they aren't needed to enjoy the game. Card Hunter also features a loot-box system, but it can also be ignored as the main campaign, shops and crafting provide enough good EQ to have fun and complete the game. Sadly the AI is extremely dumb and at times it feels like it's trying to lose on purpose by discarding attack cards instead of just using them.

Fair warnings:
This game is a lot of fun at first.
This game is also devolves into a nightmare.
Someone apparently thinks that strategy is overrated and that RNGesus should decide whether or not you win any given battle. Especially on the harder battle later in the campaign, the number of 6's that get rolled are almost uncountable. The designers need to look into this if this is not intentional. If it is intentional, I think my inherent frustration will keep me from finishing. If I'm unable to use tactics and have to rely on the slim chance of the enemy not drawing from a seemingly endless supply of block cards, or armor cards, or just not getting an ungodly amount of high rolls when calculating damage, this will take a long time.

Feels like dungeons and dragons combined with magic the gathering. The story line about the nerd protagonist is relatable too.

The gameplay is very easy to pick up and it's very fun to mess around with different strategies. I've started new files every couple years just because something calls me back to it. Highly recommend