Most card games, especially those brought into the form of a video game, adapt games we know and are accustomed to. DECKLINE isn’t afraid to be different on this front. Using the popular Russian card game Durak as the baseline, I needed to learn how to play, adapt, and, most importantly, win. However, this interpretation of Durak isn’t the appeal of DECKLINE. The incredibly oppressive atmosphere, sound design, and world are. While the prize for winning or losing may be the same, I don’t think any other card game has had me on the edge of my seat the way that DECKLINE has.
Haunting Visuals and Sound Make a Friendly Game of Cards Feel Deadly in ‘Deckline’
Six cards are dealt to me in DECKLINE, and six cards are dealt to my opponent across the table. The sound of bullets ripping past our shelter outside peppers my ears. A knife is dropped onto the table, and it’s my turn to be the Attacker. As I attempt to learn how to play Durak for the first time in my life, the lights go out, ears are buzzing as artillery is dropped outside of our building. I panic, reaching for the anxiety medication on the right side of the table and the lamp on the left. I don’t know how much time we have left — if we’re able to survive at all — so we’d better make the most of our possible last moments.
DECKLINE is haunting. Raw, visceral, and terrifying. The visuals, artistic yet rudimentary, paint the perfect picture. All that remains are a few soldiers, hopelessly grasping onto the smallest hope that things will be okay. They know exactly what the cards hold for them. But they do their best to remain calm, playing one final game before their time is called. It’s horrifically sad, but at least there’s a chance you can see the pearly gates as a winner.
DECKLINE isn’t bright, colorful, or joyful like Balatro. Instead, it’s a bleak and disturbing look into the world of war. There’s a reason why DECKLINE is tagged on Steam with ‘Psychological Horror’. While I return to DECKLINE, determined to rack up more wins, the pain and terror still linger. No matter how many times I may win at Durak, I always lose.
The post I Never Knew Durak Was a Thing Until I Tried ‘DECKLINE’, a Horror/Card Game That Takes Place During War appeared first on VICE.
