Relief

A ruined, modernized take on Journey to the West gives Relief a stranger identity than the usual fantasy card battler. You play the newly awakened successor to the Azure Ox, traveling through a post-mythology urban world where old demons, folklore, and supernatural threats remain part of everyday life. Its mood is colorful but uneasy, mixing eccentric Chinese legends with the calculated tension of a roguelike run. Beneath the unusual setting sits a deeply systems-driven deckbuilder built around explosive combos and difficult trade-offs.

Runs revolve around choosing one of five spirit companions and mastering the very different card pools they bring into battle. Lu Wei reshapes status effects, Cui Beibei calls feline helpers, the Chechi Rocket Team swaps between three animal captains, A.Lian combines Tribute cards with placement-sensitive benefits, and Mrs. Luo triggers elemental interactions. Combat rewards planning several turns ahead, while quests, artifacts, blessings, and card upgrades continually push a basic deck toward something absurdly powerful. Between expeditions, a repeating 14-day structure forces you to decide how to spend limited time in town, whether that means visiting merchants, recovering at hot springs, making shrine offerings, or heading into uncertain encounters.

The shrine system is one of Relief’s strongest ideas: Incense earned through quests can add randomized properties to cards, making even a lowly starter move worth building around. Choices offered by the Roc, more than 50 event scenarios, 14 card-altering Blessings, and a huge pool of cards and relics give each attempt a different strategic shape. Five acts provide a substantial campaign framework, but the real appeal lies in experimenting with synergies, risky modifiers, and spirit-specific builds rather than simply reaching the ending once. Fans of Slay the Spire and Monster Train who want denser mechanics, a more culturally distinctive setting, and plenty of controlled chaos should find Relief compelling; newcomers can enjoy it too, though its many interlocking systems demand patience.