I booted up the Shards of Order demo and plunged into a realm of grimdark horror. The way the narrative immersed me into a world that felt engaging to be a part of, as well as the decision I make that can affect my entire journey and whether or not I would survive.
From the first steps into its ruined lands the tone hits you hard. The aesthetic is grim, every hallway or ruined ruin suggesting that the world already lost far more than we’ll ever know. The sense of decay is not just cosmetic but mechanical: everywhere you go the game insists that nothing can stay whole.
Deckbuilding Meets RPG Depth
Let me say this clearly: Shards of Order is not a simple roguelike deckbuilder. It’s a true RPG in disguise. The demo gives you a taste of what lies behind that mask. You play a warrior in the demo (it may be possible to play other characters when early access releases), each character you add to your party have different playstyles, a branching personal arc, and hardware (weapons, armor) that shape their contribution. But all of them feed into one party deck. Every card you include has consequences for every character. That design decision alone adds tension to each choice.
In my hands the system really shines. Crafting each character’s gear to feed into the shared deck felt amazing. I could see synergies forming across builds and those combinations yield emergent strategies. One fight I leaned heavily into a timing-combo that cascaded enemy cooldowns; another fight I held back and conserved power to strike with precision.
You don’t have mana, and you don’t take orderly alternating turns. Instead there’s a time counter system. Each enemy has its own countdown. Every card you play subtracts from those counters and shifts their schedules. It forces you to plan not just what but when. If you misjudged that timing once and doing so will incur a heavy cost. Time is a resource you must guard more jealously than life. Do not fret, you can revive your members but at a heavy cost.
Potions are limited. You absolutely should reserve them for fights that demand the most attention: mini-bosses, major bosses, or encounters with many strong foes. The demo lets you pick up an extra potions at key junctures, but never enough to treat them lightly. That scarcity adds weight to choices.
What Kept Me Hooked
I love these kinds of games: ones where each choice matters, where synergy and trade-offs tug on your thinking, where systems bleed into storytelling. Shards of Order does that. The demo hints at a deeper weaving between character arcs, world lore, and mechanical depth.
The demo’s scope is modest, but extremely short. In each point or location you scavenge for clues, loot, and key items. It’s a twist that feels dangerous as you can encounter battle that leave you frustrated when you need more time to prepare or lacking resource. However you must journey through.
Boss fights in the demo stood out. They’re hand-crafted, and they demand more than brute force. Some test your timing and deck composition. Others force you to adapt mid-fight as new phases shift the rhythm. Beating them feels earned, not just a tribute to over leveling or brute value.
Though the demo was short it was incredibly fun. In a few hours I built a huge hybrid deck, felt its pulse, wrestled with timing and risk, and took on bosses that demanded respect. It scratched exactly the itch I have for tension, choice, and emergent synergy.
If Shards of Order can maintain the tension, the risk, and the mysterious atmosphere it showed in this demo, it could be something special. Restoring the Order or choosing to let it stay broken feels like a story worth playing through.
Shards of Order Demo is currently available for PC (Steam) and you should give it a try and see what you think. Overall I enjoyed it very much and hope to see what is in store following the full release.
