Steam Link Spotlight - Neurodeck
Steam Link Spotlight is a feature where we look at PC games that play exceptionally well using the Steam Link app. Our last entry looked at Loop Hero. Read about how it plays using Steam Link over here.
This entry for the series goes back to a familiar territory: roguelike deck-building. Neurodeck takes many of the genre conventions galvanized by titles like Dream Quest and Slay the Spire, but places them into a more self-reflective structure where you have psychological battles with phobias and fill out personality tests to earn new traits to help you in battle.
Similar to many card games on Steam Link, Neurodeck controls perfectly well using the direct mouse control scheme. You can tap and drag cards just as naturally playing this game as you might when playing rounds of the native iOS version of Hearthstone. Neurodeck's UI also scales in a way that makes its cards and accompanying text easy to read when playing on a smaller screen.
As for the game itself, Neurodeck is a solid deck-builder that stands out mostly because of its distinct art style that makes great use of silhouettes. It's a little troublesome that the psychological trappings of the game lack any sort of depth or real understanding of mental health, but the way it uses these ideas to create its mechanics is intriguing nonetheless. In particular, taking a personality test to unlock passive character bonuses is a neat idea even though it is rooted in unreliable pseudoscience (not to mention the fact that these "tests" are so simple you can engineer a desired outcome pretty easily).
The more you play Neurodeck, the more you unlock additional characters, cards, personality traits, and more to vary up the base gameplay. With a lack of overarching story, it's also pretty easy to hop in and out of or play on your iPad while watching tv. This flexibility paired with ease of control is exactly what makes a game a good pick for this series, so hop on Neurodeck if you're looking for a new PC game to play using Steam Link.
Neurodeck was developed by TavroxGames and published by Goblinz Publishing. It launched on March 18, 2021 and is available on Steam for $13.99.