‘Nowhere Prophet’ Creates Emotional Attachment to Your Card-Based Warriors

I have let my people down. When our miserable band of misfits and refugees stumbled upon a dangerous warlock and his heavily-armed band of marauders, we didn’t fight them.

Instead, I chose to sacrifice one of my followers, one of my oldest companions, to avoid being massacred.

I know there was no chance to fight our way out of this – and granted, my follower’s stats weren’t that impressive – but I feel miserable nonetheless, handing that person over to some warlock to be used as a plaything or a slave. I am the worst, truly.

The thing that roguelike card-based survival game Nowhere Prophet does best is making you care about a bunch of cards. The game’s mechanics inform the narrative to such a degree that those two things appear inseparable at times. You see, on your trek through the wasteland, you recruit new followers that also serve as units in card-based battles. But be careful, as they can be wounded or even die in these fights.

There are followers you care about. Maybe they’ve been with you for a long time, or you gained them in some memorable narrative event. Or simply because they are strong and you like how they look. In any case, losing these people hurts more than it would if these were just regular units. They even have names! This certainly doesn’t help when you have got to sacrifice them for the greater good.

Progress is made by moving from node to node on an overworld map. You’ll encounter all kinds of narrative events on the way and have to fight card-based battles. These are similar to, say, Hearthstone duels, with some added features and a higher focus on positioning.

Nowhere Prophet is slightly more complex than other deck building games such as Slay The Spire. There are a lot of moving parts to keep track of and a bunch of gameplay elements that should feel new even to genre veterans. You’re able to move back on the overland map; in a genre that’s all about forward motion, this almost feels counter-intuitive. The character who pulls off the killing blow on the enemy leader gets their own health refilled. The positioning of units matters a great deal, and leaders can modify the terrain to their advantage.

A lot of things feel familiar, but you’re still required to drop some old habits. If you don’t open up to the rules of this new wasteland, you won’t stand a chance here. And make no mistake, Nowhere Prophet is a tough game, meant to be played over and over. Thankfully, you’ll slowly unlock leaders and caravans that might give you a slight advantage in future runs.

After Mad Max and Fallout took over mainstream culture, post-apocalyptic scenarios don’t really feel innovative anymore. However, Nowhere Prophet’s world isn’t inspired by western science fiction, but by Indian culture. As lead designer Martin Nerurkar, whose father is from India, puts it: “No more white dudes in leather jackets.” This also shines through in the colorful artwork and occasionally in the soundtrack. Nerurkar has dubbed this ‘dustpunk’, which is such a fitting, evocative name, really.

If you are up to the challenge (or willing to dial it down to easy), Nowhere Prophet offers an excellent post-apocalyptic odyssey that makes you care about your followers while you lead them to a brighter future.

Nowhere Prophet is available now on itch.io, GOG, and Steam.

About The Author

Thomas Faust

Thomas has been covering indie games for many years. If your game has turn-based tactics or interesting narrative stuff in it, he probably wants to play it. Thomas has also translated more than 50 games into German.

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