From Kill the towerWe’ve seen a lot of lifelike deck building games that involve collecting cards, entering dungeons and hoping to get as far as possible or even win. Arcana of Paradise: The Tower play with that idea, but step back a bit on difficulty and add puzzle and simulation elements to try and stand out. While it’s successful, it also means it can be a little too easy and predictable to make runs feel satisfying.
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower started with a tower, and a handful of children living on it. Heaven can be its base! Maybe! Or at least it could be better than what’s around them, when everything is deserted and they barely have enough bread to not starve. However, children will eventually become warriors. At this point, they can be sent in pairs down the tower to try to advance or get resources to rebuild their house on top and get food to survive. There really isn’t too much of a story for everything, and the confusing localization means kids will come up with quips that sometimes sound a little out of place or awkward.
Screenshot via Siliconera
Right from the start, Arcana of Paradise: The Tower Set the player to succeed and solve puzzles. Each child gets four cards once they pass the threshold and can be used as a warrior. Usually this means that at least one card can be used to attack, another can be defensive or heal, and some assists. Your starting deck is based on those eight card combinations. In general, it’s best to make sure some of them include at least one healing potion, represented as a watery liquid, and a torch, as both can solve puzzles involving make campfires, light up dark rooms, thaw frozen chests, put out fires, etc. After the first few runs you’ll also be able to upgrade to get other cards at the start, including a crate that yields gives you an 80% chance of getting back to the top of the tower safely.
When you enter the tower, you can specify the purpose of that run. It could be to get bread, which acts as food and a currency, or to gain as much progress as possible. The former keeps the kids you have or aren’t ready to fight alive. You can also spend it on a tree to get blessings from the gods to upgrade resources to the top. The latter brings you closer to “paradise,” although it is more likely that you will find more children joining your community.
As you go through each Arcana of Paradise: The Tower floor, you will experience several events. They can be labeled as things like bosses, campfires, or instances in a similar way to Kill the tower. You’ll also arrive at a different path point, allowing you to choose the next three events you want to face. Battles against enemies involve using the four cards currently dealt to you, both you and them acting in real time as you pick the cards. However, you can get a new deal with the push of a button. Timely defense can stun the enemy, creating a chance to counterattack. The Hanged Man allows you to turn a card upside down to change how it works. You can get tags that clutter things up and act as interceptors from some events. Also, the very bread you are collecting can be used to restore yourself instead of bringing them back.
In a way, it can almost feel a little too manageable. The card sorting is good, but it’s pretty easy to find the cards you like best and keep shuffling so you get the right cards for each battle. The solutions to the puzzle are quite obvious, and certain cards often become the answers. (Basically, you always need a torch.) Trouble cards aren’t too much of a hassle. The only time it becomes a challenge is if I stumble across a puzzle “room” that needs a specific card and I can’t refresh my hand fast enough to get it. Even getting bread shouldn’t be an issue as soon as you get your oven repaired, as you’ll have plenty of bread when you go down. So keeping the kids alive at the top of the tower doesn’t cause any stress either.
Screenshot via Shuiesha
Part of it also comes from Arcana of Paradise: The Tower repeating events very quickly. On my second run into the tower, I saw one event with a frozen chest and another with a bonfire for a hermit from the rerun tutorial. (Even, both use flashlights as a solution.) It makes things more difficult than it should be.
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower feels like the concept is sound. A lifelike deck builder with more puzzles and can interest your current and future team members is a novel idea. However, even with the real-time element that forces you to act quickly, this doesn’t feel like a big deal. There’s no tension that doesn’t sound like an achievement when you do well, and the recurring events mean you’re rarely taken by surprise and are prepared for almost anything that comes your way.
Arcana of Paradise: The Tower available on Nintendo Switch and PC.
