On paper, Trial by Fire is everything I despise. I don't like turn-based roguelikes. I don't like card battles, and I really don't like anything involving hexagons; Trials of Fire is all of these things, and common sense reality dictates that I am the last person who should review this game. However, if you've recently looked out the window through the haze of a coronavirus and headed toward the sun melting your ice cap, you must have realized a while ago that reality is dead on its way back to its home planet. That's why it never ceases to amaze me that "Trials of Fire" is a great film.

Set in a desolate fantasyland where wild Conan would gladly graze, "Trials of Fire" has you choose a trio of nine adventurers to undertake a series of set quests on a procedurally generated map. Trials of Fire is literally illustrated in picture book form, with the game map sketched on the pages of a massive book of swords and sorcery, and the characters depicted as pop-up paper dolls scrolling across the cracked roads and dusty plains of Ashe.

Between you and the major destinations are regular sights ranging from small settlements to ancient ruins, cursed temples, roaming monsters, and spooky forests. Encounters are initially presented in a journal format, with the game explaining the situation and then presenting you with a variety of options. Sometimes these choices require skill checks, with rewards for success and damage to the character for failure. In such cases, the world map disappears and a top-down 3D battle map appears from the pages of the book.

Combat is a blend of turn-based strategy and fierce card battles. The map is hex-based, and both your party and your opponents are represented as fleshy, colorful counters that slide toward each other, sometimes taking refuge behind cover scattered across the map. On your turn, each character draws three cards from his or her deck. The default characters are Rustin, a hunter who specializes in ranged combat with a sideline in summoning, Jarrah, a melee fighter who deals damage, and Malkin, an elemental mage.

What is immediately striking about the Trial by Fire is how good the combat feels. As you drag Rustin's ranged attacks at your enemies, arrows fly from his counters and pierce them, causing them to fly around the scene as if they were spinning a coin. When a character is killed, the counter explodes like a grenade, sending shrapnel flying across the board. The "trial by fire" does a great job of evoking the abilities depicted on the cards and does a great job of selling the game to skeptics like myself who are skeptical of CCGs.

But while this makes Trial by Fire more instantly appealing, it doesn't make it anything special. It is the way the card functions simultaneously as an ability and a resource. By default, playing a card requires the expenditure of a resource, willpower. There are a handful of cards that create willpower, such as "Advancement," which also allows for advancement. However, the primary way to gain willpower is by sacrificing cards in hand. This pool can be drawn from by all three party members, unless willpower is used for movement, in which case the cards to be sacrificed must come directly from that character's deck.

Thus, of the nine cards in hand, only about half may be played in a normal round. You must consider which cards to play and when. For example, Jarrah may be your main damage dealer, but it often takes a turn or two for her to get into close range. So you can either focus your efforts on pushing her forward or spend your willpower on Rustin or Malkin's shooting ability.

The tactical scenarios that result from this are hand-to-hand, with each new hand bringing a new challenge. Card battles are further enhanced by how the RPG system plays into it. Winning battles and completing quests will level up your character, allowing you to upgrade the cards in your current deck and replace them with cards with more powerful abilities. Similarly, new weapons and equipment can expand the scope of the deck. Equipping a breastplate might give you a defensive card like Bulwark with +7 defense, or a new bow might give Rastin the Headshot ability. But the real treasures are the free actions, the extra moves, and especially the cards that allow you to play more cards. My favorite is Teamwork, which, when used on an ally, increases the player's hand by one card for every card the ally plays.

However, the RPG element can work against you. Moving around the world map exhausts the party, and the more exhausted the party becomes, the more the deck fills up with cards like Fatigue and Exhaustion that do nothing but clog up the hand. Similarly, spending too much time searching will lower the party's morale, making it impossible to hunt around for loot.

Balancing survival and progress is one of the main challenges of the game. This is especially true because completing the objectives of the quest often leads to a tough boss battle that will test your compatibility with the deck. If the party is wiped out, the quest is over. This can be a bit tough, especially if you are approaching the end of the game. However, both the main "Trial by Fire" quest and the auxiliary "Lore" quests are designed to be completed in two to four hours. On the other hand, they do give you experience even if you fail, unlock new cards for your existing party, and introduce new characters such as witches who specialize in stealing cards from their enemies and using them against them.

For a game that borrows so many different ideas and mechanics, "Trial by Fire" is surprisingly seamless. The only thing that could have been more consistent is the art. To me, the depiction of Ash as a brainwashed and blown-up land is not entirely in keeping with the bold, board-game-like colors of the counters and cards. I particularly dislike the hilariously chunky buttons on the game menu, which, when pressed, make the stuffed animals seem to pop out of the screen and sing nursery rhymes.

More broadly, the game's structure results in a hindrance to storytelling. While not incredibly original, Trials of Fire's bleak fantasy world is compelling, and the encounters are written in fast-paced, engaging prose. The quest itself, however, is a simple MacGuffin hunt, and the characters in the party show little personality outside of combat. Indeed, this is in keeping with classic sword-and-sorcery fiction, which tends to prioritize eventful action over character development. That said, once you complete the main quest of the Trial by Fire, you've pretty much seen what the game has to offer narratively, and while there are other quests available, it's the new cards and new characters that will keep you playing.

Overall, however, these are minor blemishes. Trials of Fire is a taut, muscular RPG roguelike that manages to capture the action and mystique of sword and sorcery in the form of card battles.