Everyone has at one time or another thought of being a fantasy thief who sneaks into a monster-infested dungeon and robs it of a mountain of loot. Otherwise, my perception of reality is absolutely ruined.

Anyway, tabletop gamification experts Direwolf have released a digital version of their deck builder "Clank" that does just that: sneak into caves and steal cool stuff. Cards allow you to get loot, fight monsters, and creep around. You go after one particularly valuable artifact, but eventually the player "clanks!" and waking up the dragon with a loud bang is inevitable, accelerating the risk of someone being caught and eaten.

Currently, the digital version of Clank has two boards of the original tabletop Clank, local play against the AI, and online support for four players.

The combination of pushing your luck and deck building is like catnip for some players (me). The rules of Clank are very simple, and deckbuilding is based on the familiar principle of adding new cards to the discard pile and shuffling the deck only when it runs out. There is none of the incessant reshuffling found in digital-only deckbuilders.

"Clank" is eight years old for tabletop players, yet it still appears as a recommended title and continues to be sold in imprints, winning two rather notable awards: the MENSA Select and Spiel Des Jahres recommended game. The game has been touted as a more accessible deck builder for those who don't necessarily like ultra-deep combos and metagame strategies.

Dire Wolf is well-known for their digital board game adaptations, most recently their very good adaptation of Dune: Imperium" The Clank release is currently in Early Access, but since Dire Wolf plans to release the full version in the fall, it will be available for "2 or three months" period. The full version will include better visuals, more customization, expanded game modes, and cross-platform play.

Crank! is available on Steam for $23.