Review: Death Howl - A Dark Fantasy Deck Builder With an Emotional Story and Addictive Turn Based Battles

A hauntingly atmospheric strategy game where every battle feels thoughtful, tense, and emotionally driven

Available on: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, Playstation

Genre: Soulslike, Deckbuilder, Roguelike

Developer: The Outer Zone

Publisher: 11 bit studios

How Cozy? ⭐⭐⭐

Game Verdict: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Death Howl immediately stood out to me because it feels quite different from a lot of deck builders visually and emotionally.

Rather than focusing purely on combat or progression systems, the game builds itself around grief and loss from the very beginning. You play as a mother travelling through dangerous realms in an attempt to bring her son back from the dead, and that emotional core gives the entire experience a much heavier atmosphere.

At the same time, it’s also a genuinely strategic and rewarding deck builder. The combination works far better than I expected.

Story

The narrative leans heavily into folklore, spirituality, and themes of mourning.

As you move through the different realms, the story slowly unfolds through the environments, encounters, and the emotional motivation behind the journey itself. There’s a melancholy feeling woven through everything, but it never feels overly dramatic or forced.

Instead, the game allows the emotional side of the story to sit quietly underneath the gameplay, which honestly makes it more effective.

I found myself becoming surprisingly invested in the journey because the world itself feels so tied to the protagonist’s grief and determination.

Related: Looking for more roguelikes and deck builders?
Check out my list of must play roguelikes, even if you usually play cozy games!

Gameplay

Combat is grid based and very tactical.

You can’t simply throw cards down randomly and hope for the best. Positioning matters constantly, enemy placement matters, and choosing the right cards for each encounter becomes incredibly important as the game gets more challenging. There’s a real sense of strategy to deck building here.

Across four realms and thirteen regions, there’s over thirty enemy types while unlocking more than 160 cards, giving you loads of room to experiment with different combinations and archetypes. Some encounters forced me to rethink my entire approach before I could progress.

I also really enjoyed the crafting side of the game. Gathering items and resources to create new cards gives exploration a stronger sense of purpose beyond simply moving from battle to battle.

Graphics and Visuals

The visual style is honestly stunning.

Death Howl leans heavily into dark fantasy folklore aesthetics, and the result is this eerie, dreamlike atmosphere that feels both beautiful and unsettling at the same time. The different realms all have distinct identities, and the enemy designs are particularly striking.

The music complements everything perfectly too.

Some moments feel quiet and reflective, while others become sweeping and tense during combat. The soundtrack does a huge amount of work in maintaining the emotional tone throughout the game.

Longevity

Because deck building is such a huge part of the experience, there’s a lot of replayability in experimenting with different card combinations and approaches to combat.

The challenge level also gives the game decent longevity if you enjoy refining strategies and optimising your builds. Some battles can take a few attempts to properly understand, especially later on.

This definitely isn’t a game you mindlessly breeze through, but that slower, more thoughtful pacing actually suits the atmosphere really well.

Conclusion

Death Howl is a fascinating blend of emotional storytelling and tactical strategy.

The deck building feels meaningful, the combat rewards careful planning, and the dark folklore inspired world creates a genuinely memorable atmosphere throughout.

It can be challenging in places, but if you enjoy strategy games with strong worldbuilding and emotional depth, there’s a lot here to appreciate.

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