Playtime: 2h41m (beaten the Giant, first of three paths/campaigns)

Intro

IATG is a turn-based strategy game in which you play a card each turn (some cards allow further plays) to battle monsters. In turn the monsters in the first row or those with ranged attacks attack you. Cards can hurt monsters, defend/heal you or draw/steal cards. Each card can only played once. You get new cards from chests or abilities. Killing monsters and finding gems gives you XP, which can be used to buy abilities or chests.

The Good

• IATG has a cool, clean style that represents most game elements really well.
• There's a solid variety in monsters and enemy abilities.
• The little story elements are nice.

The Bad

• The game is terribly unbalanced. Even on the "super-easy" Story difficulty it took me several tries to reach the giant.
• Some monsters require specific cards to beat, making the game too random.
• I have no idea how you're supposed to win without maxing the Shield upgrade.
• You have to replay the exact same levels every time you die.
• The exact same story elements play each time.
• Puzzle levels also remain exactly the same.
• The game does a little zoom each time a new level starts. This can be skipped but not disabled.
• While being branded as a deckbuilding game, cards are one-use only and very basic. There's no real strategising here.

Conclusion

Iris And The Giant has some really solid content, but there's very little of it. I already dislike how roguelikes make you start over constantly, but at least every other one i have played had randomisation. Here you have to sit through the exact same stuff a bunch of times hoping you draw the right cards this time. This game shouldn't have been a roguelike in the first place.