Griftlands is a deck-building roguelike set in Havaria, a broken-down science-fiction world where survival can depend on persuasion as much as force. Its three playable characters bring distinct campaigns: Sal seeks profit and revenge, Rook pursues his own agenda as an aging spy, and Smith is an idle loafer who may save the world. Each story moves through its own environments, factions, and locations, giving the game a character-driven structure rather than a single shared adventure.
The defining twist is managing two specialized decks at once, one for combat and one for negotiation. Players draft cards for both, collect items, and decide whether to overcome obstacles with fists or words. Choices carry social consequences: killing someone can anger their friends, while letting an enemy live may leave a threat in play. Faction relationships add another layer, as rivals, opinions, and political boons can shape the risks of dealing with the world’s inhabitants.
Griftlands is listed as single-player, so its player-count context is a solitary run through these branching stories, not a shared multiplayer session. Boss fights, mercenaries and pets, and changing combinations of enemies, quests, and events give each attempt different strategic pressures. Death comes quickly, but the game frames repeated runs as opportunities to learn and explore new situations, with decisions and deck choices driving the experience.
