Flocking Hell Is A Roguelite Deckbuilder Which Keeps It Short and Sweet [Review]

Flocking Hell is a game about building cities for sheep in order to help them survive the oncoming demon onslaught. The cute and cozy sheep characters pair well with the gorgeous, relaxing soundtrack and delightful sound effects. Don’t be fooled, though. Underneath this adorable veneer is a deceptively tough roguelite that had me struggling to stay alive.

Think of this less as a video game with plot and characters, and more as a virtual board game. Rounds begin with an empty map that players will click on to reveal titles, gather resources, and discover towns. Each tile takes one turn to reveal, and there are a set number of turns before the demons attack. From there players must gather and spend resources and play cards to build up the cities. Pretty straightforward, but the game successfully nails the difficulty curve so each win feels hard fought for and well-earned. It also goes by fast enough that if I lose, no big deal, just dust myself off and try again.

Flocking Hell keeps its sessions short, which is something I personally really liked. Rounds can be completed in a manner of minutes, and a single game took 15-20 minutes at most. I found it worked really well as a palate cleanser of sorts (or a nice thing to boot up when I was trying to put off something for a few more minutes...). That said, even though the runs were short, no two runs felt the same.

The game boasts a lot of little pieces, each one offering a different experience. Each round may bring a different quirk that affects gameplay. There's different upgrades to pick from when progressing and of course how each deck is built is going to vary. For example, there’s an option that will reduce the cost of building roads. Pick a different option, and the player's ability to reveal the map is enhanced. That’s just two of them, there’s a great deal of variety which offers flexibility in building synergy with the deck. As players go deeper and deeper into the game, they will gain XP, and will be able to unlock new things, ensuring there always is something new to discover.

I full-heartedly recommend Flocking Hell. It delivers on having the fun of city building like Civilization but without the time commitment. It’s also quite cheap for what it is, currently being on sale on Steam for $9.99

SCORE: 8/10