The fusion of deck-building and roguelike mechanics—popularised by Slay the Spire—is often a polarising affair. It demands sharp strategy, yet it frequently leaves players feeling cheated by the whims of RNG. However, a new challenger is looking to carve out a niche by injecting high-concept sci-fi horror and psychological dread into the mix. I recently went hands-on with the closed beta for 'Chaos Zero Nightmare' (hereinafter 'KZN'), the latest project from Supercreative, the developers behind Epic Seven.

The heart of KZN lies in its deck-building roguelike combat. You get a taste of this during story missions or dungeon runs for growth materials, but the real meat of the game is found in the 'Chaos' mode. Here, you assemble a squad of up to three characters, fine-tuning their decks with card swaps and equipment upgrades. Each run is procedurally generated and generally takes about 10 to 20 minutes to complete.

Every character acts as both an agent and a 'deck.' Each comes with one unique skill and eight basic cards, plus a 'Partner' system that functions as their gear. Given that characters are categorised by elemental affinities and roles, building a synergistic team is essential. During this preview, I relied heavily on Calipe, who balances offence and defence; Hugo, a dealer and debuffer; and Mika, the team's support and healer.

Breaking an enemy's guard is key. By depleting the bar beneath their health gauge, you trigger a 'Break' state. This locks the enemy's actions for a turn and grants you an extra action resource. Exploiting this momentum is the secret to aggressive play. Calipe was a staple in my roster for this exact reason—the rapid-fire cycle of 'Greatsword Aquila' combined with 'Vulture Launch' allowed me to shatter enemy defences and unleash devastating combos.

Of course, while you can lock down enemies, you aren't invincible; you must manage your own resource: the 'Stress' gauge. If an enemy attack pushes this gauge to its limit, your unit suffers a 'Collapse.' During a Collapse, a chunk of the character's health is effectively removed, and they remain incapacitated until specific conditions are met to clear the status.

While recovering from a Collapse isn't overly difficult, it does cost you at least two turns. However, it’s not all bad news; once recovered, the character receives a health boost and an increase in special skill points, potentially turning the tide of a losing battle.

The game leans heavily into its bleak, unsettling world. Characters who suffer from excessive Stress develop 'Deep Trauma,' resulting in corrupted save data that must be purged. You have three 'Communication Passes' per day to choose between 'Counseling' or 'Memory Erasure.'

Counseling boosts affinity and reveals a character's backstory, while also preserving their save data. Memory Erasure is a quick fix, though it sacrifices the data. Choosing Counseling triggers a dialogue-based interaction; your choices influence the character's reaction and the flow of the narrative, naturally encouraging players to replay stages to learn more about their favourite agents.

Beyond healing, various facilities are available to aid your progress. There’s a canteen for combat buffs, a café to recharge energy, and upgrade stations to unlock new features. If you want to get stronger, you’ll be frequenting these hubs often.

What really cements the immersion is KZN’s art direction. You see a variety of styles and aspect ratios across combat, idle scenes, and dialogue, all complemented by high-quality cutscenes and animations.

The enemy design is equally impressive, from grotesque monster movements to the sheer intimidation of the bosses. The real test for the developers will be their ability to maintain this level of quality with future character releases, which is the lifeblood of any subculture game.

This closed beta was only a glimpse, so we haven't seen the full scope of the content yet. However, given that features like auto-battle and speed-up functions—staples for farming growth materials in mobile games—are already present, I expect the character progression grind to be quite manageable.

KZN takes a bold swing by blending deck-building roguelikes with a grim, eerie aesthetic, and the results so far are polished. I’m genuinely curious to see how the developers will provide the 'driving force' to keep players hooked when the game finally hits the shelves.