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I've played enough card-based city builders to fill a landfill, and most deserve to be there. Draft City, however, made me forget about my backlog for an evening—which is basically a marriage proposal in my world.
Paul
December 21, 2025
6.7
Overall Score
"Draft City is a rare prototype that actually feels like a game instead of a proof-of-concept someone shipped too early."
I clicked on Draft City expecting another half-baked deck-builder with city aesthetics slapped on like cheap paint. You know the type—throw some building icons on cards, call it strategic, ship it. But Mort-on actually thought about how cards and city building could work together instead of just mashing two genres into a blender and hoping for the best. The tutorial doesn't hold your hand like you're a toddler, the mechanics make immediate sense, and within two turns I understood the strategic depth hiding under the simple presentation. The hex grid terrain system clicked instantly—those little colored dots on cards indicating placement restrictions aren't just decoration, they're the entire spatial puzzle. I found myself actually planning three turns ahead, considering which buildings to save for forest tiles versus cramming tents on grass. When a prototype makes me think strategically within five minutes, the developer did something right, even if I'm too grumpy to fully celebrate it.
Draft City uses three card types—instant effects, buildings, and upgrades—and somehow nails the balance between all of them. Instant cards give you immediate resources without cluttering your city. Buildings produce or consume resources over time, creating actual supply chains instead of just being score multipliers. Upgrades enhance existing buildings, rewarding you for commitment instead of constant expansion. The five-card hand limit forces real decisions instead of letting you play everything. The deck cycling system works exactly like it should—draw pile exhausts, discard shuffles back in, and between cycles you choose between a safe tent card, a random gamble, or picking from three curated packs. This isn't revolutionary—it's the same structure as Slay the Spire and every other roguelite—but it's implemented cleanly without the bloat. I never felt like I was fighting the interface or wondering what a card actually did. For a prototype, this level of mechanical clarity is rare enough to warrant genuine acknowledgment, even from someone as jaded as me.
Each run generates random victory conditions, which sounds like lazy design until you realize it completely changes your strategy every game. One run I needed five farms and twenty population. Next run it was about resource production rates. The variety kept me from optimizing the fun out of the game, which is my usual MO. Winning unlocks new cards in a research tree, giving you access to more complex buildings and strategies in future runs. This meta-progression loop is the backbone keeping you engaged past the initial novelty. Yes, it's basically every roguelite's homework copied verbatim, but it works. My complaint is that the unlock pace feels slightly too slow—after ten runs I was still looking at basic cards, wondering when I'd get the interesting toys. The game needs more mid-tier unlocks to bridge the gap between starter deck and advanced strategies. But the foundation is solid enough that I kept playing despite hitting that progression wall, which is more than I can say for most games that try this structure.
Mort-on openly calls this a prototype and lists the roadmap right there on the page, which immediately earns points for transparency. The visual feedback for spent resources is barely there—you can lose track of what you're spending if you're not careful. The animations need optimization; late-game turns with lots of buildings start chugging. The art is purely functional placeholder stuff, and the music is royalty-free Alexander Nakarada, which is fine but forgettable. The developer plans to add discoverable map goals, random events, and more cards, all of which would address my main concern: the content ceiling. After a dozen runs, I'd seen most of what the game offers, and the late-game unlock grind started feeling like padding. But here's the thing—most developers ship games in this state and call them finished, charging $15 for the privilege. Draft City is honest about being a work in progress, free to play, and genuinely asking for feedback. That honesty matters.
The terrain-based building placement is what elevates Draft City above generic card games with city themes. Grass, forest, water, and mountain tiles aren't just pretty colors—they're spatial puzzles. Cards show colored hexagons indicating valid placement terrains, forcing you to balance ideal building locations against available space. Do you save that lumber mill for a forest cluster, or play it suboptimally on grass because you need resources now? Do you waste a valuable water tile on a basic building, or hold out for something that benefits from adjacency? The random map generation means every run presents different spatial challenges. Sometimes you're drowning in forests with no grass for housing. Sometimes water tiles are scattered uselessly across the map. This variability keeps the puzzle fresh instead of letting you memorize optimal layouts. It's not revolutionary—hex-based city builders have existed since before I was born—but it's well-implemented and genuinely affects strategy rather than being cosmetic complexity.
Draft City is what happens when a developer actually understands both halves of their genre mashup. It's a competent deck-builder with meaningful city-building decisions, not just cards with building pictures on them. The core loop is solid, the strategy has depth, and the meta-progression kept me engaged longer than expected. Yes, it's a prototype with placeholder art and obvious rough edges. Yes, the content runs thin after a dozen hours. Yes, I've seen most of these mechanics before in other games. But execution matters more than novelty, and Mort-on executed well. For a free prototype asking for feedback, this is shockingly playable and genuinely strategic. I've paid money for worse 'finished' games. If the roadmap delivers—more cards, random events, discoverable goals—this could become something special. Right now it's a very good foundation that needs more building blocks. I'll be watching to see if Mort-on follows through, which is more enthusiasm than I usually muster for prototypes.
Quality
7
For a prototype, this is shockingly stable—I encountered zero crashes and the UI actually makes sense, which puts it ahead of half the 'finished' games on itch.io.
Innovation
6
Card-based city builder isn't new, but the terrain-based placement system and random goal structure give it enough personality to stand out from the Spire clones.
Value
8
It's free and gave me several hours of actual engagement before the meta-progression loop started feeling thin—I've paid $20 for less.
Gameplay
7
The core loop of draft-discard-build hooked me harder than I expected, and strategic terrain placement actually matters instead of being window dressing.
Audio/Visual
5
Generic placeholder aesthetics and public domain music—it's functional but screams 'I spent my budget on mechanics,' which is honestly fair for a prototype.
Replayability
7
Random maps, varying goals, and gradual card unlocks kept me coming back more than I planned to, though I can feel the ceiling approaching after a dozen runs.
What Didn't Annoy Me
The terrain-based building placement actually creates strategic depth instead of being cosmetic complexity
Core deck-building mechanics are clean and intuitive without unnecessary bloat or confusing card text
Meta-progression unlocks keep you engaged past the initial runs without feeling punishing
Random goals successfully vary strategy each game instead of letting you optimize the fun away
It's free, honest about being a prototype, and more playable than half the 'finished' games on itch.io
The five-card hand limit forces actual decisions rather than letting you spam everything mindlessly
What Made Me Sigh
Visual feedback for resource spending is barely there, making it easy to lose track of what you're spending
Content ceiling arrives after about a dozen runs, and the unlock grind starts feeling padded
Placeholder art and royalty-free music are functional but completely forgettable
Late-game performance chugs when you've got lots of buildings producing resources simultaneously
The research tree unlock pace feels slightly too slow, keeping interesting cards locked away too long
Final Verdict
Draft City is a rare prototype that actually feels like a game instead of a proof-of-concept someone shipped too early. The card-based city building works because Mort-on understood both genres before mashing them together. The terrain placement creates genuine spatial puzzles, the deck-building forces real strategic choices, and the random goals keep runs varied enough to avoid solved strategies. It's rough around the edges—placeholder visuals, performance hiccups, and a content ceiling you'll hit after ten hours—but the foundation is stronger than most finished indie games I've reviewed. For free, this is absurdly good value, and if the developer follows through on the roadmap, it could become genuinely excellent. Right now it's a very competent prototype that respects your intelligence and your time, which is praise I don't give lightly. I'll actually be checking back on this one, and that's the highest compliment I can offer.
Draft City
Tags
I've played enough card-based city builders to fill a landfill, and most deserve to be there. Draft City, however, made me forget about my backlog for an evening—which is basically a marriage proposal in my world.
Paul
December 21, 2025
6.7
Overall Score
"Draft City is a rare prototype that actually feels like a game instead of a proof-of-concept someone shipped too early."
I clicked on Draft City expecting another half-baked deck-builder with city aesthetics slapped on like cheap paint. You know the type—throw some building icons on cards, call it strategic, ship it. But Mort-on actually thought about how cards and city building could work together instead of just mashing two genres into a blender and hoping for the best. The tutorial doesn't hold your hand like you're a toddler, the mechanics make immediate sense, and within two turns I understood the strategic depth hiding under the simple presentation. The hex grid terrain system clicked instantly—those little colored dots on cards indicating placement restrictions aren't just decoration, they're the entire spatial puzzle. I found myself actually planning three turns ahead, considering which buildings to save for forest tiles versus cramming tents on grass. When a prototype makes me think strategically within five minutes, the developer did something right, even if I'm too grumpy to fully celebrate it.
Draft City uses three card types—instant effects, buildings, and upgrades—and somehow nails the balance between all of them. Instant cards give you immediate resources without cluttering your city. Buildings produce or consume resources over time, creating actual supply chains instead of just being score multipliers. Upgrades enhance existing buildings, rewarding you for commitment instead of constant expansion. The five-card hand limit forces real decisions instead of letting you play everything. The deck cycling system works exactly like it should—draw pile exhausts, discard shuffles back in, and between cycles you choose between a safe tent card, a random gamble, or picking from three curated packs. This isn't revolutionary—it's the same structure as Slay the Spire and every other roguelite—but it's implemented cleanly without the bloat. I never felt like I was fighting the interface or wondering what a card actually did. For a prototype, this level of mechanical clarity is rare enough to warrant genuine acknowledgment, even from someone as jaded as me.
Each run generates random victory conditions, which sounds like lazy design until you realize it completely changes your strategy every game. One run I needed five farms and twenty population. Next run it was about resource production rates. The variety kept me from optimizing the fun out of the game, which is my usual MO. Winning unlocks new cards in a research tree, giving you access to more complex buildings and strategies in future runs. This meta-progression loop is the backbone keeping you engaged past the initial novelty. Yes, it's basically every roguelite's homework copied verbatim, but it works. My complaint is that the unlock pace feels slightly too slow—after ten runs I was still looking at basic cards, wondering when I'd get the interesting toys. The game needs more mid-tier unlocks to bridge the gap between starter deck and advanced strategies. But the foundation is solid enough that I kept playing despite hitting that progression wall, which is more than I can say for most games that try this structure.
Mort-on openly calls this a prototype and lists the roadmap right there on the page, which immediately earns points for transparency. The visual feedback for spent resources is barely there—you can lose track of what you're spending if you're not careful. The animations need optimization; late-game turns with lots of buildings start chugging. The art is purely functional placeholder stuff, and the music is royalty-free Alexander Nakarada, which is fine but forgettable. The developer plans to add discoverable map goals, random events, and more cards, all of which would address my main concern: the content ceiling. After a dozen runs, I'd seen most of what the game offers, and the late-game unlock grind started feeling like padding. But here's the thing—most developers ship games in this state and call them finished, charging $15 for the privilege. Draft City is honest about being a work in progress, free to play, and genuinely asking for feedback. That honesty matters.
The terrain-based building placement is what elevates Draft City above generic card games with city themes. Grass, forest, water, and mountain tiles aren't just pretty colors—they're spatial puzzles. Cards show colored hexagons indicating valid placement terrains, forcing you to balance ideal building locations against available space. Do you save that lumber mill for a forest cluster, or play it suboptimally on grass because you need resources now? Do you waste a valuable water tile on a basic building, or hold out for something that benefits from adjacency? The random map generation means every run presents different spatial challenges. Sometimes you're drowning in forests with no grass for housing. Sometimes water tiles are scattered uselessly across the map. This variability keeps the puzzle fresh instead of letting you memorize optimal layouts. It's not revolutionary—hex-based city builders have existed since before I was born—but it's well-implemented and genuinely affects strategy rather than being cosmetic complexity.
Draft City is what happens when a developer actually understands both halves of their genre mashup. It's a competent deck-builder with meaningful city-building decisions, not just cards with building pictures on them. The core loop is solid, the strategy has depth, and the meta-progression kept me engaged longer than expected. Yes, it's a prototype with placeholder art and obvious rough edges. Yes, the content runs thin after a dozen hours. Yes, I've seen most of these mechanics before in other games. But execution matters more than novelty, and Mort-on executed well. For a free prototype asking for feedback, this is shockingly playable and genuinely strategic. I've paid money for worse 'finished' games. If the roadmap delivers—more cards, random events, discoverable goals—this could become something special. Right now it's a very good foundation that needs more building blocks. I'll be watching to see if Mort-on follows through, which is more enthusiasm than I usually muster for prototypes.
Quality
7
For a prototype, this is shockingly stable—I encountered zero crashes and the UI actually makes sense, which puts it ahead of half the 'finished' games on itch.io.
Innovation
6
Card-based city builder isn't new, but the terrain-based placement system and random goal structure give it enough personality to stand out from the Spire clones.
Value
8
It's free and gave me several hours of actual engagement before the meta-progression loop started feeling thin—I've paid $20 for less.
Gameplay
7
The core loop of draft-discard-build hooked me harder than I expected, and strategic terrain placement actually matters instead of being window dressing.
Audio/Visual
5
Generic placeholder aesthetics and public domain music—it's functional but screams 'I spent my budget on mechanics,' which is honestly fair for a prototype.
Replayability
7
Random maps, varying goals, and gradual card unlocks kept me coming back more than I planned to, though I can feel the ceiling approaching after a dozen runs.
What Didn't Annoy Me
The terrain-based building placement actually creates strategic depth instead of being cosmetic complexity
Core deck-building mechanics are clean and intuitive without unnecessary bloat or confusing card text
Meta-progression unlocks keep you engaged past the initial runs without feeling punishing
Random goals successfully vary strategy each game instead of letting you optimize the fun away
It's free, honest about being a prototype, and more playable than half the 'finished' games on itch.io
The five-card hand limit forces actual decisions rather than letting you spam everything mindlessly
What Made Me Sigh
Visual feedback for resource spending is barely there, making it easy to lose track of what you're spending
Content ceiling arrives after about a dozen runs, and the unlock grind starts feeling padded
Placeholder art and royalty-free music are functional but completely forgettable
Late-game performance chugs when you've got lots of buildings producing resources simultaneously
The research tree unlock pace feels slightly too slow, keeping interesting cards locked away too long
Final Verdict
Draft City is a rare prototype that actually feels like a game instead of a proof-of-concept someone shipped too early. The card-based city building works because Mort-on understood both genres before mashing them together. The terrain placement creates genuine spatial puzzles, the deck-building forces real strategic choices, and the random goals keep runs varied enough to avoid solved strategies. It's rough around the edges—placeholder visuals, performance hiccups, and a content ceiling you'll hit after ten hours—but the foundation is stronger than most finished indie games I've reviewed. For free, this is absurdly good value, and if the developer follows through on the roadmap, it could become genuinely excellent. Right now it's a very competent prototype that respects your intelligence and your time, which is praise I don't give lightly. I'll actually be checking back on this one, and that's the highest compliment I can offer.
Draft City
Tags