Get Ready to Burn in Arsonate: The Creepy Card Game You Can't Escape

2024 has brought us a slew of eerie games that trap players in rooms with unsettling foes, and Arsonate is the latest addition to this growing genre. In this sinister card game, you're pitted against a gasmask-wearing adversary intent on setting you ablaze—using a deck of 47 cards laid out on a blood-stained table. Each turn, you reveal a tree card to uncover a flame, and when the flames reach a player’s Tower card, it's game over.

But it's not just about surviving; it's about outlasting. You can only flip cards on your side of the board, with the fire starting in the middle. The goal of Arsonate is to strategically manage the blaze so you are the last one standing. Fire cards trigger various events, from extra turns to random utilities that can shift the odds in your favor.

Utilities to Save Your Skin

Utilities are key to surviving the inferno and can be retrieved from a dumbwaiter to the left of the table. These must be secured in a locker before use. They range from fire extinguishers, which let you flip a fire card back to a tree card, to spyglasses that allow you to peek under a tree card, and crowbars for stealing utilities from your opponent. And don't think your enemy won't do the same—on normal difficulty, the game explicitly tells you that your opponent loves to cheat.

Utilities are implemented with a delightful literalness. While embedding a fireaxe into the table may not be standard in most card games, it’s an enticing feature in Arsonate that adds to the thrill.

Quick and Intense Gameplay

Each game of Arsonate is designed to be quick, taking under 30 minutes, with three possible endings. The gameplay draws inspiration from Buckshot Roulette and shares some thematic elements with Inscryption. While Arsonate's demo might not be as gripping as these influences, it shows promise with its unique mechanics and eerie atmosphere.

Why Do We Love These Games?

Why do we enjoy games that trap us with a sinister opponent? Perhaps it’s because many game developers are themselves a bit devious, crafting predatory stagecraft and mean tricks behind the veil of code. Games like Arsonate offer the satisfaction of confronting and potentially besting these sadistic characters.

Arsonate is also available on Steam, though a release date has yet to be announced.