The title says it all. I’m not a huge fan of basketball, and the only roguelike deckbuilder I’ve ever enjoyed for an extended time is Slay the Spire. That said, there’s something about Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder, the new title by Bigosaur, that keeps pulling me back.
It’s not an award-winning game by any means, but fans of basketball and deckbuilders will likely enjoy a good few hours in this one. Let’s see what it’s made of and whether you should spend your hard-earned money on it.
The premise is good, but something’s missing…
Like any good deckbuilder, you get a deck of cards and slug away against opponents, trying to score the most points before the clock runs out. You have various scoring cards, support cards, and defence cards.
You also have stack cards, which are awesome. They stay on the board and grant you a bonus for as long as they’re on the field of play. Get a good stack card early, and you have a much better chance of winning.
You get a chance to pick new cards before every game and at half time. At full time, you get to keep one of the new cards you picked, and then you also sometimes get a chance to swap out or upgrade cards. And overall, it’s plenty of fun. Runs can be frustrating when you don’t get the cards you need, but that’s how roguelites go, in the end.
You can play either a league or a tournament, and every time you conquer, you can play at greater difficulties. However, the beginning difficulties can be a borefest, so I really wish the devs would open at least the second tier right off the bat.
So all in all, it’s a fun game. It’s kept me busy for hours, and it really got fun at the third tier. It’s where you really need to start questioning your strategy and come up with some new plays. Once you find something that works really well, you can edit the team decks so that you can test your strategy with your favourite team. Just pray you get the right cards.
But it starts to feel just a little bland before long. While it’s a deeply strategic experience, it feels almost too predictable before long. Then there’s the fact that, as I stated, I’m not a particular fan of either deckbuilders or basketball, so the right person would likely spend countless hours crafting the perfect strategy and crushing even the hardest difficulty available (though I don’t even see how that’s possible at this stage).
Highly polished indie for the right type of gamer
The game is polished, I found no bugs so far, and the strategy behind the game is quite deep. I’m pleasantly surprised by Clutchtime, overall.
That said, the art style doesn’t really appeal to me. The cards look dated, the UI looks dated, and I feel like more polish could’ve been added to the final designs. Then again, it is an indie game, so there were no massive budgets for this one.
I also wish there was a career mode that could see you build out a mean team across multiple seasons. The one-off leagues and tournaments are fine for a bit, but they do wear on me.
I can see the right gamer easily spend upwards of 50 hours on this little indie, though, so in the end, it’s well worth spending money on if you’re both a fan of basketball and deckbuilders. But even if you just want a new time-waster game on the side, I’d give it a go.
Clutchtime™: Basketball Deckbuilder
Overall, it’s a fun indie deckbuilder that’ll keep fans of the genre (or the sport) busy for a good few hours. It offers a surprisingly deep strategic experience for such a simple premise.
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.
Kyle Ferreira
As a lifetime gamer, I was around to enjoy the NES, witness the birth of the PS1, and live through the golden age that was the PS2. My favorite game (no doubt driven by nostalgia) is Final Fantasy VII, but I’m always on the lookout for my new favorite.
