Wildfrost, Chucklefish Games’ newest Deckbuilder, has a lot of cards. What are the greatest possibilities among all of these cards?

Wildfrost is a fresh new deckbuilding roguelike game that was recently published (at the time of writing this) and it has a lot going for it. The game features an adorable art design, unique mechanics that set it apart from other deckbuilders, and is actually quite difficult.

Players in Wildfrost acquire cards as they advance around the large (but not too long) map, and these cards take the shape of Companions, Items, Shades, and Clunkers depending on the ‘tribe’ they’re playing as. So, let’s go over a few of the best cards discovered thus far, including a few from each category.

Companion: Tusk

Tusk, the first Companion, is a young man who is not a Companion in the traditional game sense, but rather a category of cards. Tusk is our all-time favourite card (at least so far). Tusk may not appear to be the best buddy at first appearance. Only having 5 Health and 2 Attack aren’t metrics that ‘inspire’ confidence.

Tusks’ talent, though, really comes through. Tusk grants 3 Teeth to all teammates while active on the field, which is essentially this game’s version of a ‘Thorns’ benefit. And there aren’t many builds that Tusk won’t boost simply by being present.

Companion: Tinkerson Jr.

Tinkerson Jr., a Clunkmasters Tribe Gnome, is the Companions’ final opponent. Tinkerson Jr.’s ability is oriented towards a Clunkmaster run as part of this down-on-their-luck Tribe (told in the game’s’story’ through journal entries), since it is solely focused around the ‘Junk’ cards that most of this Tribe’s Clunkers and Companions appear to make.

And it’s very simple for a player to overdo it with cards with the ‘Trash’ keyword, resulting in a deck full of real Junk. This is less of an issue with Tinkerson Jr. because he converts Junk into useful weaponry.

Clunker: Bitebox

While we’re on the subject of Clunkmasters, let’s talk about Clunkers. Clunkers aren’t strictly Items…they’re creations. The vast majority of them must be ‘Active’ (that is, placed on the field), just like a Companion or a Shade. Woodhead is the most prevalent one that players will encounter (as seen in the tutorial).

Except for one critical feature, the Bitebox is nearly identical. Rather than just tanking the damage and being destroyed, the Bitebox quickly returns the same amount of damage as was done to it (per hit) before being destroyed. Given how hard some creatures in later zones (such as Bigfoot) attack, a well-placed Bitebox can literally make or break an encounter. Consider it the deckbuilder equivalent of a parry in any other roguelike game.

Clunker: Krono

One of the simplest and most effective recommendations for newcomers to Wildfrost is to collect as many Crowns as possible throughout a run. There should be a Crown for 80 Blings every time the player enters a new Woolly Snail Shop. And, in almost every case, players should purchase these Crowns. These Crowns essentially allow players to add additional allies or cards during the’setup’ phase of combat, where they would normally only be able to place their leader.

In addition, Krono is a Clunker who, while active, adds a stack of Frenzy to any Crown’d allies, effectively tripling their damage output or Status Application. From here, it should be very clear why that’s so strong, however only if the player can get far enough to obtain numerous Crown’d buddies.

Shade: Beepop

The Shades, real shadows that used to inhabit items and terrorise people until the Shademancers figured out how to tame them using carved masks, are the next category of cards in Wildfrost. Shades serve as temporary Companions in terms of mechanics, and they’re one of the best visual expressions of the game’s incredible aesthetic style. The player summons them using a mask; they cannot be recalled, and each time they are triggered, they lose one HP.

Beepop is one of the most fundamental Shades, which is also why it is one of the greatest. It’s intended to be utilised similarly to Woodhead, summoned solely to take a hit. When Beepop dies, however, it inflicts 4 Overburn on its assailant. 4 Overburn is a lot of stacks of this already overpowered Status Ailment, so being able to apply it so quickly is really useful.

Shade: Tigris

Tigris is another Card based on the Teeth Keyword that works particularly well in conjunction with another card on this page, the Companion named Tusk. Tigris will get a stack of Teeth on top of the two it already has if an ally is hit (even if it is for 0 damage). However, Tigris, unlike other Shades, lacks a ‘Counter’ and will not ‘Trigger’ after a specific number of rounds, therefore it will only lose HP from being attacked, not through self-damage.

As a result, players can simply summon Tigris, keep it out of harm’s way for a few turns while other teammates tank some hits, and then bring it to the front to let the monster to slam Tigris and wound themselves on its Teeth for maximum damage.

Shade: Sheepopper

When performed, a few Shades are called on the enemy’s side, making them much more unusual than the others. On paper, this sounds terrible, because there’s no motive for players to call more foes who may harm them, right?

Sheepopper, on the other hand, is completely worth it, as it has 0 Attack and no Counter, meaning it just sits there with 4 health. When Sheepopper is killed, it does 8 damage to all of its teammates in the same row. When combined with other Ailments like Overburn, this can effectively allow players to pop the entire opposing field in a single turn.

Item: Azul Battle Axe

As previously established, the Overburn Status Ailment (which is extremely different from Status Ails in other games) is ridiculously effective in Wildfrost. Building up a ‘counter’ that instantly explodes that adversary whenever their health matches it (as well as doing that counter number’s amount of damage to the entire row) makes fights so much easier.

As a result, there aren’t many Overburn cards in the game, although the Azul Battle Axe is among the best. Few other cards can deliver reasonable damage while also applying a significant amount of Ailment.

Item: B.I.N.K

Ink is another Keyword/Ailment that isn’t used often in Spacebar Clicker game until players start obtaining a lot of extra cards through Challenges. Ink’ing anything basically implies Silencing it, and the language in the middle of the card is no longer applicable while the Ink is active. This implies that opponents who acquire Teeth when hit will not gain them, that aimless enemies will attack the front ally instead, and that a Barrage will not operate.

Ink is an excellent Ailment for short nerfing an opponent before they attack or nullifying a Boss’ mechanics while wearing them down, and B.I.N.K is the finest card for applying it to everyone.

Item: Bom Barrel

Finally, let’s talk about what is without a doubt one of the best cards in Wildfrost. Almost every other Status Ailment in the game is activated and either wipes out after triggering or counts down each turn. Poison, for example, delivers damage yet the counter decreases with each turn.

However, the Bom state Ailment does not do this; that number remains constant throughout the combat. So, if a player places a crown on the Bom Barrel card, they will start every single conflict with it and do 4 more damage to every enemy struck. Sure, the ‘Trash’ component of the card is something to consider, but 4 Junk cards is a minor price to pay, especially in a construct that isn’t centred on Recycling. To be sure, even with such a powerful equipment, players are at a lost when it comes to Wildfrost’s difficulty.

Wildfrost is now available on PC and Nintendo Switch.