Knock on the Coffin Lid (PC) Review

The fun thing about Knock on the Coffin Lid is there’s no singular way to play it.

RedBoon Studios’ Knock on the Coffin Lid is quite an interesting take on RPG, roguelike, and card game as it combines it all together in a plot-driven title that’s heavy on its card game mechanics and progression. 

Somehow even with Knock on the Coffin Lid’s simplistic presentation, its visual design is very much attractive for its style. The game will also run smoothly even on lower-end systems with its system requirement on PC.

We are introduced in the lands of Midian with Percival, where he’s resurrected and he meets a mysterious character named Mortis.  Each time you die, you move back in time, and so does your progress on the map. This is where its roguelike mechanics come into play.

The main premise of the story is Ingvar, presumably the ruler of the kingdom, was poisoned alongside the three main characters that you’ll use. 

As we progress more into the game, we are told in bits and pieces about the state of affairs and lore of the game. Percival’s initial class is great for those who prefer stockpiling their power for a charged attack, useful for bosses with huge pools of HP. The system here is you have a set amount of energy per turn, and there are corresponding requirements for each card in your deck. 

Their death brings you closer to your goal.

During the course of your progress, you’ll come across certain points in the world map where you encounter enemies. There are also campfires where you can rest, vendors where you can buy useful items for healing, boosting your attack power, or even equipment. 

There are even unique characters that present you with some options, and taking them up on their offer, declining them, or even helping them out can prove either helpful or disadvantageous on your playthrough. You’re not going to be hard stuck on their progress with their requests since you’ll reset when you die.

Reading your enemies’ incoming moves like blocking, attacking, even their buffs and debuffs will prove vital to your victory. Boss fights are also challenging here, especially if RNG on your deckbuilding doesn’t work all well for you. Although to note, while the game has enough indications for each attribute, it could provide more on the tooltips to let you know more about what each of them does. 

Items also play a key part here. You’re not able to heal like you would in traditional RPGs. With that said, knowing when to rest in campfires instead of training to improve the effects of your cards are still things you have to plan out depending on your character’s current condition. The most effective item I found is the Tirelessness Potion (the correct name somehow escapes me). This item lets you use your cards without the use of energy. It’s great if you plan to let out an all out attack, or stock up on regens or raise your block counter if a perilous attack is incoming. It’s all up to your strategies.

Of course, things won’t always go as planned with each and every run regardless of the difficulty level you choose. You gain experience points that level up your character’s class, which will net you more useful cards. And it’s not only limited to that as you’re treated to new dialogue to understand more about the events transpiring in Knock on the Coffin Lid. The voice acting here is also superb. It greatly adds to the immersion. 

Verdict

The fun thing about Knock on the Coffin Lid is there’s no singular way to play it. Its randomness in its rewards and the paths you take force you to change up your playstyle every run, keeping the game fresh each time. You can further immerse on the story and continue on with the next character when you finish with Percival. We’re currently on that playthrough, so that’s another thing we can look forward to.

We finished our run with Percival and beat the final boss after around 8 hours of gameplay, but again, it doesn’t end there. We’re currently using Bjorn, the next usable character with more complex mechanics by the looks of it. So, yeah, game isn’t over even when you beat the final boss. There are interesting twists and turns in the narrative, and if you’re up for more challenges, there’s also that to look forward to. 

To note, this is still in Early Access, and we'll get more features and content in the future. I'm personally looking forward to Millenis Nightmares. I can't really say more about it because of spoilers, but I'm hoping you stick around to find out what that is. And truth be told, this would be a nice game to have on the Nintendo Switch or even mobile devices, so there's that, too.

Steam Page | Knock on the Coffin Lid (Early Access)