Early Access First Impressions -Conquer Lands

Conquer Lands is a scrappy, surprisingly dense roguelike deckbuilder that feels like someone took Slay the Spire, dipped it in medieval mud, sprinkled in a war council’s worth of unit‑swapping nonsense, and said: “Right, now fight for the throne.” It’s early, it’s rough around the edges, but it’s already got that one more run itch.

The King of Garnoc is dead, the nobles are restless, and apparently the only way to decide who gets the crown is through a series of turn‑based card battles. You pick one of three characters, assemble a deck, recruit units, and try to out‑maneuver lords who all seem to have attended the same school of “hit the player very hard.”

The premise is simple, but the game’s systems are anything but.

Conquer Lands leans heavily into dynamic turn-by-turn mechanics. Every round, something shifts, enemy formations, your unit positions, card targeting rules and you’re constantly recalculating like a medieval accountant trying to balance a ledger full of angry soldiers.

Key early impressions:

• Position Change cards are the star of the show. They let you rearrange enemy formations, which feels like weaponised feng shui.

• Unit Change cards randomly shuffle your troops, which is either a tactical masterstroke or a disaster depending on how much chaos you’re willing to embrace.

• Blacksmith upgrades split into two paths:

  • Card Level (more damage)

  • Position Level (hit multiple enemies) This is a clever twist that makes upgrading feel more strategic than simply “bigger number good.”

Runs feel genuinely different thanks to the sheer volume of content already present:

• 120 cards

• 86 enemies

• 89 relics

• 17 potions

• 37 buffs/debuffs It’s a lot — and it’s impressive for a game still early in development.

The Castle Merchant is your lifeline. You’ll buy cards, troops, relics, potions, and occasionally regret everything you’ve purchased. Prices are fair, choices are plentiful, and the shop feels like a proper strategic hub rather than a filler screen.

Relics from the fallen Molgrad Empire add flavour and build variety. Some are powerful, some are weird, some are “why does this exist,” but they all push you toward interesting deck identities.

For a game that launched in November 2025 and is still in active development, Conquer Lands is surprisingly feature-rich. The devs are clear about their roadmap: more characters, more modes, more cards, more enemies, more maps, more relics, more potions, basically more of everything.

The recent update adding new languages shows they’re actively maintaining the game, not just letting it simmer.

Conquer Lands has that charming “indie dev with a big idea and a bigger spreadsheet” energy. It’s earnest, crunchy, and occasionally chaotic in ways that feel intentional. The medieval framing is fun, the card effects are clear, and the constant positional tinkering gives it a unique identity in a crowded genre.

Pros

• Deep deckbuilding with tons of content already

• Unique positional mechanics that genuinely change how you play

• High replay value

• Clear roadmap with meaningful planned additions

• Cheap entry price (and currently discounted)

Cons

• Visuals and UI are functional rather than exciting

• Some mechanics feel overly random

• Difficulty spikes can be abrupt

• Needs more polish in animations and feedback

Conquer Lands is a promising, crunchy, position‑obsessed roguelike deckbuilder that already delivers satisfying runs and clever tactical twists. If you enjoy experimenting with weird builds and don’t mind a bit of chaos, it’s absolutely worth keeping an eye on and maybe grabbing while it’s cheap.