In the deck-builder Voraxis you're a parasite that eats through a living planet

Voraxis is a really interesting take on deck-building that has you play cards to eat through a living planet, with gameplay that really captured me. Disclosure: a key was provided to GamingOnLinux via our Steam Curator.

A demo is currently available on Steam and the game works perfectly with Proton 10.

How it works: you drop down onto the surface, and you need to eat through various layers while collecting an element called "anima" that allows you to upgrade your cards during a run, and buy new cards in the shop between layers of the planet. The key is all in the movement here, as you need to eat through each layer in a certain amount of turns while also hitting a certain score.

Each card is a different type of movement that could move you in any direction one tile or multiple tiles in one go. Cards can also have various effects on them like increasing a bonus (which can depending on when you play the card), infecting tiles and more. But you also have to avoid eating certain tiles that will reduce your score, while other tiles you cannot eat and will block your path so you need to plan ahead. The sections are only small though, and so initially it doesn't seem too hard - but the points requirement is where the real challenge is. In the same way you need to hit the score each round in the likes of Balatro, maximising every turn can be difficult here.

When you make it to the end of a section, your score and turns left will be added up to give you more of the anima resource to then use to buy cards and buy upgrades for your run. Then it's back to the next layer of the planet to repeat until you manage to reach the end of a run.

Check out the trailer below:

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Really interesting idea, with some nice visuals and a simple yet effective gameplay loop that's satisfying and will really hook you in. One to stick onto your wishlist after trying out the demo.

Key Features

Your Deck is Your Drill: Forget traditional "attack" cards. In Voraxis, your deck controls your direction and your ability to clear the grid.

Evolve or Be Digested: The planet is mutating, and you must too. Customize your deck with Evolutions and Mutators that allow for wild run-to-run builds. Turn a simple "Move Left" card into a terrain-shattering explosion or a resource-vacuuming tool.

Death is Just a Nutrient: Failure is part of the cycle. Unlock new cards, build defining mutators, and powerful evolutions.

A Living, Pulsing World: You aren't just mining rocks; you’re tunneling through flesh, bone, and ancient cosmic matter. Time is of the essence!

Launch Content

• 30+ Playing Cards
• 60+ Mutators
• 50+ Different Evolutions
• 10+ Catalysts to come

No current date is noted for the full release.