Deck of Haunts News

Thanks to all the players already letting their haunted heart beat in their new sinister domain!

Time for a first patch.

If you've encountered any other bugs or crashes, you're always welcome to log them in the Steam Discussions, we'll have a look at them tomorrow!

V1.01
Fixed Bugs

• Fixed Pinpricks cost to not reset when Banished or Sacrificed.
  
• Disabled Mouse Smoothing.
  

Changes

• Prevent pathfinders from going straight into the heart the turn after they spawn by implementing an idle turn.
  
• Unlock Bell Crush at level 5 instead of level 10.
  
• Added invalid target and not enough AP messages when playing invalid cards.
  
• Added notification icon for new unlocked items in the collection.
  
• Credits expanded and added speed up when left mouse button is held down.
  

And again, a big thank you ❤️

Welcome to your own haunted domain!

We are excited to announce that Deck of Haunts, the roguelike deckbuilder that puts you in control of a vengeful haunted house, has officially launched today on Steam!

To celebrate the release, we have unveiled a brand-new launch trailer that beckons players to embrace their inner villain and head into the madness.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Working on this project with our 5-headed team for a little over a year, we are thrilled to share this experience with you! If you like Deck of Haunts, please consider giving it a review! Thank you for all the support!

- Mantis Games

[h2]About Deck of Haunts[/h2]

"Terror has a new address. Your deck is your weapon. Your house, the trap. Deck of Haunts lets you build the nightmare, one room at a time."



In Deck of Haunts, you are the haunted house.

By day, meticulously construct your mansion room by room, placing traps, spirits, and eerie anomalies to build a twisting, cursed domain. As night falls, lure humans into your lair and let the haunting begin. With a deck of fear-inducing cards at your disposal, you'll bend reality, shift hallways, summon specters, and drive intruders to the brink of madness. Once their sanity shatters, you’ll extract their essence to fuel your growing power and expand your mansion.

But your rise in infamy won’t go unchallenged. The more essence you claim, the stronger your enemies become, from skeptical police to holy exorcists and the ominous Stone Masons who seek to end your reign of terror.



Critics are already singing the game’s twisted praises:

“A hauntingly addictive deck-building roguelite that had me hooked for hours on end!” ​
​- Central Comics

"Deck of Haunts is a roguelike deckbuilder where you play as a malicious haunted house, and everyone should play it. It’s utter bliss."
​- VICE

"A deckbuilder where you play as a haunted house is such a brilliant idea." ​
​- PC Gamer

“Deck of Haunts makes you a literal haunted house in a fun twist on deckbuilding roguelikes.”
- PCGamesN

“A delightfully ghoulish roguelike that lets you build your own haunted house.”
- Tech-Gaming.com

"A gruesomely haunted builder that will steal your essence with a whisper and have you coming back for more."
​- Digital Logik

“Insanely gleeful, grim, and impossible to put down.”
- The Gaming Outsider



Whether you're a deckbuilder fan, a horror lover, or just ready to embrace your darker side, it's time to become the nightmare. Deck of Haunts is available now on Steam.

Hey ho! Philippe here, VFX artist (among other roles in our small team) for Deck of Haunts.
For those of you not in the know, when I write VFX, I refer to Visual Effects. ✨

I've been pumping out explosions, sparks and magic for some years now, but never in this dark grungy and almost isometric style. (You can find more about the art style here)

Real time visual effects are not only the cherry on top of everything else, but are also used to better convey gameplay elements towards the player. By combining elements from texturing, modeling, tech-art and animation, you can conjure up all sorts of interesting illusions to breathe life into the game world.

The most important part doing VFX for Deck of Haunts, is that you have to put the emphasis on the player being the house. I had to keep this in mind with every particle effect I made, since it is really easy to fall into the trap of just making everything look "magical", rather than grounded in the house.

To give you an example, this is the effect we had at the very early stages of the project, for "Shifting Hallways" AKA teleporting a human to a random room:



As you can see it has more something of a wizards finger snap & teleport, than the actual house doing something to the human.

Here is a rework of the effect. Some planks coming out of the ground and pushing the human into another room:



Of course it all needs to go fast to not put a drag on gameplay.

In our recently released "Release Date Trailer" you can see some of the effects that I loved making, for instance the dissolving of a card when it gets banished or the lightning storm towards the end of the video:

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Being a VFX artist, a lot of times that also means optimizing the game.

Here you can see the before and after of a specific ground material. The less red, the better the performance. Profit!



There are a ton more of effects I'd like to share with you, but... You'll have to play the game to find out what they all are, not spoiling any more ;).

If you've made it until here, well done!
Thank you for reading and I hope to see all your cool house builds on socials or on this hub, once the game is out 🖖

PS: Make sure to tell your friends to wishlist Deck of Haunts, it helps a ton! 🔔

Hey!

Some friends of ours released their game, BLOOD BAR TYCOON, this February 2025! And guess what: it’s a super cool, darkly humorous tycoon game where you abduct humans to feed vampires! If you're into the DECK OF HAUNTS vibe, there's a good chance you'll love this too!

They're an indie team, just like us, so be kind and show them some support. The game is currently on sale! Go check it out!

Have a great day!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2776780/Blood_Bar_Tycoon/

We are excited to announce that Deck of Haunts will launch on May 7, 2025!

Deck of Haunts is a sinister deckbuilding roguelike where players take on the role of a malevolent haunted house. In this eerie title, players build their mansion, lure unsuspecting humans into it, and terrify them into madness, or kill them, using a variety of haunting cards.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]A House of Horrors Await[/h3]

After refining its mechanics through demos and player feedback, Deck of Haunts is ready to unleash its frights for the full release, which includes a host of new horrors, including an expansive arsenal of haunt cards, a variety of mansion rooms to build with, human traits to exploit, and formidable new bosses.

[h2]Features in the Full Version[/h2]

A Slew of Cards to Haunt With: A vast array of haunts at your disposal, from damage-dealing scares to tension-building tricks and cunning traps.

Expansive Room Types to Build Your Mansion With: Design a nightmare maze with basic rooms like kitchens and bell towers, plus special chambers like the Phobia Room, Mechanical Room, and Sacrifice Room, each affecting gameplay in different ways.

The Witch: Roaming the mansion, she inflicts terror on humans once she is summoned from the bell tower.

Bosses Enter the Building: The Stonemasons return, but they won’t be alone. Three additional fearsome human adversaries will challenge your haunted rule.

Human Traits and Items: Pesky humans bring more variety than ever, with traits like Pathfinder, Bleeder, and Frail, alongside new items like Pistols, Compasses, and Holy Books that alter their behavior in your mansion.

Meta-Progression for Multiple Runs: Unlock new haunt cards, rooms, and human traits as you grow in power.

Endless Mode: Unlockable after certain conditions are met, this mode lets you test your haunting prowess in an infinite nightmare.

Reactions & Naming Visitors: Listen to their terrified quips as they navigate your cursed domain, and rename them for an extra bit of fun!

40 Steam Achievements: Prove yourself as the ultimate haunted house master with a variety of challenges.

Prepare to haunt your victims with sinister strategies while growing your deck of cards and the mansion itself, ensuring every run is a different nightmare for those who dare to enter.