Diligesker’s Lab

Cardelve: A Card Game Where You Win Before the Battle Starts

By Diligesker Lab · Published October 8, 2026 · Based on project records · Report a correction

Cardelve is a single-player card game I am making in pixel art. Its title screen says “The cards take the field. You win before the battle starts.” That line is the whole design. It is still in development, and the current build is in Korean only, so the screenshots below show Korean text. An English version is planned.

Cardelve pixel-art title screen with five cards in different rarity frames above the logo
The title screen, with one card in each rarity frame fanned out above the logo.

Not a deck-builder

Many card games have you draw a hand, spend energy and play cards each turn. Cardelve doesn’t. Each card is a character. Before a fight you choose who goes on the field and where they stand, and then the battle plays itself. You never draw, spend energy or pick an action in the middle of combat.

That moves every decision to the preparation screen. If a fight goes badly, the question isn’t “what should I have clicked?” but “who should have been in the front row?”

Opening the starting bundle

Cardelve starting bundle, a small sack waiting to be opened
Every run begins with a bundle to open. The cards come out one at a time.
Cardelve card selection: ten pixel-art candidate cards to choose six from
Ten candidates, and you keep six. There are no rerolls, so the first choice of the run already counts.

A run starts with a preview of the chapter boss, then the starting bundle. Knowing what is waiting at the end makes the pick meaningful. You are building a team for that fight, not just choosing the six strongest-looking cards.

A map of choices, then the fight

Cardelve branching chapter map with nodes connected by paths
The chapter map: branching paths that lead to the chapter boss.

Between fights you choose a route across a branching map, in the spirit of other roguelikes. The map shows where you are, where the paths lead, what kind of stop each node is and what you are carrying, so the route itself is part of the plan.

Cardelve automatic battle with enemy cards above, player cards below, hit numbers and slash effects
An automatic battle: enemies above, your formation below, with hit numbers and slash effects. The speed controls at the top right go up to 4x.

What changed recently

  • Rarity frames. Cards now have a different frame for each rarity, drawn to sit inside the card instead of around it, and legendary cards shimmer.
  • Bundle opening. Opening the starting bundle got its own short animation.
  • Sound. Sound effects were made and connected to the game, with a checklist that tracks which sounds exist and where each one is used.
  • Effects. Hit effects gained branching shapes and a grainy texture, so they look like they belong to the pixel art.
Cardelve card codex showing each class in several rarity frames
The card codex, sorted by class. Each row shows the same class in every rarity frame.

Where it is now

A full run can be played from the first bundle to the chapter boss. Final art, balance and an English version are still to come. I’ll write again when there is more to show.

Screenshots are from a development build and will change.

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