App Army Assemble: Dawnmaker - "Will this strategic deck-builder brighten your day?"

You might have already seen that our very own Will Quick has reviewed Dawnmaker, coming away impressed with this strategic deck-builder. However, we're always happy to gather a few more opinions here on Pocket Gamer, so we also handed Acram Digital's latest effort over to our App Army to see what they thought.

Here's what they said:

Jc Ga

Dawnmaker is a city-building and optimisation game that also functions as a simple deck-building game, with roguelike progression elements. I've only played it for a few hours, and I can't yet say whether, after dozens of hours of gameplay, its content remains as captivating. I prefer short sessions, as I find that completing one mission at a time is enough to be enjoyable: they last just long enough to create tension without becoming tedious, and I appreciate being able to pause afterwards to reflect on my experience and the new synergies I've tested. The gameplay is simple, the interface is well-optimised, and the readability is excellent, even on a mobile screen.

The sound design and graphics are appealing. Learning the rules is so simple and logical that, during my first attempt to test a "speedrun" strategy, I was surprised (and delighted) to see my city quickly become unbalanced and lose in no time. The roguelike elements are very well done; the campaign map with each mission (with its difficulty level indicated), as well as the progressive deck building, are addictive.
However, I did encounter a bug that returns me to the (rather austere) main menu after the end of a mission. But a simple click is all it takes to return to the (very nice) menu screen and resume my game: I also noticed that saving is very frequent.

Overall, I find the game very enjoyable to play: it's a pleasant surprise. Moreover, even though it borrows heavily from different genres, you can feel the dedication of its creators and their desire to offer a game that stands out from the crowd. I recommend it to all fans of the genres it blends.

Eduard Pandele

An interesting deckbuilder / city builder solo boardgame/puzzler that's easy to learn and not that hard to master. The theme is intriguing and well used - smog engulfs the world, it's your job to rebuild civilisation and bring light back. Gameplay is straightforward: cards give you resources, resources pay for buildings, buildings give you more resources and/or access to new cards.

Tune your deck to unlock and use synergies, play the right buildings for combos, and race against time (erm, degradation, actually - smog is eating your resources) to complete your current level's objective. There are three heroes (three decks), and each plays differently; difficulty increases from level to level, but for each deck, the overall strategy is quite similar. The art is fine, the accessibility options are nice, and the only drawback is that there's no replayability, and the game is, in my opinion, too easy for seasoned players. Recommended for beginners.

Bruno Ramalho

I’ve been playing Dawnmaker on my iPhone for a few days now, and I have to admit, I can't stop playing it. I even tried it on my iPad, which is even better for obvious reasons. The game plays quite well on the iPhone; you can see every graphic clearly, and you can zoom in at will whenever you want. Sometimes, some cards stay stuck on the screen, and you need to move the map around to remove them, but nothing too annoying.

The game throws you into its systems fairly quickly, and while there is a tutorial that explains the basics quite well, understanding what all the cards actually do and how everything connects takes time. The graphics are really beautiful, and the eerie soundtrack creates a melancholic atmosphere that fits perfectly with the theme of rebuilding a world lost in smog.

Even without a real and engaging narrative, the setting feels alive, and I didn’t miss a story as much as I thought I would. But the strategy here is key. You are mixing deck-building with city planning, trying to place buildings in the right spots while using your cards in the best possible way. This is not an easy game at all. You need to play a few runs to get to know most of the cards, so expect to lose some games with your city going out of balance very quickly, and the smog getting to you.

But when things start to click, and you realise how to chain actions together or plan a few turns ahead, it feels great. The truth is, Dawnmaker got me hooked, and I couldn't wait to get in for another run. It’s challenging, a bit unforgiving, but very rewarding if you give it the time it asks for. If you enjoy thoughtful strategy games that don’t hold your hand too much, this one is definitely worth a try.

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