Active DBG: Brave’s Rageis a fantasy deck-builder roguelike RPG. The name and concept are mouthfuls, but here is a quick breakdown. Players will start on a map, explore, and eventually run into enemies which will trigger a turn-based battle. Cards are used for actions between attacks and defensive plays. While there is a story, it’s more like background lore to get players in the mindset and doesn’t impede gameplay.
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Creatingan addicting roguelikewas seemingly the developer’s first goal ofActive DBG: Brave’s Rage. Players go through chapters, unlocking new heroes and worlds along the way. Deaths will return all items won, but characters will have some progression between runs. That’s the general gist, but there is so much more to get to.
6A Tricky Roguelike That Demands Your Time
Active DBG: Brave’s Rageis as tricky as they come for roguelikes because there are no difficulty settings at the start. As players progress further in chapters, they can tweak settings withsome assist-like features. This may seem counterproductive to the experience. After all, if players can’t beat the first chapter then how are they supposed to discover easier or harder settings? Maybe that can be addressed in a patch, but the tip here might be to just pray.
Roguelike fans should be used to hoping to get lucky. Sometimes a run will be filled with the right rewards and sometimes things may seem stacked against the player. It may take a couple of hours to make it past the first chapter, and it certainly won’t get easier from there. This is not an accessible roguelike akin toHades, so be prepared for a challenge.
5Locales To Visit First
Each map will be populated with a random assortment of markers from monsters to treasure chests to buildings. The first place players should make a beeline toward is the tavern. Players can hire another character to join the team here as long as they have enough gold, so don’t sieve anything until making it there. At first, players can only choose to begin a stage with Evra who is a rogue. Then they will unlock Tracy who is an archer.
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If Evra is chosen as the hero then Tracy will appear in the tavern and the reverse is true if players start with the latter. The more characters a party has, the stronger players will be. It’s simple math fora turn-based RPGsetup likeActive DBG: Brave’s Rage. Other important landmarks include signs that can reveal hidden locales such as springs that are used for healing.
4Leveling Up Your Crew
Characters will not level up on a map. They will instead get stronger through various temporary bonuses that will reset upon death. They can win cards after a battle or discover them on the map. These cards can be upgraded through various means, thus making the party stronger. Equipment such as swords and armor can also be found to boost the party’s might.
Experience is still accumulated even though it’s not apparent. This will be rewarded after players die. Characters that level up will unlock new cards and bonuses to appear in future runs. So, it’s not like players can power throughActive DBG: Brave’s Ragelike other RPGs. They can’t sink hours of time into a character like Evra to make him over-leveled. It’s still all about personal experience and getting good.
3Mastering Your Defenses
Active DBG: Brave’s Rageisdefinitely a roguelikewhere defense is everything. One of the more interesting aspects that players should master is the perfect block. They can slow down time as enemies are about to attack. Once enemies reach a certain threshold of a character’s presence, they will glow red. That’s when players can use any defense card to reduce damage with a perfect block.
There are benefits to using a defensive card normally such as preventing status ailments. Defense cards will often boost health too. To get good at defense means that players also must pay attention to enemy movements. Enemies will signal what their next moves will be from attacks to defensive charges. It can be overwhelming to keep track of everything for a card-based RPG, but there are ways to negate the stress beyond personal experience.
2Check Out Your Deck On The Map
Defense cards are more than defense cards and the same is true for attack cards. This means that every card has some sort of bonus attached to it. A great card game will allow players different ways to play, adding a strategic layer to thisdeck-builder roguelike RPG.
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Knowing is half the battle as that oldG.I. Joeslogan used to go. Players can check out their deck on the world map at any point. Memorize what each card does as that will save precious time in battle.
1Extra Options To Be Aware Of
Having trouble timing those defensive strikes? Can’t get a beat on enemy actions? There are ways to ease the experience via two menu settings that may go unnoticed in battle. Players can reduce or speed up how fast battles transpire. The lowest setting is 0.25 while the highest speed is 2.0.
If players feel like they messed up their turn, they can restart the battle at no additional cost. A good time to use the restart button is when a character falls. So, these two options together aren’t going to miraculously make the game a cakewalk. They can, however, at least improve the odds which is all one can hope forin a roguelike.
Active DBG: Brave’s Ragewas released on June 16, 2025 and is available on PC, PS5, and Switch.
