Delving the Virtual Depths – Clank app review

(1/14/25: This issue appears to have been fixed! A while back, actually, in December. Sorry for being late to report that. Not that anybody’s looking at this review anyway…)

(11/28/24: It appears that Clank is suffering from the same asynchronous multiplayer problem that Dune: Imperium suffers from (unless the recent update actually fixed that game. Other players, except perhaps the first one, can’t view the results! Multiple friends have reported this issue, though one person was able to see the results, so it may be the first person can see them but not the others. This really needs to be fixed here too)

Dire Wolf Digital has made some amazing games, both for the tabletop as well as app versions of tabletop games.

Sometimes it’s just the virtual edition of a great board game, like the recently-released Cascadia.

Sometimes it’s just a tabletop game like the recently-released Wild Tiled West.

But sometimes it’s both, as they make the virtual version of their own game!

Clank was the first of many iterations of a great combination of deck-building games and moving around a board. It came out in 2016 and was designed by Paul Dennen with artwork by Rayph Beisner, Raul Ramos and Nate Storm. It was published by Dire Wolf Digital and Renegade Game Studios.

A couple of weeks ago, Dire Wolf published the mobile version (iOS and Android) as well as brought the Steam version out of Early Access, making it accessible to a lot of people.

Before I get started, I have to admit that I do prefer Clank in Space to this one, but the original fantasy game does have some attractions (and a bunch of expansions which will hopefully make their way to the digital platform at some point).

What are they?

Let’s find out!

While I’ve reviewed the Space version of Clank (linked above), I haven’t done that for the original, so you can consider this a review of the game itself as well as the digital app.

I am a huge fan of deckbuilding card games, but the “just deckbuilding” thing gets kind of old after a while.

I enjoy the ones I play, but if something new comes out with deckbuilding, it’s probably not going to attract me unless it has something more.

Clank has players diving deep into a cavern under a castle, trying to steal a valuable dragon’s treasure and then trying to return to the surface.

Why is there a dragon hiding underneath a castle hording its bits?

Who knows?

You do that by playing the cards in your hand (five cards, though some cards will let you draw more) and using the symbols that are on the cards: boots (movement), swords (fighting monsters) and skill (to help you buy more cards!).

You can get more cards by using Skill to buy from the Dungeon Row.

As with any deckbuilder (or most of them, anyway), you place these cards in your discard pile, to reappear in your deck when your deck runs out.

To move to an adjacent space, you need a boot from the cards you played. Some paths require two boots.

And some have monsters in the path, which means you need a sword for each one or you will take a wound for each one you don’t fight.

This mix of movement and card play is what makes the Clank games for me as I really do love it.

You have to invest in cards that will give you movement, fighting, or both (along with the Skill to buy more, of course). If you go Sword-heavy, then you will be stuck.

If you go Boot-heavy, then you’ll move around a lot but you’ll be taking some damage depending on the passages you take.

These are the choices you have to make.

One issue with the game, however, is that there aren’t a lot of ways to trash the starter cards in your deck to make your deck more efficient. That’s been a problem with other Dennen designs overall, so I guess he doesn’t see that as important.

Decks can get pretty bloated.

What’s even more fun, though, is the dragon.

The dragon starts out at a certain level of rage. Each time an artifact is picked up, that rage increases.

As you stumble around the dungeon, you will be generating “clank” cubes.

When a space in the Dungeon Row is replaced by a card with the dragon symbol on it, all of those clank cubes are tossed in the bag along with the black “nothing happens” cubes that are already in there.

For each player’s cube that’s drawn, that player takes a wound.

If you lose all of your life points, you’re dead!

But more on that later.

The app showcases this dragon attack brilliantly, with the cubes popping up in smoke and flame from the dragon on the top left. If it’s black (or a player colour for somebody who’s escaped/eliminated already), it just drifts to the bottom of the screen.

If it’s a hit?

The cube runs right toward you and explodes.

The goal of the game, of course, is the artifacts. The deeper into the dungeon they are, the harder they are to get to but also the more points they are worth.

You will also be getting points for some of the cards that you put into your deck.

The number in the top right is the points value of the card.

You can’t leave the dungeon until you have an artifact, whichever one you chose to take (or, if you bought a backpack at a Market space, which for some reason all of which are underground so I can’t imagine they get much business, you can carry a second artifact).

This leads to one of the main problems with the base Clank game, which is mitigated in the Space one, and perhaps in the expansions though I’ve never played them.

The game is susceptible to a player running into the dungeon, getting the easiest artifact, and then getting the hell out.

The reason why this can be a problem is that somebody escaping triggers the end game.

If you escape or are eliminated, there are four rounds left in the game.

Play continues as normal, but when it comes to your turn (or anybody else who has escaped or been eliminated), you just draw four cubes from the bag, potentially injuring players who are still around.

At the end of those four rounds, though, the game ends!

Those who have an artifact and make it to the above-ground portion of the map are still rescued and get all the points they’ve earned (including their artifact).

If they are in the depths of the dungeon, though, they are dead and get no points.

Some people don’t like that.

Once the endgame is triggered, you are just trying to get out, as long as you have an artifact.

Where’s the fun in that if the game just basically started?

Thankfully, though, if you do manage to fully escape, you get a 20 point Mastery token, adding that to your total points and potentially making you the winner of the game.

I really do enjoy the variety of things you can do in this game, from fighting monsters to get gold (which is points, unless you want to spend 7 gold on something in the Market that will benefit you, such as a key to get through locked doors or something) to trying to be sneaky as you wander the dungeon.

Another reason I prefer the Space game is because it has card factions which can make certain cards even more powerful.

Base Clank doesn’t have that, though there is a nod to it with things like Companions, which will give you a bonus if you have another Companion in your play area.

Some cards also give you special bonuses if you have a Crown, or perhaps have picked up a 5-point Monkey Idol in your travels.

It’s at least something, though I prefer the faction chaining.

All in all, Clank is a fun game that I really enjoy. It’s also relatively quick, which is nice compared to Space, which can run long.

So that’s the game. How about the app?

Dire Wolf has once again knocked it out of the park with the Clank app.

The graphics (as you can see from the screenshots) are really great. The excellent artwork crisp and clean.

I love the effects when the dragon attacks. It just immerses you in the game more.

When you see your cube gliding towards you, and then exploding, it’s nerve-wracking.

The user-interface is pretty good too, with the things you’ve earned from your cards (Skill, Boots and Swords) clearly showing on the bottom right. The Dungeon Row is clearly shown on the right side, though you can tap the top right space in it to enlarge it.

The AI isn’t too bad, from what I’ve seen, though I haven’t played all versions of it. It’s nice to be able to fire up the app solo and play a 4-player game.

The app also offers asynchronous and live online multiplayer with friends. You can create a table with a password and then give the password to your friends, or you should be ab le to invite friends to a game, though I haven’t figured out the best way to do that, though.

One minor niggle with the asynchronous multiplayer (though it’s minor compared to how smooth it is otherwise) is that it would be nice to be able to skip through a replay of other players’ turns. The replay can be quite long in a 4-player game and other than you getting a wound or two when they make the dragon attack, their turns don’t really affect you.

It’s not as bad as Dune: Imperium (I should really update my review of that to talk about the replays), but it’s still not optimal.

I’ve also heard reports of other players (not the player who ended the game) not being able to see the final results screen. I’m not sure if that’s universal or not, but it’s something that needs to be fixed.

I also haven’t tried the game on my iPhone yet, but on the iPad it looks brilliant.

The only interface issue that I could mention is that it’s not obvious how to access the Market options when you get to a Market.

That could just be me, though.

The app comes with a tutorial that is actually very good, showcasing most of the things you need to know about playing the game (though strangely enough, nothing about the Market!)

The Clank app is another Dire Wolf home run, though it maybe just slipped over the wall due to a couple of minor issues.

The game is really good and the app just makes it that much easier to play.

Check it out on Steam, iOS or Android and see what all of the fuss is about.