Get ready to shuffle your decks and delve into dungeons of your own design with Into the Restless Ruins!
Into the Restless Ruins, the highly anticipated roguelike deckbuilder from developer Ant Workshop and publisher Wales Interactive, launches to the world.
This unique title, which intriguingly has you construct the perilous mazes you then explore, is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC for £12.99.
We’ve been keenly watching this one, previously covering how you can build your own doom as Into the Restless Ruins heads to consoles and PC and even featuring it in our 15 NEW Xbox Games Due to Release in May 2025 That Will BLOW YOUR MIND!
Construct Your Challenge, Then Survive It
Into the Restless Ruins flips the script on traditional dungeon crawlers. Instead of just exploring pre-made labyrinths, you actively build them using a deck of cards representing rooms, corridors, and other features.
Once your creation is laid out, you’ll then auto-battle your way through it, harvesting as much “Glimour” as you can from the cursed residents before darkness inevitably overcomes your torch.
Your ultimate goal? To earn favours from the mysterious Harvest Maiden, find powerful Relics to trade with characters plucked from Scottish folklore, upgrade and curate your deck, and hopefully become strong enough to face “The Warden” lurking at the end.
A Deck of Dungeons: Crafting Your Path
The core gameplay loop is a fascinating blend of strategy and consequence:
- Dynamic Deck and Dungeon Building: With 116 cards across seven categories (Rooms, Corridors, Curses, Boons, Herbs, Trinkets, and Injuries), you’ll create the dungeon as you play. Each card placed shapes the layout, adds buffs or curses, and directly affects your run. You can modify your deck by earning the Maiden’s favour or by interacting with characters found within the ruins.
- Strategic Room Synergies: Placement is everything! Rooms like campfires, libraries, armouries, graveyards, and portals have unique uses and can trigger powerful effects when combined intelligently, forcing you to adapt your approach to every challenge.
- Auto-Battle & Resource Collection: Once your section of the ruin is built, your adventurer will auto-battle through it, allowing you to focus on the strategic implications of your dungeon design and resource gathering.
Rooted in Scottish Folklore, Ripe with Replayability
The game world is deeply inspired by Celtic legends and Scottish folklore, featuring witches, faeries, and the eerie Harvest Maiden herself.
For a truly immersive experience, players even have the option to play the game in Scottish Gaelic! The haunting atmosphere is further enhanced by a soundtrack from Scottish synthwave artist Russell Nash.
Endless replayability is a key design pillar. Each run offers a new dungeon layout, fresh challenges, and evolving strategies. You’ll unlock rule-changing modifiers called Cantrips, discover hidden “echoes” trapped in the ruins (deciding their fate), expand your card pool with every victory, and find passive charms and weapons to unlock and master across six distinct ruin environments.
Our Thoughts: An Addictive Dungeon-Building Delight
We’ve already had the chance to delve deep Into the Restless Ruins for our review, and it’s a uniquely compelling experience. We awarded it a 4/5 score, stating:
“Into the Restless Ruins manages to make building dungeon layouts addictively strategic and a whole lot of fun. Deciding which cards to use, where to extend the reach of your rooms, and how to ensure they complement each other, is very enjoyable. Venturing into the ruins to witness your work first hand is great, despite the high chance of getting lost being a bit of a nuisance. It’s also a shame that the enemies are lacklustre and the big bad wardens are a little too easy to topple.“
Key Features
- Unique Roguelike Deckbuilder & Dungeon Creator: Build the dungeon with cards, then auto-battle through it.
- Deep Strategic Gameplay: 116 cards, strategic room synergies, and resource management.
- Rooted in Scottish Folklore: Explore a world inspired by Celtic legends, with an optional Scottish Gaelic language track.
- Endless Replayability: Procedurally generated ruins, unlockable modifiers (Cantrips), new cards, charms, and weapons across multiple runs.
Will You Brave the Ruins You Create?
Into the Restless Ruins offers a fresh and strategic twist on the deckbuilder and roguelike genres, wrapped in a captivating Scottish folklore theme.
Ready to craft your own challenges and test your strategic mettle? It’s available right now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC for £12.99.
The Harvest Maiden awaits.
Into the Restless Ruins Description
Into the Restless Ruins is a roguelike deckbuilder. Use your deck of cards, representing rooms and corridors, to grow the labyrinth of the ruins. Then auto-battle your way through them, harvesting as much Glimour as you can from the cursed residents before darkness overcomes your torch.
