Tag: #Ludokultur

Printer vs. Aliens: Topdeck Automat Playtest Is Now Live on Steam

Move over, Master Chief. The new hero of the resistance is… an office printer?

Developer Ludokultur has officially kicked off the first public Steam playtest for Topdeck Automat, a wildly inventive roguelike auto-battler that asks the question: What if the only thing standing between Earth and total alien annihilation was a fleet of repurposed office appliances?

If you’ve ever wanted to watch a hacked flyer printer dish out tactical justice against hordes of invaders, your time has come.

The Premise: Revenge of the Vending Machines

In a dark (but let’s be honest, mostly hilarious) future, alien forces have seized Earth and dismantled every human weapon. However, they made one fatal mistake: they ignored the “harmless” worker droids.

You play as a reprogrammed unit—ranging from office assistants to vending machines—marching to take back the planet. It’s a premise that feels like a love letter to Douglas Adams, trading gritty sci-fi tropes for high-octane stationary and snack-based warfare.

How it Plays: Your Deck Prints Itself

Topdeck Automat blends the strategic depth of a deckbuilder with the “sit back and see if your plan works” satisfaction of an auto-battler. Here is the core loop:

The Printing Mechanic: Instead of manually playing cards, your droid “prints” them during combat. The order is randomised, forcing you to build a deck that is efficient regardless of the draw.

Synergy & Upgrades: With over 200 cards and 100+ stackable modules, the game encourages you to find “broken” builds. Think of it as Balatro meets Brotato—you aren’t just looking for a good hand; you’re looking for an infinite loop of destruction.

Tactical Weather: Random weather effects (20+ in total) force you to adapt your strategy on the fly, ensuring no two runs feel identical.

From the Makers of Rack and Slay

The game comes from the duo behind the “billiards roguelike” hit Rack and Slay. Fabian Fischer (Ludokultur) handles the design and programming, while Victor Negreiro brings the quirky world to life with distinct, vibrant animations. If their previous work is any indication, expect tight mechanics and a “just one more run” gameplay loop.

Join the Alpha Playtest

The playtest went live on March 24, 2026. While the developers note that this is an alpha version—meaning some final art is missing, and it only contains a fraction of the final planned content—the core gameplay loop is fully playable.

The full version is expected to feature:

30 unlockable characters with unique twists.

50 enemy types and a dozen bosses.

Extensive stat tracking and daily challenges.

Ready to join the rebellion? Head over to the Topdeck Automat Steam Page and hit “Request Access” to start printing some alien-demolishing blueprints today.

Find out more here on Steam – https://shorturl.at/U2WHn

#Ludokultur #TopdeckAutomat #roguelike #droids #aliens #gameupdate #games #gaming #gamers #platformer #gameplay #demogame #videogames #arcadegames

24/03/2026

The Machine is In: Why Topdeck Automat is Your New Roguelike Obsession

If you’ve ever felt the soul-crushing despair of drawing a dead hand in a deckbuilder, or the chaotic anxiety of positioning units in an auto-battler, take a deep breath. There’s a new player in town that wants to handle the manual labour for you.

Topdeck Automat is the roguelike auto-battler where the core gimmick isn’t just a feature—it’s the entire engine. In this game, your deck literally prints itself.

The Hook: Automation Meets Adaptation

In most roguelikes, you spend your time agonising over which card to remove from your deck. In Topdeck Automat, you’re building a “factory” of logic. Instead of just playing cards, you are configuring an automated system that generates its own resources, units, and spells mid-combat.

Think of it as Slay the Spire meeting Factorio. You aren’t just a player; you’re the lead engineer of a self-replicating deck of doom.

Why It’s Addictive:

The “Print” Mechanic: As you battle, your “Automat” generates cards based on the modules you’ve installed. Watching your hand fill up with perfectly timed synergies that you programmed is a high unlike any other.
Zero Micro, All Strategy: You do the heavy lifting between rounds. Once the “Start” button is hit, you sit back and watch your creation succeed (or spectacularly fail) based on your blueprint.
Infinite Scaling: Because the deck prints itself, the power ceiling is astronomically high. You’re not limited by what’s in your draw pile; you’re limited only by your engine’s efficiency.

How to Master the “Self-Printing” Meta

To survive the later floors, you can’t just slap random modules together. You need a build path:

Strategy	Focus	Best For…
Overclocking	Speed and high-frequency printing	Burning down bosses quickly.
Recycling	Turning “scrap” cards into permanent buffs	Long, defensive wars of attrition.
Quality Control	Printing fewer, but much more powerful, Elite cards	Precision strikes and bypass shields.

Pro-Tip: Keep an eye on your “Ink” levels. A self-printing deck is only as good as the resources fueling the printer. If you over-automate without a mana battery, your engine will stall right when the boss winds up a heavy hit.

The Verdict

Topdeck Automat solves the “bad draw” RNG that plagues the genre by putting the deck’s very existence in your hands. It feels less like playing a card game and more like winning a brilliant argument. It’s sleek, it’s satisfying, and it’s dangerously easy to say “just one more run.”

Ready to fire up the press? Your deck is waiting to be built… by itself.

Find out more here on Steam – https://shorturl.at/oulyl

#Ludokultur #TopdeckAutomat #roguelike #autobattler #deckprints #workerdroid #synergisticblueprints #alieninvaders #stackablemodules #games #gaming #gamers #gameplay #videogames

25/02/2026