Product Info

Platform

PC

Publisher

SHUEISHA GAMES Inc.

Developer

Koeda

Genre

Puzzle, Strategy/Tactics

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

2 GB

Release Date (NA)

Feb 5, 2026

Purchase From

Steam

ANTHEM#9 is a strategic roguelite deck-building game with artistic styles and straightforward gameplay mechanics that make it a fun game to pick up. However, it does have some issues, such as difficulty spikes. If you’re looking for a story to build off of, you won’t find one in this game.

Build It, Gem It

Developed by Koeda, ANTHEM#9 is a stylish deck-building indie game that requires strategic thinking. If you aren’t careful, you may exit the mission before you know it. The gameplay mechanics are straightforward, and the game offers a tutorial that can be accessed at any time if needed.

In each turn, players receive a set of random colored gems (red, blue, green). These gems are used to stack skills from the Skill Deck. Each skill requires a specific combination of gems, such as two green gems and a blue gem. Skills have unique effects, like inflicting poison or dealing damage. The key to defeating your opponent is to create combos by sharing gems to activate multiple skills. For example, using a green and blue gem for the Hard Edge skill, then adding a red gem to initiate a second attack. This not only uses fewer gems but also adds extra skills to your turn, helping to deplete your opponent’s stamina gauge. Successfully cancelling all of your opponent’s planned skills triggers a bonus for additional damage. Players must also be mindful of the time limit when making decisions, as attacks will initiate once time is up. 

Before adding gems to skills each turn, players can choose a Blessing card to aid them in battle. These cards can do various effects, such as canceling opponent attacks or increasing attack strength for the turn. However, be cautious as some battles, especially boss battles, may fill your Blessing deck with Noise cards that offer no benefit. Charms can also be used to boost stats and aid players throughout the mission, gaining these will make some battles more favorable for you.

Players must keep track of the number of gems they have left, as there is a limit on how many can be carried over to the next turn. A color separator on the gem slot indicates the limit, and any excess gems will be dropped.

On a Mission

That’s just scratching the surface, as the game’s deck-building adds more rules and additions as you play further. Players can choose between three assassins (Rubit, Phannie, Beni), each with their own unique set of skill and blessing cards and utilizing action points (AP). For example, Rubit can use AP to swap gem colors and/or grow seeds attached to random gems, activating additional skills for combo attacks. Playing as Phannie will give you random double gems in a slot, and Beni can use AP to exchange gems to add buffs like gaining power or recovering health points.

You’ll grasp each character’s unique AP mechanics after a couple of missions. Each character has four missions. Completing those will earn you extra missions with their own set of rules, like regular battles against a boss. Each mission, whether completed or not, resets the deck including charms. Players will have to rebuild their deck and add additional skills and charms when entering a new mission. Missions place the character in a dungeon with two levels, sometimes more. Each level has a set of floors, but not all are encountered. You start from the left and select floors until reaching the end on the right. Before starting an activity on a floor, players can choose up to three floors. Some are battles, shops, skill gains, healing, and more. Choose a path and make your way to the last floor to face the level’s boss.

Playing in various modes, there have been battles where the difficulty feels random. For example, the boss on the last floor felt unbalanced, as no matter what was in my deck, the player couldn’t win, even in a normal battle. Healing isn’t easily accessible for some characters, making battles more challenging. The game will test your deck-building skills and continue to do so in the extra missions. If normal mode becomes too challenging, easy mode can help players understand the game’s basics better, making combos easier and providing additional time on the timer. If you are seeking a challenge, the game delivers that.

ANTHEM#9 doesn’t have dialogues or world-building around the characters and their enemies. It’s a straightforward jump into the game, allowing you to play anytime without worrying about the game’s story. If a story isn’t a concern, then that’s one less thing to worry about in this roguelite game. Learning more about the characters and their backgrounds could enhance the game’s world and add additional flavor.

Killing it With Style

The game’s artistic style is what initially catches your attention. Its creative and simple interface, unique character designs, animated text, and graphics all contribute to a stylish design reminiscent of games like Persona 5. The enemy designs have a creepy style similar to the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Final bosses are more detailed, though not as detailed as the three playable characters. The animation when your stacked combos pile up and slam into your enemy not only looks good but also feels satisfying to hear the impact. The game’s soundtrack features some great tunes with jazz vibes, and the music played during the boss fight on the first level is upbeat and fun.

Overall, it’s a fun and stylish strategic game that sets itself apart from many deck-building games.

The Final Gem

ANTHEM#9 is a stylish and strategic roguelite deck-builder that combines gem-matching combos with tactical depth and strong presentation. Despite its uneven difficulty and lack of story, the game’s creative mechanics and satisfying gameplay make it a rewarding experience for strategy fans.

A Steam code was provided for this review. ANTHEM#9 is available now for the PC (Steam).