Fogpiercer Review: A Roguelike Deckbuilder Where Your Train Is Your Deck
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Short answer: Fogpiercer is a sci-fi roguelike deckbuilder where your armoured train is your deck: every carriage you attach adds cards, and you fight off raiders by knocking them into cliffs, hazards and each other. Players rate it Very Positive on Steam (83% of 646 reviews), and critics praise its chain-reaction combat while noting thin story and plain visuals. It is a full release with a free demo. If you like tactical deckbuilders, it is a good pick at $19.99.
What is Fogpiercer?
Fogpiercer is a roguelike deckbuilder from Mad Cookies Studio, published by Hooded Horse. You build a train from a locomotive, carriages and a driver, and each choice adds cards to your starting deck. Then you ride through fog-covered regions on branching routes, fighting enemy vehicles in turn-based battles, stopping at stations for repairs and upgrades, and facing bosses at the end of each region.
| Developer | Mad Cookies Studio |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Hooded Horse |
| Release | 17 July 2026 |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux |
| Genre | Roguelike deckbuilder, strategy |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (83% of 646 reviews) |
| Price | $19.99 |
What players and critics love
Chain reactions and positioning
Enemies drive in lanes and come at you from several sides. You push them off cliffs, into hazards or into each other, and destroyed vehicles skid into the ones behind them for extra damage. Turn Based Lovers called these skid wipes “nothing short of incredible”, and LadiesGamers enjoyed how clever the tactical combat feels. Where you place carriages and which way your guns face also matter.
Your train is your deck
More carriages give you more action points, but also more targets for enemies. Rogueliker described the way train building and deck building feed each other as “a smart little self-reinforcing loop”. There are over 170 cards, from miniguns and mortars to shields, decoys and hacks that take over enemy vehicles.
Clear information
Enemy intentions and attack previews are easy to read, the game warns you about unused actions, and you can undo turns. Turn Based Lovers wrote that the game “excels at surfacing the information a player needs”, and LadiesGamers found the learning curve approachable.
Plays well anywhere
It has full controller support and accessibility options, including a god mode. Steam Deck HQ gave it 5/5 for Deck performance with a steady 60 FPS, and Explosion Network found it ran smoothly on Deck with either controller or mouse.
Runs and unlocks
There are four drivers, each with their own mechanics and bonus cards. Between runs you unlock new carriages, drivers and locomotives, and buy permanent upgrades with railroad spikes earned from tasks. Beating the game unlocks harder replays.
What to know before you buy
- Hard start. Explosion Network and Rogueliker found the early game harsh and some fights partly down to luck; LadiesGamers notes boss difficulty has since been patched.
- Slow unlocks. Steam Deck HQ felt unlocks come slowly and new cards are not always better than the starting ones. Some reviewers found the environments repetitive.
- Little story. Steam Deck HQ and Turn Based Lovers both say the story is close to non-existent.
- Modest looks. Turn Based Lovers found the textures and card art plain, and Metacritic’s critic average is 73, with Checkpoint Gaming saying it “has great bones, but ultimately lacks meat”.
- Try it first. A free demo is available on Steam. There is no DLC.
Who should buy Fogpiercer?
Buy it if you enjoy tactical deckbuilders where positioning matters as much as your cards, or if you like trains and post-apocalyptic settings. For another sci-fi deckbuilder where your vehicle shapes your deck, read our Breachway review.
Sources
- Steam store page and user reviews for Fogpiercer
- Explosion Network: Fogpiercer review
- LadiesGamers: Fogpiercer review
- Steam Deck HQ: Fogpiercer review and performance
- Turn Based Lovers: Fogpiercer review
- Rogueliker: Fogpiercer impressions
- Metacritic critic listing
- Nexus store page for Fogpiercer
Last checked against sources: 11 November 2026.
