One of my favorite games is Slay the Spire, a rougelike deckbuilder where you venture up through various levels of a mysterious tower, defeating all enemies you meet along the way.
One key mechanic of Slay the Spire is deckbuilding. You begin with a set of cards that grant you various actions you can use on each level: for example, attacking and defending against enemies. After most levels, you are given the option to add cards to your deck, which you can use on future levels to defeat stronger opponents. Another key mechanic is procedural level generation. Levels are procedurally generated with an element of randomness, so you never know exactly which opponents you will encounter on your journey through the spire.
These mechanics helps create the dynamic of strategic planning where you must carefully choose which cards you add to your deck to effectively survive any enemy you may encounter. Since you do not know which cards you may encounter on any given level, nor the exact opponents you will encounter, there are many options to consider when adding any one card to your deck. For example, certain cards may be very powerful, but only in combination with another card or against a specific enemy.
This dynamic helps create both challenge and exploration. Players must work to overcome progressively more difficult enemies and a large part of the fun is figuring out how to work with the cards you are given to create the strongest deck. Additionally, the large number of cards and enemies allows room for exploration: discovering new cards and new combinations of cards to create stronger decks.
