Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2024
Roots of Yggdrasil
Developer ManaVoid Entertainment
Build settlements, explore the Nine Realms, collect artifacts and upgrade your deck to reach the top of Yggdrasil in this post-Ragnarok roguelike city-builder! Can you survive the end of the world? From the Steam store page
203 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Aug 25, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
81
LovedLoved
154 positive · 36 negative
95% range 75–86%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 154 | 36 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
13 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
316 of 366 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 203 · most liked firstThis game scratches all kinds of itches. I tried Against the Storm, but found it a bit more hardcore than I felt like putting effort into. Roots of Yggdrasil is hits the sweet spot for me as a deep but chill resource/expansion race-against-time game. Bottom line: it's thoughtful and fun to play. You should play it too! Gameplay-wise, imagine ISLANDERS, Slay the Spire, Against the Storm, and Northgard were all cooked together. This leads to a somewhat bonkers mix of genres, where you have a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yes, but prepare for a learning curve longer than the 2h refund window. There is a lot of Stuff here. Deck builder smash together with a city builder wrap in a narrative rogue like. You build cities on island in hopes to achieve objectives to collect seeds. Once you have 2-3 of them you move on to the next island. I have played a lot of city builder but this one was the most confusing. there is so many objectives and so many ways to complete seeds that I wasn't sure which ones where…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game looked really good, but it was just... boring. I found the game play repetitive and I didn't find the story engaging at all. It's still early access, so might improve. I'm not really sure where you would take it from here though. Sorry devs. I feel bad that I'm being down on your hard work :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →NOW 4/22/25 - at this point the developers should just be ashamed. NO MANUAL SAVE. I played for 10 minutes and got bored now because of this; so frustrating. This game is as good as dead. No manual save. I would be a thumbs up, but for this. A lot of us have jobs or family that requires us to not always be able to complete a map and it is frustrating since the time needed for a map is not always able to be estimated and all progress will be lost. For people who may thinking, only play when…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the first few hours, I was really enjoying this game, and was expecting to write a positive review. Fundamentally a puzzle game wearing the skin of a city builder, it was charming, novel, and enjoyable. The characters were cute, if simple. It was only after a few hours that various frustrations started to set in, souring me on the experience, and I eventually got worn out. My complaints are: * While one might at first glance expect that we'd be looking at hex tile placement, this is not…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Roots of Yggdrasil combines city building, card games, roguelikes, and Norse mythology.
unlabelledView post →Don't put reminders in your game to leave a review on Steam. I don't want Nutty the malevolent and poorly grammared chipmunk screaming at me every time I start a run to leave a review on Steam. This game not good. The tutorial takes exactly 2.1 hours, at which point you can no longer return it. It's a Slay-the-Spire rip off except with awful dialog and worse art. Do yourself a favor and just go play or replay slay the spire instead.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is racist and sexist! Yggrdrasyl is from very old Norse mythology. And yet, the main heroes are 3 women - a black one, a hispanic one, and an asian one. I don't have anything against those races, but having them in game with such name is... racist and sexist.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a mild recommendation. The game is fine but feels a little unfinished. I quite enjoyed my first few runs, but after winning my first 3 runs, I realized I had already completed the story of the game and what was left was grinding meta-progression in order to grind a make-your-own difficulty system. While I enjoy a Hades-like Heat system, I prefer it when it arrives late, not after 2 hours of playtime. I was also a bit disappointed to see that the meta-progression does not…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ugh. I want to like this game but it gets very monotonous very fast. The loops are short and the "upgrades" so incremental that you don't actually notice them. It *looks* like there are lots of things to unlock and level up, but "leveling up" your housing units and leaders doesn't actually do anything aside from give you more rewards at the end of the cycle, which is a really strange way of signifying that. The writing is so-so and the little text animations, while cute at first, become grating…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's no real steam option for "It's kind of mid but still a nice way to kill a couple of hours," so here we are. I've been working on unlocks and still can't get the damn Valkyire's achievements, so I guess I'm pretty softlocked out of the story-- which is mostly okay, because to be frank it's a vegetarian sandwich -- no meat to it. Which if you're into light fare, great! It's for you. The loops are mostly satisfying but grow repetitive quickly. You can get a sense of progression and I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my second favorite roguelike city builder after Against the Storm, but that one has beavers in raincoats so it's a pretty unfair contest. Still, I very much enjoy the Norse theme and the aesthetic that blends a rustic feel with touch of future-tech. The core mechanic of playing cards, placing buildings, and trying to generate resources effectively is very addicting, as is the meta progression. You can make some terribly fun combos with the right mix of artifacts and cards. The game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At a high level, its not much fun to play. The meta unlocking aspects are a painful set of mobile game mechanics that dont feel satisfying to work with. It feels like I need to unlock the tree and build up a pile of things in the metagame, for a measly amouint of support in the loops. On the gameplay level, we've got a few different issues, While the idea of a deckbuilding town maker is fun, in practice its a fair amount of boredom. For example, you might have a sapling/quest requiring an eitr…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Roots of Yggdrasil, a hex-based roguelike citybuilder with deck-building mechanics and narrative elements, released on Steam.
unlabelledView post →The runs feel so short that there's not a lot of time to develop your deck that much, so each run feels very similar. Fun for the first few hours, but not a lot of replay value. I think each run being a bit longer, or something to make runs feel distinct form one another would help a lot.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Are there any deck-builder city-builders with meta progression that aren't janky as hell? I played a lot of different deck-builders of all kinds and shapes, and I came to the understanding that it's this exact combination I want. A combination that only this and Dawnmaker really match. Both are from French teams and both were released almost two years ago. And... both are janky as hell. Characters are a bunch of obnoxious crybabies I grew to outright hate Gameplay is very…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR Multiple strategic layers create engaging, complex play in this Norse-themed, deck-based, roguelike building game. Overly-random rolls affect choices, decks, outcomes and ultimately the fun factor. Intro Roots of Yggdrasil is an enchanting game. It draws you in with its charming graphics and art style, calming soundtrack, and multiple layers where players can execute their strategies. At its heart, it is a city building game, with roguelike elements. You play the leader of a flying…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Less than the sum of its parts: Want a city-builder? mechanically, this is Islanders, but with a bunch of extra UI elements between you and your city. the game settings can only make the UI larger and MORE cluttered, never cleaner. Want a deckbuilding roguelike? pick any of them, this one doesn't add anything new or interesting to that genre. you can skim reviewer play hours and see that there's not much replay value. Want mythological themes? play Hades again. The game elements don't support…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I've been playing Roots of Yggdrasil since a couple of months before the full release, and it's been my most-played game since I bought it. I figured after over 40 hours of enjoyment, I owed this game a positive review. One of the most unique things about Roots of Yggdrasil is its premise. The characters are the leaders of a viking settlement looking to escape the Giggungap (the void that eats the world) by making it to the safety of Asgard. In order do to so, they must stop on various floating…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →No options to decrease the visual settings and the game crashed due to a Unity error. I have a pretty basic computer, but my mouse should not lag in the start screen. Refunded.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tons of fun drafting cards and increasing the difficulty of runs using the Trial of the Gods mechanic. The NPC characters you encounter that help progress the story are extremely well thought through and flavourful. Each run offers unique challenges depending on what cards are available to you that run, the artifacts that drop, all combined with the abilities chosen for the Scion and the housing type. Game has a lot of replayability, and the meta progression provides the correct incentives…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This might sound intimidating, but here's the beauty of Roots of Yggdrasil: it's surprisingly intuitive. The deck-building feels like a clever twist on a familiar card game, and the Norse mythological setting is just plain cool. While it can be challenging (especially for those new to the genre), the vibrant comic book art style and the drive to see what the next realm holds keeps you hooked. Sure, you might die a lot, but each run feels like a learning experience, and the satisfaction of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Keep an eye on Roots of Yggdrasil if you’re into Against the Storm! They’re trying out a different take on the roguelike city builder concept
unlabelledView post →It is a fun game. If you like colony builders but get bored after a while, this prevents the boredom by making a rouge like colony builder. The story of being after the end of the world is fun too. i think i would get more out of it if i knew more norse mythology though Edit: I have played more. be warned it can get addicting.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a really fun take on a 4X type game. Buy it. If you're hesitating, just grab it on sale. Great balance between keeping stuff simple enough to jump in and enjoy, while having enough stuff interacting to have some pretty rich strategy. I'm not drawn to deckbuilding as a videogame mechanic usually, but this utilises it to really nice effect, makes for a very cool way to tune your build run-to-run. Also a great balance between strategy you can get invested in and chill vibes that you can…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It got boring after 6-8 hours of gameplay. It's the same thing over and over again, with boring characters and boring dialogues. I'll give like a 6 for the first few hours, and it goes downhill after that.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What an incredibly fun and interesting game! If you are a fan of rogue-like deck builders and city builders the game is fantastic. I hope the devs continue to improve and add to the game. This is quickly becoming one of my all time favorites
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A good game that won't be for everyone. I'm happy I bought it. TLDR: great balance of casual + elements of strategic risk taking. No grand strategy or excessive memory needed. Just do what you can on your turn to get toward the goals, and don't mess up too much. Play sessions can be long (several hours), but it's a restful couple hours. Persistent progression in a few ways, so your play sessions feel like you gained something more than cosmetics and it slowly gets easier, so you can try harder…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I went back and forth on this one. I had a poor first impression, because the mechanics weren't clear to me. I warmed to it as I understood it better, but after running 4 expeditions ("loops") I got bored because each game seemed pretty much like the last one. Not enough changes between games, either in the kinds of maps you see or the upgrades you get from the meta-progression. It's a tile laying game with deck building mechanics. You build villages on floating islands, with the goal of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed the combination of deck building, city management (which is really a puzzle game in disguise because you have limited open space to place buildings near specific resources), and rogue-like. You can usually change your strategy slightly based on what requirements are necessary to advance to the next level.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ok so a pretty straight forward rts / 4x like with a Norse twist. Great. Ok so get to home base, check, improve home base on your way to the end destination, check. Get there. check. GET TOLD TO GO DO IT AGAIN (but with penalties)... ok irritated, but maybe this is the end game? Set all penalites to max, 32/1 if you played before... finish an island. Ok now what? oh same thing. DONE NO LAME 4/10 at a discount because the first playthrough was pretty fun for about 4-5…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is charming and the gameplay loop is so much fun. If you want a chill city builder with an excellent theme, you cannot do better than this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →if this was in early access I would have easily given this a thumbs up, its got a really strong idea but needed more time in the oven, after a few runs you'll notice there isn't much in the way of variety which wouldn't be bad on its own if it had some other way to keep you hooked, the story gets through its main plot at around the 3rd finished run and the side plots feel very strange to even focus on. and during this whole review I have not even mention how one of the resources you can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We're in week two of the #quebecgamescelebration, and we want to shout out another fellow developer. 💜 If you like building decks & settlements with a dash of roguelike elements, all wrapped up in Norse mythology; we have a game for you: Roots of Yggdrasil! 🛠 Check it out: tiny.cc/rootsofyggdr...
unlabelledView post →It's a hybrid of deck building, rogue lite, turn based RTS, and oh yes, colony builder sim. I find it pretty creative and original, a lot different than games I've played before, while also containing things from numerous wildly different genres. The game is very enjoyable, and while it wasn't easy at the start, pretty hard in fact, I picked up on the game mechanics and feel I've gotten pretty good at it fast. The mechanics are challenging at first but can be quick to learn, and it might…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Boring characters.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Well Balanced Seed There will be a TL;DR at the end. ~ The word of the day is “BUT!” It takes a fine craftsman to refine something to fall into a state of perfect balance, which is exactly how I feel about this title. Roots Of Yggdrasil is a mashup of a lot of known elements that have no business being together: Roguelite, deck builder, base management, city builder, turn-based strategy - yet it somehow manages to strike an astonishing balancing act between it all and emerge in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game pleasantly surprised me with its gameplay and engaging turn-based mechanics. Every action requires a thoughtful approach, which adds a layer of tactical depth. With a good balance between difficulty and options, it keeps you engaged and encourages you to plan several steps ahead. The variety of dificulty settings and development possibilities make each playthrough unique. The graphics are decent and cozy, and the sound design nicely complements the atmosphere. Casual. Addictive.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I returned it. It was bleh. The card placement dynamic is like a more tedious version of cardboard town. Kinda glitchy too. I have a 4090 and it struggles sometimes. Fine for $5.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →very slow to get into. i played most deck builders out there. this just isn't a deck builder it's a city buider, but instead of the buildigs, you're drawing cards that have the buildigs oon them. eery run feels the same, need housing, then barracks, then working camps etc. theres no optimization of combos. just requirements. regret buying it. im a sucker for rogue and deckbuilders. dont let the very postive review fool you. it only has 284 reviews total
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🎄📆INDIEFIESTA 2025! Advent Calender Edition!📆🎄 🕹1 game from Quebec everyday! 🕹 Day 6 : Roots of Yggdrasil! This roguelite/deckbuilder/citybuilder takes place after the events of Ragnarok! Rebuild the civilisation... if you can! Loved this one. Really a great game. #indiegame #gaming #gamingtips
unlabelledView post →I absolutely love this game. It was very difficult to wrap my head around the different houses and heroes, but it was so enjoyable when I got things to work! I'm also a huge fan of the roguelike system they implemented, building on The Holt is so much fun!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely gorgeous city-builder and deck-builder. It feels great to build out each little settlement, combo-ing the building and spell cards together to out-pace the darkness. Edit: And it runs flawlessly on Steam Deck! <3
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A really clever game, spicing up a lightweight base-builder with deck-building, run-based roguelite elements, light narrative reveals that are tied to gameplay in a low-stakes way, and a freeform way of unlocking permanent upgrades that mimics the core gameplay itself. You can see where it borrows some of its elements from, and I appreciate the way it incorporates them without feeling anything like the games that it learned from. There are a few quality-of-life things that I'd change (the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game brings me joy. It takes a broad formula very similar to "Slay the Spire" and gives it the charm, character and smoothness of "Hades", combined with the strategic, turn based individual levels, it feels like a real adventure.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Edited and Updated Review, at 26 hours play time: Overall, I recommend the game, with some informational caveats. PROS: +Intriguing blend of different genres. (City-building-themed puzzling + deckbuilding + Hades-like storytelling / meta progression) +Excellent music +Good UI design which helped me quickly understand a lot of mechanics and systems. +Lots of meat to sink your teeth into; there is a lot on offer in terms of strategy and deckbuilding. +Satisfying and well-balanced core…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Seems like a great concept. And that's where it dies. They tried something new, but did they care to make the game? Next, in the first 2 minutes we get the one dude who has a certain color to him, he doesn't have a name and only says "yes ma'am", progress. Quickly skipped tutorial that was painfully obvious and slow. Click end turn simulator. The stakes? Non-existent. Resource management? No. There isn't any decision to be made. No real thinking. You can play this game high and drunk and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game doesn't launch. It's a known issue but apparently the dev is only providing information on the issue on discord instead of just fixing the issue or providing instructions on how to fix the issue.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very wholesome town-builder roguelike with charming art style and excellent replayability. There are games with similar mechanics, but Roots of Yggdrasil doesn't feel derivative with its intriguing story hook, distinctive art style and just general good vibes.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sadly steam doesnt have a point system, I dont like this enough to have fun, I would of given it a 6 or 7 but cant
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →just kinda boring
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →edit: i will say that they have updated a LOT since i wrote this review and the card progression specifically has gotten better, which is really the most important out of all the complaints i had. so even though i started off as a recommend on this game it is now a stronger recommend with less qualifiers! building placement is finicky, you are SO limited in your card selection while you grind out 15-20 cycles getting one new-ish card every 3 games, the character dialogue is sappy, and the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →too much tutorial, just let me sandbox.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →so... I've played around 5 or 6 loops and I'm bored. The art is beautiful, and the concept of basebuilding deckbuilder is novel, but each new loop feels more tedious than interesting. Adding difficulty feels more tedious than it is challenging. The characters don't strike me as particularly interesting so far, there's just not enough of them for me to really feel like they're people rather than talking heads meant to push plot along.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is just simply not a fun game, too much rng, too much jank, too little actually useful stuff.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cozy and engaging roguelike deckbuilder/citybuilder. I'd give it a 7/10 at this point (tutorial and 1 loop completed). Pros: - Nice story (maybe a little light but I don't mind that) and cute, cozy graphics. - Plays well on my 15 year old computer. - Fairly engaging gameplay loop. Each stage of each loop feels a little like the first 20 minutes of a Civ or Age of Empires game. We'll see if it stays "fresh" as I ramp up in difficulty and # of Loops. - Retreads very old gameplay elements…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →lots wrong with it. but the citybuild-roguelite-deckbuild combo works. +short missions +good mission objectives -buggy -few buildings. very slow unlock rate. -mission variety. all similar. -UI problems.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't know why this game is getting so little attention. It's a fun, lightweight deck-builder with a nice soundtrack and plenty of replayability. Some of the mechanics are a little opaque to me, but it wouldn't keep me from recommending the game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →List of games that I need to put on my to play list after #TGAGWCAGA - Paper Perjury - Ereban: Shadow Legacy - #BLUD:ClawsForAlarm - Roots of Yggdrasil: A Valkyrie's Lament - Sorry We're Closed - Catto's Post Office - Ambrose Niflette - Bubblegum Galaxy (I loved the demo, must buy full game)
unlabelledView post →What an incredible discovery. A perfect mix of a City Builder and a Deck Building game, all that with rogue-like progression. The challenges make for added difficulty, although the fact that acorn acquisition doesn't scale with them makes late game progression kinda grindy, I would like to be able to gain 2 acorns per island for difficulties 15 and up for example. Also the home building feels annoying with additional habitations gated behind more grinding. Overall, the first 20-30 runs will…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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