That Time I Found a Box

That Time I Found a Box is a roguelike deckbuilder about building and modifying cards, choosing when to play them and finding ways to survive. Cards begin as blank slates: you can add effects, upgrade and combine them, and build a deck around the interactions you create. You choose allies, gain favour to make alliances and progress, and try to put the box down and get out alive.

Build and modify cards

Card Effects can be added to cards randomly or deliberately. Each time you play a card, one of its effects is sealed and will no longer trigger. You can unseal effects by upgrading or combining cards, or through certain unique Card Effects.

You can manipulate cards in several ways: combine them in the Combiner, upgrade them in the Vault, or place a card at max tier in the Ascender to rebirth it. When a card reaches tier 5 or 10, it triggers a Tier Up Bonus, and you can choose a Unique Card Effect. Some effects also modify cards in your hand.

A random card from your Card Pool is added to your deck each turn. You can add cards to or remove them from the pool, and put unwanted cards in the Randomiser to change them into something potentially more useful. Other options let you seek effects you want or remove those you do not.

Shape each run

At the start of a run, you choose one of three random cards to set your early strategy. Tier Up Bonuses are randomised each run, creating different opportunities for card combinations. You also unlock perks during runs and assign them before starting another. Perks can bring both bonuses and downsides, and the effects of one perk can turn another perk’s drawback into an advantage.

To progress, you balance opportunistic card upgrades with keeping your allies happy. Falling behind can hinder your progress and ultimately lead to your downfall. A run has three phases: make an Ally, turn an Enemy into an Ally, then defeat the last Enemy.

Purgatory levels

Completing your first run unlocks Purgatory Levels, a New Game+ mode with increased difficulty that may require certain perks to be active. Each time you beat a run on the highest Purgatory Level you have unlocked, you unlock the next one. There are 13 Purgatory Levels.

Cards and progression

The game includes 91 Card Effects, 68 Tier Up Bonuses and 65 perks. Its play board has seven ways to play or manipulate cards: Play Spaces, the Vault, the Combiner, the Randomiser, the Duplicator, and Ascenders Persist and Split.