Fights in Tight Spaces

I still remember picking out Fights in Tight Spaces and filing it under the list of games I was looking forward to playing more than most. Between the stylish visuals and the fantasy of outwitting and outmaneouvering many enemies, especially in a confined area via turn-based cardplay, it seemed quite up my alley.
Indeed, the game was much how I imagined it. You start with a deck and have to go through a series of levels, some as small as 9 squares, up to maybe 30 squares at largest. Each level spawns a few enemies with predictable moves, and gives you a hand of cards to deal with them. Play cards, make sure the enemies don't damage you, and wipe everyone out. Between levels, you got new cards, upgrades, and sometimes the opportunity to remove a card or gain a new passive powerup. While the combat aspect is unique (maybe similar to Into the Breach, but I haven't played that yet), the systems surrounding it are pretty standard for a roguelike deckbuilder.

I had a lot of fun with the game. Planning out each turn always required me to think, especially since bonus rewards meant that completing a level well was preferred to just completing it. It was never trivial, but also never too time-consuming to think through all the necessary possibilities. I would say the developers absolutely nailed this aspect of the game. However...
While the game as I experienced it wasn't too easy, I chose the second hardest difficulty right off the bat, and completed the game on my second run. As with many roguelikes, there is metaprogression, and I can tell the game expected me to fail a few more times and unlock better cards and options before beating it. So I didn't really get to experience that part of the game, since I didn't feel like there was much reason to replay it. After all, it was only going to be easier from now on. So my playtime ended at just about 4 hours.
I do also feel like there were some balance problems, with some cards and deck combinations just being significantly worse than others, either due to enemies being immune to them often, or them making it difficult to satisfy the bonus objectives.

Regardless of the problems, I had a fantastic 4 hours. The deckbuilding, roguelike, and replayability aspects were weak, but this has still been one of the best turn-based tactics games I've played, and I would definitely recommend it. It also makes my "favorites of all time" list, but at a lower spot due to the relative lack of content and lower playtime thus.