The Bazaar

I fell into The Bazaar because I wanted an autobattler that rewarded creativity — and mostly got it. It mixes roguelike drafting, a board‑building feel and asynchronous PvP (you fight other players' ghosts) into something fresh, even if the launch‑era baggage is loud.

At its core The Bazaar is an autobattler/deckbuilder hybrid: you pick a hero, collect items, skills and beasts, and slot them onto a small board to face PVE encounters and other players' builds. Runs play like a roguelike — shops, random drops and choices force you to improvise. The asynchronous PvP is neat: you don’t face live opponents, but their boards show up as ghosts you must outplay. There are hundreds of items and enchants, fully voiced encounters and a variety of heroes with distinct identities. The game rewards creative synergies — sometimes a single bizarre combo will carry you — which scratches the same itch as Hearthstone Battlegrounds but with a heavier item/engine focus. On the downside, fights and transitions can feel slow (no true fast‑forward), and the balance/meta shifts regularly — fun for experimenters, frustrating for perfectionists. Technical issues and server lag pop up for some players, and the DLC model (paid heroes) is a frequent sore spot in the community. Still, when the pieces click the gameplay loop is highly addictive and endlessly replayable.

The Bazaar is a rare, creative autobattler with a fantastic core loop — just be prepared for rough edges. Buy the base game if you love engine‑building and grab extras on sale; don't expect a flawless launch experience.