The Amazing American Circus has a very cute concept and a lot of effort has evidently gone into creating the ideal atmosphere for it. However, once you’ve spent enough time on the game to get into it, you can’t help but notice the rough edges that could use a bit more finesse.
The Amazing American Circus
Klabater · Sep 16, 2021
About
Dare to challenge famous P.T.Barnum and live through the exciting Gilded Age era! We blended a card game, strategy, and a tycoon to create a single-player deck builder game with a twist. Build a strong deck, recruit performers, explore America, and become the greatest showman on Earth!
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Scores by platform
Critic reviews
- 6.7Despite the game growing on me once I learned the ropes, I can’t recommend this game in its current state. There are too many bugs and a few achievement glitches. There is a good amount of variety in the performers but learning how everything works can take some time. The game also starts to feel very tedious in the last area when all the performances are three acts long. If this circus comes to town I’d give it a pass unless they upgraded it. Right now only a matinee show would be worth checking out (if there was a discount).
- The Great American Circus’ strengths lie first and foremost in its family friendly premise and presentation. That smart lure roped me in to a well fleshed out card match game with a leveling system that doesn’t quite grab me. If that and an uphill climb for making a comeback in a performance doesn’t deter you, then there’s a lot of fun to be had in this upcoming attraction.
- 3.0The idea of a card battler game that isn’t necessarily about combat sounded appealing, and its 1800s travelling circus theme makes a rather interesting backdrop. But its gameplay just isn’t fun, and its systems are convoluted and often make little sense. Chances are you’ll get so fed up of long-winded, unsuccessful performances that you’ll give up long before you make any sort of meaningful progress.
- 5.0The core concept surrounding The Amazing American Circus, as I have said before, is a delightful one, but sadly, the execution is less than desirable. The card-based battles here quickly feel repetitive, and I struggled to be engaged with its story due to its shaky voice acting. The management aspects do require you to apply thought and strategy though and there is certainly some fun to be had in its earlier moments when experimenting with different performers and card combinations.
- 8.0The Amazing American Circus is a recommendation with enormous caveats. We loved it to the point that we can, without cynicism, say that it has peaks that few games will better this year. But it’s so unfriendly, gatekeeping the fun behind ineffective tutorials, keywords and initially complex systems. And – here’s the kicker – it’s unfinished, leprous with bugs and exploitations. It made our first and last two hours with it painful.
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