HeistGeist

In the late years, it's been often said that the indie gaming developer scene is providing far more entertainment than the major AAA. Is this true? Well, yeah. HeistGeist is a perfect example of indie devs coming up with interesting ideas.

Story:

The game is set in a futuristic cyberpunk version of Central Europe (think Prague from Deus Ex: Mankind Divided). It has all the usual trappings: modern corporate skyscrapers mixed with classic architecture and a sprinkle of industrial sections and dirty slums. And you get to see it all. This serves as a perfect background for a not-perfect story. Don't get me wrong, it's still a good linear story, but nothing groundbreaking. 

You are playing as Alexandra - a gridrunner on a heist that'll go wrong sooner than you think. Your team is dead and now you have 30 days to deliver the goods you were requested to steal or you're gonna take a vacation six feet under. 

What do you need first? A new team. Oh and what a team it is. I kid you not, it’s really hard to pick a favorite because they’re all so well-written and likable (although I think Karel, Kepler, and Lujza are the closest to my heart). I can't remember the last time I liked all the characters in the game: both heroes and villains. 

The best thing is, that Alexandra turned out to be a levelheaded person with her own fears and emotions, instead of the snarky "girlboss". 

The story is pretty standard for cyberpunk, but it’s done well - it’s got that nice mix of drama, dark cyberpunk themes, and moments of humor (good one at that) which can get a good laugh (or at least a smile) out of you. 

Graphics:

The visuals are great too. The art style is pretty cool, and so is the character and enemy design. Mercs with robotic limbs (and all sorts of connection ports implanted wherever), huge heavy robots, and simple gang goons, all look nice. Karel with his old-school 80s sunglasses, varsity jacket, and golden tooth is the fashion icon I aspire to become in my later years. 

The only design choice I didn't like was Alexandra herself. A combination of pink hair and a wolfcut haircut is so overdone in 2025 (on top of being an awful combo in the first place). Otherwise, no complaints on the design part. 

The game sticks to a classic neon-gloom cyberpunk palette, and it works well. The city and heist locations are all 2D backgrounds, which keeps things simple but effective. Locations themselves are varied too. Slums, corpo labs, docks, and even a rich dude's real deal castle, the game has it all.

In story parts of the game, character portraits are slightly animated: characters sway a little bit from side to side and move their eyes, but weirdly do not open their mouths while talking.

Battle animations are fine if a bit limited and clunky.

Audio:

The audio is solid, both in soundtrack and voiceover. The music fits the cyberpunk vibe perfectly. There's also this one battle metal track that pumps me up every time I hear it. 

Dan Gold as Csaba did a perfect job imitating eastern european slavic accent.

Krys Janae as Alexandra is great too, although there are some moments where her delivery is a bit flat.

Matthew Curtis as Karel was simply outstanding.

All the other voice actors are great too.

Gameplay:

The gameplay is essentially split into multiple sections:

• Story section is presented in a visual novel form, where you simply talk and choose dialogue options.
• Heist section is where you are presented with a location's blueprint, where you choose different routes which provide different options. Maybe you can avoid fighting and snag a few credits along the way.
• Fight section where you choose cards with different effects while managing your action points.
• Hacking section where you capture or destroy nods to get extra cards/resources or open new path for the other team.

The heists are the meat of the game and where you'll spend most of your time. Managing multiple teams, moving across the target location’s blueprint, and completing side quests for extra loot or to avoid trouble is fun. 
The card-based gameplay is also super fun. I'm not gonna explain every single mechanic, just gonna say that it's not without its quirks. 
Haste doesn't make your turn come faster, it gives you more action points on your next turn. 
The "Stealth" card causes enemy attacks to miss, so you can avoid all the damage. But for some reason, it doesn’t protect you from the side effects of the attacks you’re dodging. So all the bleeding, burn, and other negative effects will still affect you.
That said, the game is only a bit challenging in the early stages when you don't have good cards. By the end, you gather some strong decks and usually can win even the hardest fights without getting a hit.
Still, the deck-building aspect is refreshing compared to all the other ones out there, and it’s super satisfying to tweak your deck and speed through it multiple times in a single turn.