Thunderful Publishing and Image & Form Games’s SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech rolled out onto the Nintendo Switch recently. It didn’t have a big fancy red carpet laid out for it, or the pomp and pageantry of an AAA title like Anthem only to wallow in a forgotten corner of ill-repute and poor sales. Instead the hand-drawn deckbuilding game dropped onto the Nintendo eShop showing a lot of promise for a fair price of just $24.99.

The game is like a cross between Hand of Fate and Chrono Trigger, with a family-friendly art-style that seems to borrow ever so slightly from Vanillaware’s grounded medieval-surrealism. However, instead of having knights and mages doing battle against dragons and goblins, you’re in control of mech proxies that can fulfill their roles through cards.

The game plays out with active turn-based battles, but each character will make use of different elemental, status, attack, defense, and combo cards in an attempt to thwart their foes. You can check out the gameplay launch trailer for SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech below to get an idea of what it’s like.

As you travel about the world you’ll collect new cards to add to your deck, and slowly build out a suitable stash to take into battle with you.

Now the reason I mention Chrono Trigger is because as you collect cards for each of the characters, it’s possible to chain the card attacks to create powerful combos with your teammates and unleash devastating damage on your foes.

The game looks like it could end up being a blast to play for those looking for a challenging and visually captivating experience to indulge in on their Nintendo Switch.

I also like how Image & Form Games decided to play up to the Switch’s strength with a unique hand-drawn art-style instead of trying to squeeze one extra cycle out of the instruction set for the Switch’s CPU to nail some rendering technique better suited for the PS4 or Xbox One.

I feel like this is the kind of game that really plays up to the Switch’s strength; putting fun before form.

But that’s certainly not to say that SteamWorld’s form leaves something to be desired. It’s a great looking game with an alluring style that beckons the attention of gamers at all times.

If you want to learn more about SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, feel free to check out the Nintendo eShop page for more info.