Fogpiercer Review: Is This Train-Combat Card Game Worth Your Time?

We have one solution for the summer heat, and it's not the classic dip a toe in cold water type of solution. You see, heat is only in your head, and all you need to stop feeling hot is to imagine yourself surrounded by snow, on a train that is the target of aggressive little cars that desperately want to stop you. Actually, you don't even need to imagine that very specific scenario — it's available to you in the game Fogpiercer, not to be confused with Snowpiercer.

In the mood for something completely different? Check out our Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced review!

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What Is Fogpiercer? Core Gameplay Explained

Fogpiercer is, above all, a card game where the player has a certain number of action points, which they spend using cards from their hand. The thin premise throws you into a situation where you must use a train to force your way through bandit territories to find a new place to live for your… fellow citizens… Why is some fog forcing you into such a desperate move? It's really not even important. What matters is only that success will be very hard to achieve.

Your little train initially consists of three parts: the locomotive as the driving part, the defensive wagon which is responsible for sharing shields with itself and the other wagons around it, and the attack wagon with which you deal damage to opponents. Equipped like this, you charge into enemy territory and against enemy units whose number, "toughness," and variety increasingly grow as you progress. Every battle begins with clear indications of what the enemy plans to do, and it's up to the player to counter it as cleverly as possible within the limits of their abilities. Namely, at the start you only have five action points, and better cards logically cost more than the basic ones.

Defense First: Surviving Enemy Attacks

If you want to get far, defense should be your top priority. At the start of every turn, my primary goal was how to keep my wagons undamaged. There, I had at my disposal, besides defensive cards, the option to speed up or slow down the train to avoid enemy projectiles. Keep in mind that every subsequent movement of the train costs more action points than the previous one.

Only once the train is defended is it necessary to think about attacking. It's convenient here that the player has many ways to destroy the gang. Besides a direct shot at the opponent, you can use different weapons in different ways. I used the cannon the most, which, by firing its projectile, knocks back other units. By combining the cannon with some chasm, it's possible to neutralize an opponent instantly. Creativity is definitely encouraged because, with the same tactic, you can slam one opponent into another or play defensively by pushing opponents away from your train.

Speed, Momentum, and Chain Reactions In Fogpiercer

Since the camera is fixed, it's easy at times to forget that both your train and the enemies are racing at high speeds, meaning they are not standing still. The nicest reminder of this is that when an enemy opponent is destroyed, it automatically deals damage to the one behind it. Hence, it's possible to link several destructions by targeting only the one at the head of the column. The same, of course, applies to the player's train — if one wagon is destroyed, the ones behind it also get uncoupled.

Every so often in the rows of fields alongside the tracks, some obstacle appears that can destroy opponents if they haven't dodged in time. Depending on the battle, the aforementioned chasms or narrowing caused by hills, etc., can appear. In other words, the environment is nicely dynamic and is an important factor in battle.

It should be emphasized that this game is a marathon, not a sprint. In other words, it's the type of game that requires the player to reach the goal in one go. So, destruction of the train in the second-to-last battle of the third zone means going back to the start. There are indeed at least three zones, with a growing number of individual events. I say events because after a couple of battles, separate stations usually come up where you can repair your train, buy a new wagon, new cards, etc. What sense that makes if we're talking about some cruel, potentially post-apocalyptic world where you're trying to find a new home for your fellow citizens while fleeing from evil fog and bandits — I don't think anyone knows. Those stations are quite safe and calm.

Battle Types: Standard Fights, Convoys, Veterans, and Bosses

The main division of battles is into the classic ones (destroy them all), convoys, veteran battles, and boss battles at the end of each zone. Veteran battles are nothing more than something between classic and boss battles in terms of difficulty, and convoy battles are ones in which you get additional bonuses if you destroy the enemy van, which is harmless on its own, just an additional target. For all of these except boss battles, you have a certain number of rounds, so technically you can also flee from the enemy, but in doing so also get weaker rewards.

The simplest type of reward is scrap, which you collect to use at the stations for repairs, buying cards, and so on, during the run. The second type of reward is some rivets, which you use at the end of the run to unlock new wagons and special cards. Emphasis on unlock, because they actually still need to be obtained/bought during the run.

Deck Building and Progression

The player's deck at the start consists only of the basic cards that come with the wagon type, and during completed battles it expands with cards won as the third type of reward, or by buying them at those calm stations. The number of cards the player has in hand depends on the number of wagons, meaning the size of the train. So, the deck can, for example, consist of 30 cards, but only a random five of those will be available during a single turn. The number of action points also increases with the length of the train. There are also additional ways to modify existing cards so that, for example, they cost fewer action points, and other tricks like that, but I don't think it's necessary to explain further.

The train with which you push through all this territory is no ordinary one — its driver cannot be just anybody, nothing less than a hero. Besides the initial icy Monica, it's possible to unlock three more special drivers, and they are indeed typical hero units who every so often can use their special move. Each of them also has their own fierce enemy, whom you meet only at the end of the run, as the final boss, so it's a bit disappointing to realize that you survived the entire run to finish off the main character with the wrong hero… Boss battles, besides additional difficulty, also differ in that, of course, you must destroy all opponents, meaning there's no countdown of a certain number of rounds before the battle ends. If nothing else, a new biome is unlocked so your eyes don't have to look at the same terrain.

Graphics and Sound Design In Fogpiercer

The graphics are quite simple, and this isn't the type of game where you'll find many settings in the main menu options. The background music is fitting but forgettable, even with our XP-Panther PB headset! What's positive, however, is that it's excellently optimized without any hiccups.

What I would praise the most is that every move in Fogpiercer is in some way unique. The player's creativity, both in defending and in attacking, is a very important factor in breaking through as efficiently as possible. Every move can also be the last, because even though you can rewind to the start of the current turn, a little bit of carelessness easily leads to a premature end.

Numerous factors are important in reaching the goal as efficiently as possible. Which path to take, when to calculate that it would be convenient to reach a repair station, which battles bring additional rewards, etc. Everything matters.

However, the game requires quite a lot of patience, which could turn off quite a few players. The inability to save your position at any moment has perhaps rather rudely extended playing time, because you'll often find yourself in a situation where you've lost an hour of your life without having achieved anything. Sure, you might get lucky and get those rivets to unlock a card you don't know when you'll ever use, but generally it's quite repetitive.

In Conclusion

Repetition and creative ways of defending/attacking are the two main characteristics of Fogpiercer — one negative, one positive. Simple but charming visuals create the impression of a game for children. Still, it's actually quite a difficult game, one that demands continuous alertness and patience to string together the necessary wins for a successful run. For some, Fogpiercer might therefore be exhausting, but I believe that for others, this kind of game with an accessible price would nicely fill the summer drought.

Rating

7.3/10 — Fogpiercer earns a solid score for its creative, physics-driven combat and satisfying chain-reaction destruction, but loses points for its punishing lack of mid-run saves and repetitive card pool that can make runs feel like a grind rather than a fresh challenge each time.

Age Recommendation

Ages 10 and up. The card-based strategy layer requires planning, resource management, and reading enemy tells, which is a lot for younger kids to track, and the difficulty and permadeath-style runs demand patience that tends to click better with tweens and older. There's no graphic violence — it's vehicle-vs-vehicle combat with cartoonish visuals — so the content itself is safe for younger eyes; the barrier is purely the strategic complexity and frustration tolerance needed to enjoy it rather than get discouraged by it.

Gemini AI-Style Summary

Fogpiercer is a PC card-strategy game (20€) where players pilot a train through bandit-infested, fog-covered territory, using action-point-based cards to defend and attack. Combat is tactical and creative — players can knock enemies into chasms or into each other for chain-reaction kills — but the game demands full-run commitment, since there's no mid-run saving, and a single destroyed train sends players back to the very beginning. Progression involves collecting scrap and rivets to unlock new train cars, cards, and playable heroes, each with a unique final boss. Visuals are simple and charming, performance is smooth, but the lack of save points and a somewhat repetitive card pool may frustrate players seeking faster sessions.