In the end, Fortune Seller‘s strange atmosphere kept me engrossed and organizing items was more satisfying than I would have expected. I’m still going to keep working at this shop for a while even after finishing several runs, but it’s always a challenge to avoid paying my rent in flesh to a shadowy landlord.

Fortune Seller offers a new take on the ideas that made the likes of Balatro a huge success, but its mechanical innovation is limited. The idea of playing a sort of Tetris while finding the right Tarot and spell combinations to rack up huge scores sounds more engaging than it actually is. Fans of the genre will appreciate the variety and the relatively quick runs. Unfortunately, it's hard to make a game shine on mechanical competence alone. The world-building is limited, both in scope and quality, and there’s little to enjoy when it comes to presentation. Fortune Seller is fun in short bursts, but will probably fail to capture most players’ attention in the long term.

Rich gothic atmosphere and solid roguelike, inventory management puzzling give Fortune Seller a promising sales pitch. The ever-increasing payments and frustratingly imbalanced economy demands, however, mean its a hard sell thanks to overzealous haggling. Once this promising antique is better tuned and polished, it'll be ready for more bartering.