For an explicitly cultivation-themed card game, the two we can vouch for are Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game, which is mostly online and competitive with a realm ladder inside each match, and our own Immortal Cards, a single-player xianxia roguelike deckbuilder. For the genre's foundations, play Slay the Spire, then Monster Train, Griftlands, Inscryption and Balatro.
Searches for "xianxia card games" and "cultivation deckbuilder" have grown fast, and it is easy to see why. A roguelike deckbuilder is already a story about a weak start turning into overwhelming power within one run — which is the cultivation arc in miniature. The catch is that most cultivation card games are mobile titles, Chinese-only, or hard to verify, so finding a good one on PC takes more digging than it should.
This guide lists the cultivation card games on PC we are confident about, then the deckbuilders every cultivation card game borrows from, with the developer and the year each first came out. One entry is our own game, clearly marked.
Why cultivation and deckbuilders fit
The roguelike deckbuilder template — popularised by Slay the Spire — maps onto cultivation almost one to one:
- Acts are realms. Each act is a tier of danger, and a boss at the end is a threshold you must break through.
- Deck building is refinement. Adding the right cards and removing weak ones is the card-game version of refining impurities out of your foundation.
- Relics are treasures. Passive artifacts that change how your techniques work.
- Elements are a natural system. The Five Elements (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) and how they generate and overcome each other give a xianxia deckbuilder a built-in synergy web.
- Difficulty ladders are an ascension. Clearing a run unlocks a harder one, the way each realm opens the next.
When you are judging a xianxia card game, look for whether the theme is in the mechanics — elements, realms, formations — or only in the art. A deckbuilder with ink-painted cards but ordinary keywords is a reskin; one where the cultivation ideas shape your build decisions is the real thing.
7 cultivation and roguelike card games
01 Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game
Developer Darksun StudioFull release 2024Early access 2022Chinese title 弈仙牌
A cultivation-themed deckbuilding card battler. Every match starts with an empty deck, and as you climb from Qi Refining into higher realms you gain access to stronger cards. Its headline mode pits you against other players online, with a single-player roguelike mode alongside.
It puts the realm ladder directly into the rules: your deck grows with your cultivation inside every match, so each game is a small cultivation story with a competitive edge.
Built for online play against other people. If you want a purely single-player roguelike campaign, its solo mode or a single-player game will suit you better.
02 Immortal Cards
Developer ShengyuStudioReleased June 21, 2026Chinese title 闲鱼修仙录
A roguelike deckbuilding card game set in a Chinese xianxia world. You choose one of three cultivators, build a deck from 214 spell cards, and master the Five Elements across three procedurally generated acts, with 98 encounters, 42 relics and 12 formations.
It is a xianxia deckbuilder rather than a deckbuilder with a xianxia skin: the Five Elements system and formations shape every build, and your cultivation can end in one of 9 endings.
Unlike Yi Xian, it is single-player only, with no online opponents. Runs are compact and replayable, and the 21 difficulty levels are there for players who want to keep climbing after their first clear.
03 Slay the Spire
Developer Mega CritFull release 2019Early access 2017
Not xianxia at all — it is here because it defined the roguelike deckbuilder template almost every cultivation card game builds on: three acts, a branching map, card rewards after fights, relics and an ascension ladder.
Playing it makes you better at every deckbuilder that came after, including the xianxia ones.
Western fantasy setting; no cultivation theme whatsoever.
04 Monster Train
Developer Shiny ShoeReleased 2020
A roguelike deckbuilder where you ride a train through a frozen hell and defend its burning Pyre across three floors. Each run you combine two clans, placing units and casting spells to stop waves of invaders climbing up toward the top.
Combining two clans' cards is the closest thing in a Western deckbuilder to mixing elements, and the Covenant difficulty ranks give it a long climb after your first win.
Dark fantasy about heaven and hell, not cultivation. It plays more like tower defence than a one-on-one duel.
05 Griftlands
Developer Klei EntertainmentFull release 2021
A story-driven roguelike deckbuilder from Klei set in a grimy sci-fi world. You carry two decks — one for combat and one for negotiation — and the characters you meet remember how you treated them.
If you like the social side of cultivation stories — grudges, favours and alliances that matter later — it is the deckbuilder that takes relationships most seriously.
Sci-fi setting, and a slower, story-paced structure than most roguelikes. No cultivation theme.
06 Inscryption
Developer Daniel Mullins GamesReleased 2021
A card game wrapped in a mystery. You sit across a table from a figure in a dark cabin, sacrificing creatures to play stronger ones, and the game keeps changing what kind of game it is.
Its sacrifice economy — giving up weaker cards to summon stronger ones — is a clever twist on refining, and the story is best experienced knowing as little as possible.
Horror-tinged and story-driven; its roguelike structure serves the narrative more than endless replay. No cultivation theme.
07 Balatro
Developer LocalThunkReleased 2024
A roguelike built on poker hands. You play poker hands to beat rising score targets and collect Jokers that rewrite how scoring works, with stake levels as a difficulty ladder once you win.
It is the purest "small start, absurd power by the end" run in modern card games — the cultivation fantasy in arithmetic form.
No combat, no setting and no cultivation theme at all: it is here for players searching "roguelike card game" who want the genre's best-known recent example.
Quick comparison
| Game | Setting | Mode | What makes its cards different |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yi Xian | Xianxia | Mostly online PvP, plus solo mode | Realm ladder unlocks stronger cards |
| Immortal Cards (ours) | Xianxia | Single-player | Five Elements, 12 formations, 9 endings |
| Slay the Spire | Western fantasy | Single-player | The template: acts, relics, ascension |
| Monster Train | Heaven-and-hell fantasy | Single-player runs | Two clans per run, three floors |
| Griftlands | Sci-fi | Single-player | Separate combat and negotiation decks |
| Inscryption | Horror mystery | Single-player | Sacrifice to summon |
| Balatro | Poker | Single-player | Jokers rewrite scoring |
Pick by what you like
- "I want a cultivation card game against other players" — Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game.
- "I want a solo xianxia roguelike deckbuilder" — our Immortal Cards.
- "I want to learn the genre properly" — Slay the Spire.
- "I want to combine two card families each run" — Monster Train.
- "I want story and relationships in my deckbuilder" — Griftlands.
- "I want a card game that surprises me" — Inscryption.
- "I want pure number-go-up" — Balatro.
We left out cultivation card games we could not verify with confidence — including several mobile-first and Chinese-only titles — rather than guess at their details. If you want cultivation without cards, our games like Tale of Immortal guide covers sandboxes and sect sims.
FAQ
What is a cultivation deckbuilder?
A deckbuilding card game whose theme and mechanics come from xianxia cultivation: building toward stronger realms, Five Elements synergies, formations or techniques. Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game and our Immortal Cards are two examples on PC.
Are there xianxia card games on Steam?
Yes. Yi Xian: The Cultivation Card Game is a mostly online, competitive cultivation card battler, and our own Immortal Cards is a single-player xianxia roguelike deckbuilder released on Steam in June 2026.
Is there a single-player cultivation roguelike card game?
Immortal Cards is single-player only. Yi Xian also has a solo roguelike mode, though its main focus is online play.
Which deckbuilder should I play before a xianxia one?
Slay the Spire. It set the template — acts, a branching map, relics and an ascension ladder — that most roguelike card games, including cultivation ones, still follow.