Wraith & The Giants

Wraith & The Giants written review By Solo Gaming Spotlight Wraith & The Giants feels a bit like someone asked, “What if Shadow of the Colossus was a fast, focused solo game?” and then actually pulled it off. You play as the Wraith—one lone climber facing down towering elemental giants that slowly march towards your village. Each battle is an under-45-minute duel where you’re clinging to the giant’s body, dodging blows, and trying to carve permanent scars into its weak points before it crushes you, reaches the village, or simply wears you down. The tone isn’t epic in a narrative sense, but the moment-to-moment experience—climbing, leaping, and lining up big hits—captures that “one vs. colossal enemy” vibe very well. The core design is simple but sharp. You choose one of three versions of the Wraith—Young, Adult, or Elder—each a different stage of life with its own deck and complexity. Then you pick one of four giants: Earth and Water are more straightforward, Air pushes you around the board, and Fire is a brutal test that hits like a truck. On your turn, you play two cards into rows on your board and must fully resolve the first before the second, so card order really matters. Those cards give you movement icons—climbing, leaping sideways, or dropping down—and three types of attacks: melee (your space), bow (adjacent space), and fireworks (your space and all adjacent). The giant’s vulnerable spots are represented by a row of attack/vulnerability cards. Deal enough damage to one and it scars permanently, removing that attack from its arsenal and pushing you closer to victory. The decision space lives in how you string those actions together. You’re staring at a five-card hand, the exposed weak points, and the line of upcoming attacks, trying to figure out how to squeeze the most out of your icon rows without leaving yourself exposed. Many Wraith cards get stronger based on how many matching icons (eyes, hands, feet) are in that row, so you’re constantly choosing between flexibility—spreading icons around for options—or committing to a stacked row that enables a single devastating strike. With the Adult and Elder Wraiths, landing damage also removes tokens from your personal action slots; emptying a slot triggers powerful one-off abilities like healing, extra movement, or even canceling the next giant attack. You can fire off multiple abilities off a single big hit, which feels fantastic when it all comes together. There’s even a “Fearless” action you can always fall back on—climbing or hitting for one damage at the cost of a health point—so you’re never completely stuck, but you pay for desperation. The giants strike back hard. After your turn, the giant attacks using the leftmost card in its attack row, possibly chaining into more attacks if matching symbols are revealed. Missed attacks don’t just feel like relief—they build Rage. Each time the giant whiffs, its Rage meter climbs, and when it finally connects, it unleashes everything on that rage track at once. It’s a clever system that keeps you from dodging forever and forces you to think about which hits you can afford to take. Lose your health, run out of cards in your deck (stamina), or let the giant’s deck empty as it marches toward the village, and the battle is over. The result is a game that demands you read the giant’s tendencies, plan around upcoming attacks, and sometimes accept small hits to avoid catastrophic ones later. In terms of challenge and replayability, Wraith & The Giants hits a sweet spot. The three Wraith decks and four giants give you a wide range of difficulty combinations: Young Wraith vs. Earth or Water for a more forgiving introduction; Elder Wraith vs. Air for a crunchy mid-tier puzzle; and Adult or Elder Wraith vs. Fire when you want a serious, “optimize every turn” kind of fight. I haven’t beaten the Fire Giant with the Elder Wraith yet—and I’m okay with that. The game pushes back in a way that feels fair and skill-driven rather than random. Over time, I can see Wraith being a “beat it and move on” experience rather than a forever keeper, especially once I’ve finally taken down the Fire Giant with the Elder Wraith. But for the price I paid—under $30—the value has already been excellent. I’m down under a couple of dollars per play, and edging toward that magical $1-per-play mark, which is rare in my collection. Final Verdict: Wraith & The Giants is a focused, satisfying solo boss battler with smart hand management, strong positional play, and a difficulty range that grows with you. Its greatest strengths show up in the mid to late game, when your icon rows are humming, you’re zipping around the giant, landing big fireworks attacks, and carefully choosing which blows you can afford to take. It may not be a permanent fixture on my shelf once I’ve proven myself against the Fire Giant with the Elder Wraith, but it’s already earned its place in my solo journey. If you like tight, puzzle-y boss fights with a clear arc and escalating challenge—and you’re okay with a game that might eventually feel “finished” once you’ve conquered it—this is absolutely worth a climb.