Curated by taste and lineage

A legion commander has lost most of her army to a battle fought in dense fog, and even forgotten what that army once looked like, so she rebuilds her deck of command cards one victory, and one lesson learned in defeat, at a time.

A deckbuilding tactics game made and self-published by doujin circle Yashioji Tenkai Kessha, designed around roughly an hour of play per session, and set as a side story in the world of their long-running Harusuberiya Chronicle series, which itself traces back more than ten years as a fan derivative of the Japanese freeware strategy game Valentooga, with an active Japanese-language fan community and a novel spinoff sold through Melonbooks; this '2.5' marks the circle's first release on any digital storefront. Per Steam's own listing, legion commander Capena Nostiekrocca has lost most of her forces to a battle fought in dense fog, and even forgotten what her own legion once looked like; her scattered command ability is represented as a deck of 'command cards,' with victories in battle earning new ones. Losing is survivable: defeat grants 'lessons' that let you discard unneeded cards toward a stronger deck, but lose enough that your legion's ability to keep fighting is fully spent, and the 54th Legion, nicknamed the 'Lost Legion,' made up of undead girls serving a necromancer titled the Black Dragon Duke, Lord of the Graveyard, is gone for good. The store text is upfront about the tone it's going for: a small-scale, cheerful game about tending to an undead girls' legion and 'flirting' with enemies on the battlefield, capped with a knowingly theatrical Latin-flavored flourish. Per Steam's own content warning, light bloodshed and violence depicting the war are present in both text and art, though not the main focus, and there is a bathing scene, which Steam's own content descriptors classify only as general mature content, not sexual content. Per the developer's own note, doujin convention and personal principle mean no individual discount is ever planned for this title outside of bundles. Released at ¥1,000, it is Positive at about 90 percent over 29 reviews (26 positive, 3 negative), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated assets. It supports Japanese only, no English option exists at all, and every one of its 29 reviews is in Japanese; not one is in English.

Published 2026-07-25

01First, the one feeling

Per Steam's own text, even losing here still gives you something, a 'lesson' that lets you cut a weak card from your deck, so the whole loop reframes defeat as one more editing pass rather than a wasted run.
The deck itself is standing in for a disoriented commander's own scattered memory of how to fight, so every 'command card' you add back reads less like loot and more like a fragment of competence she's slowly recovering.
The store text refuses to treat an undead girls' army as anything but cheerful, right down to a theatrical Latin flourish at the end of its own pitch, and that tonal choice turns what could be grim material into something that stays light on purpose.

02Who this is for (and who it is not)

For you

You want a deckbuilding roguelite where losing still moves you forward: 'lessons' from defeat prune your deck even when a run ends badly
You want a genuinely small, self-published Japanese doujin circle with over a decade of history behind a single ongoing series, making its first-ever digital storefront appearance
You want a Positive title (about 90 percent over 29 reviews) that is completely walled off from English: every review is in Japanese, and there is no English option at all

Not for you

You want a large, statistically settled review base; 29 reviews is thin enough that Steam itself won't call it anything above 'Positive,' and this pick says so plainly
You want something with zero war violence; per Steam's own content warning, light bloodshed and gore depicting battle appear in text and art, alongside a bathing scene Steam classifies as general mature content, not sexual

03The roots of this taste

90% positiveonly 29 reviewsno English support yet — yet almost no one has found it

Harusuberiya Chronicle 2.5 Buried gem

Per Steam's own listing, this is a deckbuilding game designed around roughly an hour of play per session, a side story set in the world of the long-running 'Harusuberiya Chronicle' series. Legion commander Capena Nostiekrocca has lost most of her forces to a battle fought in dense fog, and even forgotten what her own legion once looked like; her scattered command ability is represented as a deck of 'command cards,' with victories in battle earning new cards. Losing is survivable: defeat grants 'lessons' that let you discard unneeded cards toward a stronger deck, but lose enough that your legion's ability to keep fighting is fully spent, and the 54th Legion, nicknamed the 'Lost Legion,' is gone for good. That legion is otherwise made up of undead girls serving a necromancer titled the Black Dragon Duke, Lord of the Graveyard, and the store text is upfront about the tone it's going for: a small-scale, cheerful game about tending to an undead girls' legion and 'flirting' with enemies on the battlefield, capped with a knowingly theatrical Latin-flavored flourish. Per Steam's own content warning, light bloodshed and violence depicting the war are present in both text and art, though not the main focus, and there is a bathing scene, which Steam's own content descriptors classify only as general mature content, not sexual content. Made and self-published by doujin circle Yashioji Tenkai Kessha, whose blog and Steam curator page confirm over a decade of activity; the Harusuberiya Chronicle series itself traces back more than ten years as a fan derivative of the Japanese freeware strategy game Valentooga, with an active Japanese-language fan community and a novel spinoff sold through Melonbooks, and this '2.5' marks the circle's first release on any digital storefront. Per the developer's own note, doujin convention and personal principle mean no individual discount is ever planned for this title outside of bundles. Released at ¥1,000, it is Positive at about 90 percent over 29 reviews (26 positive, 3 negative per Steam's own review API), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated assets. It supports Japanese only, no English option exists at all, and every one of its 29 reviews is in Japanese; not one is in English.

Give it your first pass

Slay the Spire The origin

The origin of this taste: Slay the Spire, the American indie roguelike deckbuilder that defined the loop of earning cards through victory and pruning a deck run by run. Harusuberiya Chronicle 2.5 is not an official Slay the Spire work, but its command-card deck built from combat wins, and its own twist of pruning weak cards through 'lessons' earned even in defeat, carry that same core idea into a small, cheerful story about a legion commander and her undead girls' army.

Give it your first pass

04Make this gem shine

If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.

See it on Steam

05The bloodline of this taste

Slay the Spire Root
Harusuberiya Chronicle 2.5 You are here
- Read-and-build games same root
- Touhou: Lost Branch of Legend same root
- Mortal Glory 2 same root
- Spell Tonaeru same root
- ELbab same root
- Shooters, Ready! same root
- Harumachi Toroidal same root
- One Turn Kill same root
- Welcome to the Guild Exploration Party! another taste

This gem surfaces soon