CHILDHOOD GONE: SHADOWED WAND
Pretty good game. As soon as you start, it reminds you of an old gameboy RPG. The atmosphere reminds of old school Lavender Town from Pokemon, except with the creep factor dialed up. I recommend this to anyone interested in some eerie old school gameplay.
– Real player with 0.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Humor RPG Games.
Ruine
The potential of this game is incredibly strong. The art style, world and characters are making me eager to see more from this game. There’s a solid gameplay loop that’ll keep you experimenting with different builds throughout different playthroughs. Very good stuff!
Obviously, there’s a lot to improve and balance. Combat isn’t as in depth as I feel it could be. Ruins, while fun to progress through, are quite basic in level design and detail, and the game can be finished in under an hour if you know what you’re doing and/or lucky enough from the RNG loot.
– Real player with 37.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Humor Dungeon Crawler Games.
Bias: I’ve playtested this game.
While my “hrs on record” do not reflect it, I’ve spent hours and hours playtesting this game - breaking it, finding bugs, dying over and over and over… and I love this game. The art, music, atmosphere, and humor all work together in creating this wonderful game world filled with intriguing NPCs and clever enemies. I am not particularly good at this type of game, but I enjoy the hell out of Ruine in spite of that. I highly recommend checking it out.
Edited to Add: The dev continues to update this game with new content - enemies, areas, treasures, equipment… Ruine just gets better and better.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game
XO
(I backed this game on Kickstarter, and helped out with alpha and beta testing…)
XO has a lovely mix of tactics and strategy within a relatively short three to five hour game run. But learning XO well enough to survive that final run will take you much longer. It’s a game to be played many times as you learn more about the ships, the factions, the enemies, weapons and circumstances. Each time you’ll learn how to survive longer, how to make better use of the ships, systems and resources you encountered, and how to better choose through the event paths in order to win faction allies as you go.
– Real player with 89.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dark Humor Choices Matter Games.
I’ll split this review to what I enjoyed and what I did not.
What I enjoyed
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You really get the feeling of trying to build together a rag-tag fleet of military and civilian ships, fleeing away from a seemingly unstoppable enemy while building up your arsenal, firepower and the capacity to support your fleet. Awesome feeling. :)
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Lots of interesting concepts, boarding, resource harvesting, different kinds of weapons to counter different enemies. Really enjoyed different weapons, upgrades, ship types, keeping civilians in cargo holds (then performing a crew transfer to abandoned/disabled ships) and the ability build up my fleet. :D
– Real player with 51.9 hrs in game
Griftlands
Updated for Flourish & Mettle Update
My opinion of Griftlands is largely unchanged from my original review (below). The combat is tight and you’re frequently just a misplay or two away from losing a big fight, but the RPG elements get increasingly gimmicky the more you play. It’s sort of sad that choosing whether to help someone or not really depends on whether the passive bonus they give for loving or hating you is important or not. At higher prestige runs then you feel somewhat punished for taking an in-character action that ends up giving you a malus - I understand that’s a strategic trade off you have to make, but it highlights where the RPG and strategic aspects clash jarringly in Griftlands.
– Real player with 45.3 hrs in game
TL;DR: Slay the Spire meets RPG. Production values are high but card gameplay is inferior to StS. Not a game I expect to play over and over again. Passable.
–——-
Have you ever played Slay the Spire adn thought to yourself, “Man, this game could use more story”? Well, Griftlands is that game! Narrative, great writing, flavour, design, environment, Griftlands has all you’d want from a card battler rpg!
…Kind of.
I like Klei. I do! Their products, while not always for me, are usually quite innovative and interesting. So I’ve been keeping a close eye on whatever they produce. In this case, they borrowed the card battling mechanics VERY VERY heavily from Slay the Spire, and added in all the essential elements of RPGs and made it well. In these ways, the production value of Griftlands is significantly higher than Slay the Spire.
– Real player with 36.2 hrs in game
Gospel of Abaddon
IN A WORD: MAYBE
IN A NUTSHELL:
WHAT TO EXPECT: More Roguelite than Roguelike. Difficult, very challenging. Top-down, action shooter. Plain 2D maps. Basic visuals and sound. Rudimentary gameplay. Limited, unvaried content. Designed for replayability. God and drug references themes. Enjoyable in short bursts. Single-player only.
ACHIEVEMENTS: VARIED. MOSTLY ORGANIC. SOME SKILL-BASED.
STATUS: JUST RELEASED.
WHO FOR/WHEN TO BUY: Only if you know what you are getting. I would wait for a good sale.
– Real player with 9.5 hrs in game
Steam Curator : == [u][i][url]Right to the Point![/url][/i][/u] == Follow
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1)Story/Concept :
| Single Player | Casual | Action-Rogue-Lite |
| Top-Down | Shooter | No Campaign |
The game takes place during WWII and starts with an intro,showing us our main protagonist who was an american pastor.He explains us how they forced him to join the army and how one day,after discovering that “they” were hiding drugs,he decided to try them on himself.This resulted in hearing the God’s voice.God told him to kill everybody…although our protagonist wasn’t so sure about that,then God offered him the ultimate gift to convince him….The “Wh*re of Babylon”!Who could have resisted on that?
– Real player with 8.1 hrs in game
Inkulinati
Inkulinati is an ink-based strategy game straight from medieval manuscripts, where a rabbit’s bum can be deadlier than a dog’s sword.
Take your turn in Inkulinati duels filled with unexpected tactical depth (and humour!). Embark on an ever-changing journey, build your own bestiary, defeat medieval superstars and collect perks to unleash special powers.
Become a master of the Living Ink, grab your quill and build your unique strategy time after time so that you can be named the greatest Inkulinati of all time!
INKULINATI IS INSPIRED BY REAL-LIFE MEDIEVAL MARGINALIA
700 years in the making, finally these bizarre art pieces can come alive in a video game and show that medieval people also had their “memes” and that they laughed from the same silly things that we do today. You’ll see sword-wielding rabbits, dogs with spears, trumpets lodged in bottoms, human-eating snails, and more. Much, much more…
FIGHT LIKE AN INKULINATI
Inkulinati are a legendary group who battle one another on the pages of medieval manuscripts. They fight by drawing Beasts with the Living Ink. Thanks to this magical substance, those creatures come to life and an epic battle ensues.Move your Beasts across the battlefield, perform actions on or with them, make tactical use of obstacles and collect more Living Ink to draw new Beasts which allows you to gain an advantage over your opponent.
MULTIPLE DEADLY (AND BIZARRE) BEASTS TO UNLOCK
Donkeys playing trumpets with their bottoms, bishop cats vanquishing heretics with prayers, heavy but deadly snails that eat units alive, and more. Much, much more. They all have their special skills and are waiting for your command.
SPECIAL, BATTLE TIDE-TURNING ACTIONS PERFORMED BY THE INKULINATI
It’s not just your Beasts that can cause havoc and damage. Use your fists to smash your opponent’s units, draw obstacles to create barriers, relocate your units with a move of your finger, or explode your troops to create pure, pure chaos. Just remember - your opponent can do it too.
ADAPT YOUR TACTIC TO EVERY BATTLE
Each Inkulinati has its own army, with different Beasts, who in turn, have different abilities, strengths, and unfortunately, weaknesses (or fortunately - depending which side you’re on). But it’s not just the armies that can influence who will win any given duel. Each Battlefield is its own domain, with its own particular dangers that you should watch out for, and opportunities that you can use. You will have to use your wits and adapt your strategy to beat the opposing Inkulinati’s army on each specific Battlefield.
A SINGLE-PLAYER CAMPAIGN
Uncover the mystery and secrets of Inkulinati and face such opponents as Death, Dante Alighieri, and more. Go out into the world and start your adventure! Fight the biggest Inkulinati masters in the land, tame the untamed Beasts, build your ultimate army, try to bring back your Master from the clutches of death, and most importantly, finish your grand quest with the biggest party that the middle ages have ever seen! Howza!!!
CREATE AND DEVELOP YOUR OWN CHARACTER
As any aspiring Inkulinati Master, you will get to create your own Tiny-Inkulinati. During your journey you will learn the secret techniques of drawing new Beasts and Inkulinati Hand Actions, allowing you to choose the composition of your army. You can be a brave knight that has no fear and will send his loyal troops straight at his opponents. Or perhaps you would like to play with a bit more tact? In that case, you can be a nun who with the power of prayer can confuse her enemies and heal thy own servants. Those styles, and more, are waiting to be discovered and made your own. Express yourself!
EVERY BATTLE HAS ITS OWN STORY
To mark every battle in history books for all future generations to see, a procedurally generated text describes the dramatic (or hilarious) events in detail just above the battlefield.
LOCAL PVP BATTLES
Inkulinati will bring you back to the Golden Era of hot-seat mode.
Brutal Orchestra
Hieronymus Bosch’s Brutal Orchestra is a Turn-Based Roguelike Strategy Game with resource management and deck-building elements. Employ the help of damaged and daring fools, equip ancient and insidious items and make deals with the devil on your path to revenge.
Revenge
You died. Someone killed you. You are now in Purgatory and you will never escape. Make a deal with the “demon” Bosch and set off into this brutal and bastardous world, finding all manner of demented and degenerate friends and foes on your quest to get petty revenge.
Pigment:
Purgatory bleeds pigment. It is a strange substance that Bosch has granted you the ability to control. Channeling pigment allows one to perform powerful and absurd abilities. Pigment comes in many colours, each derived from a different source, some even of your own flesh.
Fools:
This may be a place of the dead but even here there are still poor fools eking out a pathetic existence. Some would make for valuable party members or at least entertaining conversation. Most, however, are dim wits or damaged beyond all reason.
Hell:
Purgatory is not a gentle place, it is a writhing dump of all that has died in many worlds. Endless deserts of pale sand are stalked by parasitic fish. Storm-cloaked mountain tops hide ungodly things above and below. The Garden waits for you at the end of time.
Hieronymus Bosch’s Brutal Orchestra was developed by Maceo bob Mair and Nicolás Delgado. With Sound Design by Pato Flores and Chris Dang and Composed by Publio Delgado.
Cult of the Lamb
Cult of the Lamb casts players in the role of a possessed lamb saved from annihilation by an ominous stranger, and must repay their debt by building a loyal following in his name. Start your own cult in a land of false prophets, venturing out into diverse and mysterious regions to build a loyal community of woodland worshippers and spread your Word to become the one true cult.
BUILD YOUR FLOCK
Collect and use resources to build new structures, perform dark rituals to appease the gods, and give sermons to reinforce the faith of your flock.
DESTROY THE NON-BELIEVERS
Explore a sprawling, randomly generated world, fight off hordes of enemies and defeat rival cult leaders in order to absorb their power and assert your cult’s dominance.
SPREAD YOUR WORD
Train your flock and embark on a quest to explore and discover the secrets of five mysterious regions. Cleanse the non-believers, spread enlightenment, and perform mystical rituals on the journey to become the mighty lamb god.
Fight with love - deckbuilder datingsim
Go into fights and use word cards to construct sentences of love that damage your opponent if you do it right, maybe… there was no tutorial, so you just had to… work it out. I like the art though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTeow7UgGvA
– Real player with 10.2 hrs in game
This game sounded interesting at first. An unusual slay the spire type game. The problem is, it still feels like a barely playable demo even after being released from early access. It fixed the problem where the cards in your deck didn’t shuffle, but removed inventory, making the bar, theater and nightclub “date spots” all the same (Before, one sold healing items, one sold cards, and the other sold permanent buffs)
Also, the story is barely translated, and a lot of the cards had been rediculously censored. If this is a game about dating and sex, why can’t the cards swear?
– Real player with 2.1 hrs in game
Need More Troops
This game is like an indie version of “King’s bounty” minus story and budget, plus random map generation, rogue-lite elements, and auto battles. Enjoying it so far.
– Real player with 14.3 hrs in game
Very good game of HOMM stripped of all that fiddly tactical combat nonsense. Actually, I like the tactical combat nonsense, but this game does retain some of it. What I never liked was running around collecting my troops from their spawn points and this game does away with that entirely.
The tactics remains as you really do need to consider your enemies' disposition as well as your own. You don’t need to shuffle your units around too much (those stupid archers are the problem), but switching between their skills is very critical. I made one mistake this last game and it cost me dearly. However, I had time to come back and regroup. I still may have lost if the final troops had been a different composition. As it were, they completely played into the strengths, of both my leader and remaining troops.
– Real player with 8.7 hrs in game