Reverse Crawl
Reverse Crawl is an extremely additive game. I can’t stop playing it. I’m always so excited to start playing it and have to pry myself away each time in order to stop playing it. It’s so much fun. I really didn’t think I’d like it near as much as I actually do. I’m so glad I bought it now. It’s so worth the money. They make the game simple to understand and pick up, challenging enough to make you keep coming back, and engaging enough to encourage you to to keep playing and trying if you don’t win a certain quest the first time around. It’s everything I typically want within a turn based strategy and I have a good grasp on what I want since I grew up playing these kind of games. The only two minor critiques I can give on this game is that on the “Endless” option it gives at the end, I wish it allowed you to send out one of each group you’ve picked up along the way to make it even more endless versus the 3 or 4 waves (can’t remember which one it is right now) they give you. The other critique is I wish that they allowed more power options after each quest. That would be especially helpful when going for a certain theme as I’m currently trying to go with a Necromancy theme as much as possible on my current run through of the game. I feel like they should allow one option for each catagory of powers (Necromancy, Saboteur, etc.) each time. Other than that, it’s a fantastic game. This is definitely a game I will be encouraging and even begging my friends to play (I’ve already started begging one of my friends to do so). As far as everyone else is concerned, if you love to play turned based strategies but don’t want to lose your life over a game, don’t buy this game. If you love to play turned based strategies and wouldn’t mind forgetting you have a life, buy this game. Reverse Crawl receives 4.5 skeletons out of 5. The last skeleton just has a head and a torso. Poor guy.
– Real player with 122.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dungeon Crawler Action Games.
I’ve always been a fan of Nerdook and his games, so consider me a little bias. Reverse Crawl isn’t exactly what it looks like on the surface; The game is more about controlling a group of “Evil” minions that grow in strength through your decisions during multiple turn-based battles. After every battle, you get a choice to upgrade a specific area of your strengths; This could be making your Skeleton Minions deal more damage, or one of your more powerful creatures to gain a new ability. The Campaign is about three solid hours, give or take, and there are no real penalties for losing a “Mission”. Every step gives you a choice of up to 3 different pathways, save for explicit encounters, and you can grow in strength depending on what you choose.
– Real player with 17.0 hrs in game
Golden Fall
It’s a fun little game for in-between.
Good level design with a few puzzles.
Combat and exploration is fast enough that it never gets boring.
– Real player with 4.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Dungeon Crawler Roguelike Games.
This is such a delightful little game!
It reminded me of playing old tile-based games as a kid!
The charming characters, monsters, and art style is so cute.
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Tile-based roguelike game
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Charming graphics and characters
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Challenging!
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Different weapons and magic abilities
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Challenging (Will take you a few tries to beat)
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No real save systems - true to traditional roguelike games.
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Lack of character customisation or inventory checking.
I would definitely recommend this game if you want a short and charming roguelike adventure!
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
Heroes of Steel RPG
All I can say is, “Wow”! What a great game! This is a must-have if you like these types of games. Heroes of Steel puts the Tactical in tactical turn-based RPGs. With constant developer support and responsiveness, bugs are non-existent and the gameplay experience keeps getting better and better with more content and constant user-suggested improvements. Refreshing to say the least.
As for the gameplay….outstanding. I love these types of old school games. Graphics and soundwise, that’s what this feels like. Almost nostalgic. However, don’t let that fool you, this game is very current and plenty sophisticated in its combat-oriented content. You truly are the difference in winning and losing battles. Your positioning, movement, order of attack, buffs, de-buffs, spells, etc…make all the difference in almost every battle. If you get careless, you get hurt. If you pay attention, you can still get hurt but you should be able to implement a strategy to win and advance and it’s very satisfying.
– Real player with 2565.1 hrs in game
Picked up Heroes of Steel during Xmas sale when it was going for 60% off (that’s cheaper than the cost of a movie here and hundreds more hours of entertaining tactical fun) and have had a blast with it so far. Came into this game blind, after seeing that a friend had played it quite a bit during the holiday season and will have to say that it is one of the most memorable turn based experiences I’ve had. So here’s a fervent thank you from me to the developers for making a very engaging turn based tactics game with good depth and options!
– Real player with 500.3 hrs in game
Decks & Dungeons
A unique combination of turn based strategy, deck building and monster collecting! Play an almost endless single player campaign, combined with a dungeon building asymmetrical PVP mode.
An unstoppable monster horde has breached the lands you call home, led by a downtrodden office manager who just wants to get the job done. However, an esoteric old man seems to think you are somehow capable of stopping the end of the world.
Protect the world from being consumed by an evil monster horde!
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Turn Based combat where your cards are your weapons.
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Capture and train monsters.
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Over 150 monsters and bosses to find, with 300 variants to discover.
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Build your own dungeons, and unleash them against the world in PVP.
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Buffs and Modifiers keep the gameplay interesting, discover new combinations that adjust your play style.
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Roguelite - explore procedurally generated dungeons, but keep your loot with you for the next run!
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Customize your deck with more than 80 cards to discover!
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An unexpected cast of characters, from an imaginary friend to a demon who hates his job.
Rime Berta
To note: while I do recommend this game, I do so with careful consideration of the game’s many MANY issues, which you’ll find below. The playtime is not exactly correct (I did leave the game idling a few times), but I did beat it on Hard.
At its core, Rime Berta is an extremely barebones SRPG in the vein of Final Fantasy Tactics (but without most of the depth). You get to command an army of ‘puppets’ with different classes, each with mostly unique skills, and occasionally change classes when you hit certain skill milestones and get to hire random units at the end of most battles. There are no items or inventory whatsoever, units can’t change class outside of their own class trees and can’t choose different branches of the same tree once you commit to one. Combat’s fun enough when it works and I don’t remember running into any glitches.
– Real player with 62.7 hrs in game
This game is not Tactics Ogre, nor is it Final Fantasy Tactics. It lacks features like items, detailed plot, and multiple ways to heal units beyond what support units (clerics in the aforementioned games) can provide.
However that does not mean it’s a bad game.
As an indie game, its lack of features and arguably gameplay polish is quite evident. The camera controls are unintuitve, but the developers allow you to select units from a list if your POV can’t spot them. Sometimes archers can’t shoot down cliffs in certain situations, but mages laugh at the concept of terrain. For many flaws, the developers have offered less frustrating workarounds.
– Real player with 42.2 hrs in game
Zoria: Age of Shattering
STORY
Zoria. Home. Mother of all her inhabitants. She provides her children with food to grow, shelter to rest in and also, the harsh lessons of life, so her offspring may learn to fight and protect her gifts to them.
But men, men wanted more.
Zoria’s finest sons and daughters: intelligent, resourceful… violent. Men turned her ores into sword and daggers, and her roots into vile concoctions of poison.
Men wanted more. They craved more land and more food. So they built their homes of stone and wood, driving out the wildlife of its woods and caves. And in those caves they found their instrument of defiance: zerrium.
GAMEPLAY
Zoria’s Gameplay is a unique mix of action-adventure RPG and tactical management. Explore the beautiful lands of Zoria, from mountains to the ocean, towns and dungeons, follow the story or discover its secrets.
Your outpost is your base, by expanding it you get access to better facilities and the ability to influence more of the world around you while leveling your followers gives you the ability to explore deeper, further into the unknown.
ADVENTURES
All the adventures in the game are hand-crafted, with multiple paths and various options for exploration, depending on the setup of your party and their environment abilities. You can always revisit a dungeon with another party to see previously inaccessible places and finish all the side quests.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Adventures need to be planned out carefully, and supplies stocked accordingly. Without supplies, the team cannot restore their vital resources, making any dungeon that much more dangerous. Bringing enough supplies for the journey or upgrading your cooking skills to make better use of all the land has to offer, that’s a choice for everyone to make.
TURN-BASED COMBAT
Zoria’s combat is a Tactical, Turn-based confrontation, designed around the special characteristics of each class, abilities, resistances, deadly ranged attacks or strong AOE defenses, healing and much more. But turn based doesn’t mean static, so choose your battlegrounds wisely, as any wandering creature or enemy that gets too close, might join in and ruin your best laid plans.
CHARACTERS
You can choose your party from eight different classes, each with a unique skill set both in combat and exploring the world. Magic, ranged attacks, shear power, blocks and stuns, bleed and poisons, magic resistances - all there to explore, use and upgrade.
FEATURES:
• Explore a rich, immersive and diverse world: beautifully crafted environments, featuring dense forests, haunting dungeons, golden deserts and many more.
• An epic story driving your experience, with rich and expansive lore. Discover the hidden tales and stories that live on through the people of Zoria and your own companions;
• Plan your moves or just enjoy the ride - a game experience suited both for players eager to just explore and adventure, as well as for those who want a challenging combat with a strong emphasis on strategic thinking and planning.
• Easy to learn crafting system with dozens of unique potions, epic weapons and other curious recipes that can be found throughout the world.
• Elaborate character management: class and character upgrade system, unique skills both in combat, and during exploration. A wide array of character builds for each class will allow you to approach an encounter in your own way.
• Complex base management: build new facilities, upgrade buildings, manage resources and expand your base;
Monsters' Den: Book of Dread
I absolutely love this game. Back in highschool when this was a web browser game, I would sign up for computer classes just to play this game secretly in a corner.
What I love most about the remastered version of the game is that not a single thing changed. There is so much loot to be had, so many boss fights, and bad ass legendary monsters to hunt. To my knowledge, the game has no end. You can beat the campaign, but it lets you keep playing anyway for the sake of things.
It’s simple enough to play casually, but challenging enough to make you think. The most fun part is its Diablo 2 skill tree mechanics that you try some really unique parties.
– Real player with 142.7 hrs in game
This game simple mechanics are solid, with no apparent bugs or fails. It works and is fairly entertaining at first. UNFORTUNATELY, it has no story worth telling about. It has this weakest of story lines that repeats itself over and over again at each level, which becomes old very, very fast. You are going down in the dungeon at each level defeating the same opponent types at each turn. You collect gear, and become stronger because of it, but the monsters also get stronger in proportion to your dungeon level, which means, well, you get the same dynamics in combat also.
– Real player with 123.8 hrs in game
Dudes on a Map: Virtual Grid Paper
I can’t say enough about how great this tool is for helping with running my game! It’s simple to pick up and start playing with, without having to study tutorial videos. Easily import your own maps in jpeg form, and you’re on your way to having a great time with friends. There are some ‘fancy’ features, like having 2 different types of fog (one standard and one for secret areas you don’t want to accidentally reveal), marking up areas of effect, initiative tracker, add in your own monster/NPC tokens, and a dice roller (with the option of using symbol dice for different game systems). While these are great, you don’t need to use them if you don’t want to. I tired of trying to learn how to use other systems, and my experience of using dudes has convinced me that I don’t need to while still having a great time with my friends.
– Real player with 241.7 hrs in game
Been playing since the earliest Alpha releases. Also, for respectful reasons of this review, I did not get it for free but I am close to the creator so, anyone reading this, perhaps you’ll feel that there’s bias BUT, I will happily preface it at the top here first.
Dudes On A Map, for me, can be described as the easiest non-tech proficient program for playing RPG’s online with your friends. While some may say “Scoff, there’s not nearly as many tools and all these bells and all those whistles.” I would reply to them “Good, I don’t want all that and, to be honest, I don’t want to take a small 101 course just to get my games running.”
– Real player with 125.0 hrs in game
Dungeon Rats
Dungeon Rats is a pure combat game set in the universe of Age of Decadence. Like it’s predecessor, it promises to force players to make hard decisions and weigh every tradeoff.
The first thing you’ll notice when playing the game is the excellent, atmospheric music, almost perfectly complementing the game’s main menu screen. Most of the in game scenes, however, err towards too dark for easy visibility, even somewhat hindering playability.
While shallow in comparison, the conversation trees are highly reminiscent of Age of Decadence’s conversations; detailed, lore-heavy, full of unsaid implications, which were one of the best qualities of AoD. Unfortunately, as Dungeon Rats is extremely linear, it could not embrace the full scope of these conversations.
– Real player with 106.1 hrs in game
Important Note: I played through Age of Decadence several times before playing this game, so my experice may vary to yours. I only played this game on “Hard” (default difficulty) and “Solo Mode Hard”.
Overview:
The game consists of approximately 50 battles, which are set-pieces. There are no random encounters. This makes it a game about learning what the encounters are about. Playing the game for the first time was challenging and I did not learn my lessons that defense is more important than offense. I also learnt later that it is ok for some of the early companions to die (although you don’t want it to happen often).
– Real player with 93.6 hrs in game
Dungeon Scavenger
RECOMMENDED : Ratings 8/10 (Very Enjoyable, Great price to enjoyment ratio).
Dungeon Scavenger was a really fun and enjoyable Rogue-like dungeon crawler that I enjoy very much.
This game provides an interesting twists the the regular rogue-like dungeon crawler, using many different game mechanics. There is also great replayability because the user can chose to play one of 8 interesting classes, which are extremely different in all aspect. There are also 4 different difficulty mode and the “Impossible” difficulty is as the name suggest : it’s impossible to play it directly. The challenge is to support your character in the impossible mode with money and other resources from your other character. I spend many hours farming “skill point potions” using my other characters and then sending them over to the character in impossible mode.
– Real player with 99.2 hrs in game
TL;DR: Simple and relaxing dungeon crawler that can see you putting in dozens of hours on a single class run, let alone twelve of them.
Dungeon Scavenger is one of those gems of a game that fully embodies the old adage of ‘less is more’. Although the forward face of the game makes it seem like an outdated slog, in practice it proves to be a highly enjoyable experience.
Gameplay consists of moving a highlighted square across a randomized grid layout with encounters that differ every time you rest and/or reset the dungeon through events; whereas combat is simply pressing buttons with the goal of maximizing damage output and minimizing damage taken through the use of class-specific spells and enhancements to increase your strength or hinder that of your enemy.
– Real player with 68.1 hrs in game