Masked Vale
This is a new type of game for me as I don’t normally play Perma Death things and I enjoyed the fast paced combat. I played about 60 minutes so far on a keyboard and got used to the controls fairly quickly.
Regular enemies can easily kill you if you do not dodge/block attacks. Challenging game for sure, I was able to beat 5 levels in a row without dying. Beating the 5th level I unlocked a faster character who has more dodges but less health. Going to try and play a bunch with her now.
The levels have a cool design that is other worldly and I really like the special attacks my character has. The flame stomp AOE attack (2 on keyboard) is pretty fun to use. The few times I faced bosses so far I lost each time as this game is quite hard. The new character I unlocked has a quick stab stab stab stab for her second attack that looks wonderfully murderous.
– Real player with 3.1 hrs in game
This is a good game, however it has the potential to become great!
I wish there was a dodge mechanic to more consistently avoid damage because of the slow moveset and 1 or 2 levels are bad but this has alot of potential and can definitely go somewhere
– Real player with 1.1 hrs in game
VERLIES II
When you rage quit from a game and you immediately want to give it another try, you know you’ve got something special.
Verlies II is a first person dungeon crawler, with real-time combat and grid based deplacement.
And it wants you dead.
Yep, according to the Master, death is the only thing you rightly deserve.
Let’s prove him wrong, shall we?
In order to do that, you’ll have to master combat precision, actively aiming at the monsters, and timing, to block with your shield and manage breath/endurance. It’s a fun and solid system and you may soon try to block “frame perfect” in the vain hope it will mitigate more damage :p or you will die miserably for it was obvious this 5th strike in a row was dumb.
– Real player with 41.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hack and Slash Dungeon Crawler Games.
Punishing, wicked roguelike gridbased dungeon crawler with active combat that requires timing, strategy and actually landing your mouse cursor on the enemies as you swing. Lots of ways to combine your skills and create the build you want. Has a few interesting puzzles, one at the end of each level. This game does all it can to work against you, so that you really do feel you accomplish something every time you make it just a little further. But there are many ways to die, and permadeath is what’s at stake if you fail.
– Real player with 23.6 hrs in game
Fallback
It’s got a lot of spirit, but has some issues in places. With the right approach, it’s a pretty fun rogue-like, but at the moment, it’s also easy to run into some annoying experiences. This review is probably overly thorough, so just read the last paragraph if you’re not really stuck on whether to buy it or not.
Moving through the 3 dimensional environment through connected 2 dimensional planes takes a bit of getting used to, can result in some unintuitive movement (usually involving jumping off ladders or ledges that transition between 2 perpendicular planes), and has painfully tight tolerances in some places. However, thorough exploration of the levels is often well rewarded. Also, a good understanding of how the movement works lets you traverse the levels faster and can even provide an advantage in combat situations from time to time.
– Real player with 71.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Hack and Slash Action Roguelike Games.
[b]This review was commissioned by [url]the PCGame!t Curator[/url], updated daily![/b]
```Fallback is a new roguelike set in a post-apocalyptic era, where the surface of the earth has been affected by a giant ecological disaster that forced mankind underground. In this subterranean world, humanity succeeded in inventing machines that could do most of the dirty work, such as mining and establishing living conditions. But over time, the machines gained the intelligence to turn against humanity, quickly overpowering their creators, imprisoning and forcing many to do labor themselves.
*– [Real player with 16.9 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197964952727)*
---
## For Sparta
PROS:
* A decent variety of enemies. There are about 3-4 different skins for each monster, but they each have varying attacks and behaviours to keep things interesting.
* A large selection of craftable perks to potentially obtain.
* The controls handle well. Dodging and attacking feels responsive and enjoyable.
* Action-packed generally speaking. Enemies spawn in waves throughout a day, but if you take too long, the next wave will spawn in to keep you on your toes.
* Satisfying and appropriate sound effects.
*– [Real player with 15.8 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197986775284)*
Great little arcade game. It's difficult and has a lot of random elements that can make it anywhere from challenging to near impossible, but with games being so fast/short and the ability to restart in a couple of seconds it's not normally frustrating.
If you like old school keyboard bashing this is for you.
*– [Real player with 6.5 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198053425232)*
---
## Slash or Die
I gotta say, I really like this game. You control one of three characters (warrior, berserker and mage, although you have to complete the first boss to unlock the berserker and the second and third to unlock the mage), each with different mechanics,
stats and upgrades. Using just the mouse you can maneuver your hero and perform an attack, which costs mana, to kill enemies that keep spawning. The enemy diversity is good, each one with different attack types and harder enemies appear as you progress through the story.
*– [Real player with 19.9 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197997363527)*
This is a very disappointing game, can't say it's THAT bad, you decide:
+The one and only plus - battle mechanics - 1st time I've seen it in indiegala minigame made by the same person I guess, and what can I say - there it was WAY better - to move around you click left MB, to dash and kill you click right MB - now about the problems of the game
-You can't dash while moving - you have to release LMB if you want to click RMB - like, what's the problem? When a lot of enemies around you even the slight stop can kill you.
*– [Real player with 17.6 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198028673669)*
---
## Choice Chamber
This review is from the perspective of a streamer ( twitch.tv/aazzdos ) and someone that has reached Room 475.
Choice Chamber is a platformer. Your objective is to clear a room of all enemies in order to proceed to the next one. The defining difference between this game and others in the same genre is that your Twitch chat votes on how the next level will be different, from the terrain to the enemies to your very own weapon. Voting follows majority rule, and chat has almost full power over how a run will go.
*– [Real player with 95.7 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197993552274)*
Okay, so there's an obvious caveat to my recommendation here. This game is for streamers, and pretty much _only_ for streamers. This game won't get you an audience, either. But if you livestream, and you already have an audience—even a small one—then this game is fantastic. It's not the most fun game of its kind, and can occasionally get repetitive… especially if your chatroom decides to troll you and keep you underpowered. But it always seems to be the case that as one slowly improves at the game, their stream community follows suit. I often point out and even pick on users of the "streamer 'we'", but this is one game where it really does apply—it really is not just the gamer but also the spectators that are making progress, and for the streamer to say "we're in there" or "we made it" is, at last, not at all disingenuous for this game. This game is clearly for a very limited demographic, but if you fit that demographic, Choice Chamber should serve you quite well.
*– [Real player with 29.8 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198289446169)*
---
## Blacken Slash
Blacken Slash fuses tactical turn-based combat and fast-paced hack, slash and loot gameplay – and takes only the best out of both genres to create a simple, but endlessly rewarding gameplay experience where you fight, loot and repeat until you die. Play on your own and perfect your gear across dozens of runs and see which difficulty you can master – or compete with other players in an online leaderboard where you start from scratch each week.
* Minimalist – easy to learn
* Difficult – hard to master
* Short levels – short play sessions
* An abundance of items
* Various playstyles and builds
* Challenging achievements
* Weekly online leaderboard
---
## Gunmetal Arcadia
I'll try to keep this short. As of this review, I've put over 60 hours into Gunmetal Arcadia. Its combat system is clearly inspired by Zelda II for the NES, and I happened to like that game a lot. Let me be clear, though: the game's combat isn't nearly as deep as Zelda II, but I still quite enjoyed it. You can even get an item that allows you to stab down in mid-air, allowing you to basically pogo on enemies.
The game itself is procedurally generated across four chapters. You cannot save and quit, so you'll have to complete a game in one shot. Fortunately, this can be done in less than an hour, but I would have appreciated the ability to suspend my game like in FTL or The Binding of Isaac Rebirth.
*– [Real player with 183.6 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197964951009)*
J. Kyle Pittman's "Gunmetal Arcadia" is his personal love-letter - by his own admission - to both "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" and "Faxanadu"; with the combat mechanics being largely inspired by the former, and the Graphics by the latter (with him furthermore rigidly adhering to actual NES graphical limitations). This is then furthermore coupled with an enhanced version of his CRT Simulation technology, of which an earlier version was previously witnessed in "Super Win the Game".
However - while the game looks great, and plays great - the most interesting aspect is the game's Legacy System, and how it plays into Gunmetal Arcadia's Roguelite elements. Whereas most Roguelike games expect winning to be an ephemeral goal, only reached after tons of hours of gameplay, Gunmetal Arcadia can easily be won (assuming you play well, and aren't completely screwed over on your early upgrade chances). Instead of asking you to try forever to finish just once, completing Gunmetal Arcadia actually causes changes - both subtle, and sometimes massive - to occur on later sessions. Even though you succeeded - or sometimes failed - to clean out one particular Unmade Hive, there's still the next mission to clear out that next Hive (which is effectively your next session).
*– [Real player with 15.0 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198042267341)*
---
## Shuriken and Aliens
This game has an interesting premise, but poor execution. It crashes frequently, has poor AI and many other bugs plaguing it.
*– [Real player with 29.7 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970757749)*
Very Good hack and Slash game with perma death as an option.
I particularly enjoyed the maps and the use of bright colors.
Basic close combat and range combat with the suriken.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9396TCUmzQM
Pros
-Story
-Sound
-Maps
-Funny
Cons
- Difficult
*– [Real player with 1.9 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970420888)*
---
## Striving for Light
_Striving for Light_ is an action roguelike with hack-and-slash combat and an infinitely expanding skill tree. It’s a novel idea for a roguelike but given the game’s Early Access status, there’s a lot of room to grow.
#### Graphics
The handpainted art style is rough around the edges but has an indie charm. Everything looks a little odd or goofy, but not outright bad. Sometimes the motion blur is a bit much, but my only major complaint is the lack of visibility caused by certain skill upgrades. You can add fire and explosions to your attacks, but when you combine it with the AoE size increase, you get massive orange circles covering half the screen.
*– [Real player with 4.0 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198012473463)*
I really like the idea of Striving for Light. A never ending hack and slash roguelike with a random branching skill tree so every run is different. At the moment though there's not much variety in enemy types and builds but I can definitely see myself playing this when it's further developed!
Check out my full gameplay review video for Striving for Light. I go into great depth about the Story, Graphics, Audio, Gameplay, and other noteworthy things I feel needs to be mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL2Y2FMzS3A
*– [Real player with 1.1 hrs in game](http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198042198830)*
---