Stay Safe: Labyrinth of the Mad
MANY OF THE CRASHES HAVE BEEN FIXED.
YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE OLDER REVIEWS.
The developer of the game actually tries to fix the bugs and crashes in this game (check the games update history). If your game crashes it (usually) sends a crash report to the developer automatically or you can simply make a post about it and you’ll likely get a response.
Anyways, actual review.
It’s a fun game. It’s a pretty simple rogue-like that is easy to get into but difficult enough that it’s actually fun. It doesn’t have tons of game mechanics you need to learn to enjoy it (I beat the game on my second try). It’s basically just your HP, Mana and positioning. No need to worry about breaking all your bones and being hungry or tired every 5 minutes. :) It’s actually pretty fair to the player and doesn’t feel like constant waves of RNG trying to make you lose. You get quite a bit of content for the price. There are a lot of spells/items to try and the enemies actually feel unique (they each have different spells/speeds/resistances). It takes about 1-3 hours to complete a run.
– Real player with 155.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Perma Death Turn-Based Games.
I totally adore this game, but the crashes! Still very painful, even after the various updates. I don’t mind having paid for this game, even if I may end up shelving it, because it has the potential to become unplayable. I’d just consider the payment a charitable donation to the devs. They deserve it, regardless. This is a super fun little game. I can see myself putting in over 100 hours into it. I grew up on ASCII rpgs. I said, ASCII, y’all. Haha. This game scratches that itch for me. I really do love it, but the crashes coupled with the current save mechanism makes for some very painful experiences.
– Real player with 29.0 hrs in game
Crown Trick
If you like roguelikes or similar like Dead Cells, Binding of Isaac, Slay the Spire, where every level is fully random and it gets harder as you progress while maintaining so much fun and being fair, then this is the game for you!
Gameplay 10/10
The gameplay is turn-based strategy where after every action you make (asides from blink), the enemies take an action as well. Relics, weapons, and familiars change how you strategize and allow for infinite ways of gameplay.
Art 10/10
The artists for Crown Trick went through multiple renditions before finding what worked the best and continue to create art and animations for the game. To have a fully hand drawn animated opening and trailer is a glorious asset. Also, for it to have just the perfect balance between cartoon and rpg game like a middle ground between Binding of Isaac and FATE, it has a very pleasing aesthetic.
– Real player with 156.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Perma Death Adventure Games.
Very fun and good looking game with a good amount of options for different play styles, but perhaps slightly lacking in the length of the playthrough . Personally it was still worth the money due to fun core gameplay, despite beating the levels pretty quickly (there isn’t any extra hard optional content at the end of a run to really test your strong runs, which is a shame), but probably not too worth if you are looking to spend hundreds of hours getting something new all the time like with many similar games.
– Real player with 35.3 hrs in game
Fractalis
I rarely write superlatives, but this game is the worst thing happened to me since I’ve lost a degree to Angband 20 years ago. I’m hooked. Yes, controls could be more polished, but I do not mind. I love it.
– Real player with 10.3 hrs in game
Read More: Best Perma Death Grid-Based Movement Games.
While fun at a very reasonable price, I found myself wanting a bit more in the world above the dungeon. The world seems like a small cross section or single screen of what at first feels like a larger continent or Island. It was disappointing to walk to the edg and find out that there was no continuation to this forest or path as it is simply a jarring invisible edge to the ‘world’. A minor thing, but it did make the game seem smaller and restrictive to be sure.
My main concern (and maybe I missed something) was this: Each type of item/weapon/etc has its own store NPCs vendors and they will not purchase equipment that is not part of their store. For example, you cant sell pole arms to a sword store. Even the ‘general’ store has very specific items that they deal in and will not buy anything from you that is not specifically tied to that store. Not a thing. While this seems completely reasonable at first glance, the problem I found was that there is no guarantees as to which NPCs will be generated in the town each time a world is generated. You could end up with 3 vendors in the generated town and 2 of them are swords only and one general vendor. Good luck looting anything of value that you can make any profit off of. So I either end up with a bag full of equipment that I cant sell at all, or I just end up with piles of items laying on the ground because they’re of no use what so ever. A more fleshed out town/world would go a long way and help alleviate the feeling of the game feeling smaller than it is.
– Real player with 2.5 hrs in game
Caves of Qud
This game is hard but in a good way. Early on, you’ll die, a lot. Basically every death will be a learning experience and oh boy is there a lot to learn (even now before full release).
Caves of Qud has incredible amount of content and replayability. It has so many amazing features that I don’t want to spoil and different ways to play each character with unique build or playstyle and so so so many secrets that you probably won’t ever find or at least not easily.
Ok now for a story time of many things that can happen in Caves of Qud. (very mild spoilers ahead)
– Real player with 248.3 hrs in game
A masterpiece of worldbuilding, game design and procedural generation. One of the most beautiful, enticing, unique and creatively weird worlds I ever explored. Layers upon layers of content depth. The writing is absolutely gorgeous. You can share water with an ape god, multiply the pope, and get chased by your clone from the future all around the landscape of not-Israel.
It’s Dune on steroids made by furry communists over nearly a decade. Please support them.
– Real player with 203.4 hrs in game
Crypt of the NecroDancer
Over the past several months, I’ve had the pleasure of testing an alpha of Crypt of the NecroDancer , a retro styled rhythm based roguelike.
A what?
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a procedural dungeon crawler where the player and enemies movie on the beats of the game’s music tracks. That may sound like an eclectic mix, but it works. It works really well.
You play as Cadence, a firey young woman who, against the better judgement of her elders, descends into the NecoDancer’s crypt in search of answers. The intro cinematic shows Cadence prone, her head against a blood smeared rock whilst her narration says, “I don’t know how I survived that fall.”
– Real player with 415.3 hrs in game
Crypt of the Necrodancer is a timeless masterpiece of an Indie game that never seems to bore me. I have bought this game on 3 separate platforms, and I don’t believe that I wasted a single bit of time spent in it.
Crypt is a very interesting and fun fusion of both rhythm and puzzle, while presenting itself as a dungeon-crawler. The controls are simple, but the skill ceiling is so insanely high for something so surface-level in appearance. Missing a button press on a note resets a stacking “Coin Multiplier” which rewards you for treating this game with precision, taking damage also does this. There is no such thing as “Mandatory Damage” in this game, you are perfectly able to control yourself in order to avoid haphazard conditions, and every single enemy has a pattern or “Tell” that indicates their movements, attack patterns, and the sort.
– Real player with 191.6 hrs in game
Dungeon 100
· Going down 100 floors if you’re a true man
Dungeon 100 is a Diablolike + Auto Chess + Roguelike type of game. The core gameplay is to complete 100 levels of dungeon with a combat style of your own through the combination of skills.
· Diablolike game without the grinding
No gears, no perks, only the completely free combination of 100+ skills that gives you the pure excitement of building.
· He who fights with dragons become the dragon
Every 15 levels will be hold by a dragon. After you defeats the dragon, the character will be taken over and become the boss of this level, with the skill set he/she currently has. You have to beat your former character to move on deeper into the dungeon.
Red Sector
Fun arcade style game that gives you that, “I want to complete the next level” feeling. Still early doors but I feel sure the road-map of improvements will be coming soon.
– Real player with 2.8 hrs in game
There are a bunch of things I like about this game. Start with the creative “sector” element of an arcade shooter. Moving to different sectors to clear out before giving the player the decision as to where they want to go next makes it a bit more controllable while breaking up the action in parts.
I also like the visuals. Simple but appealing too.
Really nice product!
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game
Rift Wizard
The first thing you should know about Rift Wizard is that it has no unlockables, which already makes it better than basically every other commercial roguelike out there. Just install the game and go ham with all the (so far) 130+ spells and 60+ skills already available from the beginning, no holding the player hostage with the same old moronic reward cycle that deliberately vandalizes gameplay because developers are so terrified of players figuring out their game is boring and there’s actually nothing interesting to do that they have to hide all the (pitiful) content behind more hours of your time than the entire game could ever really provide.
– Real player with 146.4 hrs in game
Short version: Rift Wizard is an amazing and challenging puzzle roguelike that will repeatedly put your analytical skills to the test as you experiment with fun free-form build combinations and explore realm after realm full of interesting creatures and hostile wizards.
Long version:
There’s just so much strategy packed into an accessible interface with simple, intuitive controls and plenty of information at your fingertips, pretty much everything you need to succeed–if you’re careful ;)
Rift Wizard is EXTREMELY overwhelming at first because you really do have instant access to the entire spell and skill list, over a couple hundred of them, each with their own variety of possible upgrades that offer so many options for dealing with the wide range of threats you’ll face, from mapwide effects, to creatures teaching other creatures spells, to creatures spawning more/different creatures, to creatures growing more powerful when they see certain types of spells cast, to simply way too many to mention–lots of interesting mechanics out there, and the battles get really really crazy.
– Real player with 72.4 hrs in game
Rogue Cards
Rogue Cards is a roguelite deckbuilder set in a medieval fantasy world of endless choices and dry humor. You’ll encounter challenge after challenge in a deviously difficult, randomized series of encounters where your choices matter. The more you play, the further your deck and character develop, and the closer you get to ascending to godhood!
Challenging Tactical Gameplay
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Monsters are stacked with multiple stages - each stage with different abilities you must defeat.
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Thousands of cards - each playthrough is guaranteed to have a unique deck.
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Multi-enemy encounters - choose wisely which stack and which monster to defeat first!
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Multiple playthrough character development - a honest roguelite.
Strategy Matters
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Unique graveyard mechanic - cards must be returned from graveyard between or during matches.
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Planning your itemization from the start - can you afford to save or do you need to invest now?
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Cards that give permanent boosts to your abilities - play and replay it and become a veritable god!
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Choosing your path - Your character develops differently from defeating different bosses.
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Build your hero - each playthrough awards you gems you can use to boost your abilities and win the next run!
A Real Roguelite Feel
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Build your deck between runs - gain new cards, keep the best and start your next run with an upper hand!
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An ever-changing storyline with multiple endings.
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Captivating story that your playthrough generates.
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Cool original art and style.
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Music to blow your socks off.
Have you ever felt like a farmer’s son/daughter from a medieval time period? Is there a tingling in your belly that says you are the chosen one? In your innermost mind, do you feel invincible because you can always start over as another farmhand destined for greatness? If you answered yes to those, or some other questions that you have heard in the past, then look no further in your search for games!
Solar Rogue
I’m enjoying Solar Rogue much more than I was expecting. You keep your ship’s energy up so you can convert and craft upgrades. Move through sectors of space looking for more. Crew management is place holder at this time but will hopefully be added during early access.
– Real player with 30.5 hrs in game