Humble Mobile Bundle: Roguelikes
Feb. 22nd, 2018 11:44 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chuckroDungelot: Shattered Lands - I vaguely recall playing a PC game called Dungeon Journey that was based around uncovering tiles to reveal monsters or treasure. This is the same concept, though built around a somewhat better system of getting stronger over time (and with luck). You're expected to die, but the only thing you lose is progress on that run, and you keep all the gold you found. Also, a “hero's grave” appears on the level you died on, which can randomly grant a permanent stat boost the next time you reach that level. Progressing through the game unlocks the Smithy and Mansion, which provide new equipment (that you don't lose by dying) and permanent upgrades. So while some of the increase in survivability is driven by luck, collecting gold allows you to make steady progress as well. And it feels like a “play for a few minutes” casual tap-game, which gets me past my initial dislike of the roguelike genre.
Heroes of Loot 2 - I played the PC version of the first game, and this is mostly the same setup: Gauntlet-inspired dungeon crawling; gather keys to unlock doors, avoid traps and smash a bajillion monsters that try to swarm you. New features include a second character you can swap with, so you have two full inventories and two different kinds of attacks. I preferred the PC controls, and if the PC version of this pops up in a bundle, I'll likely snag it.
Sproggiwood - This is a roguelite / mysterious dungeon game that ended up being shockingly entertaining. When you find an item in a dungeon, it automatically unlocks in the store, and once you buy it in the store, you can always choose it as your starting equipment in any dungeon. You get coins for completing dungeons, but you also get some if you lose, and you get big bonuses for beating older dungeons with new character classes. The shop also features overall upgrades, like additional starting HP or increased XP gain that are, again, permanent. You can only carry one consumable at a time, and when you pick up a new one, you have the option to use it immediately, keep it or convert it to cash. The six classes play fairly differently (some focused on mobility, some on tanking, etc), but a lot of the strategy comes from figuring out the twists in each dungeon, whether it's teleporters, land mines, respawning enemies (my most common cause of death), spider webs or something else. I also give them a lot of credit for making the dungeons 3-5 levels each, a very good “pick up and play” length, and important for a mobile game. Also: the armor of the Master Potter seems to be the best, as it restores your health by picking up pots, which you always want to do anyway.
Road Not Taken – This was made by Spry Fox, the company that also made Alphabear and Triple Town, so I had hopes for it. This is a sort of puzzle roguelike, where you’re trying to line up scenery objects, avoid monsters and rescue lost children. The thing is, the controls are really not optimized for the gameplay—once you pick something up, it drains your health and you need to throw it…but it’s really, really easy to pick things up accidentally and screw yourself over. Also, a puzzle game with fifteen “years”, but also with permadeath? Who thought that was a good idea?
Star Chindy: SciFi Roguelike - I’m not sure if this is really a “roguelike” so much as a cross between a tactical rpg and a journey/simulation game. You’re commanding the Star Chindy space cruiser, both exploring space and also trying to hunt down and destroy the Mechrons that nearly conquered humanity. Your choice of 2-3 destinations in each warp jump is random, so you need to manage your supplies and health in order to reach the next resupply point, but you also need to win both space battles and soldier battles to collect materials and advance the plot. I played through the first chapter and found it interesting, but the potential for frustration from reaching an unwinnable point was too much.
bit Dungeon I – I opted to put this on my phone, on the expectation that it would make a good “ten minutes while ARR is playing with friends” game. That seemed pretty accurate. It's relatively straightforward: You have 3-by-3 dungeon areas full of monsters and treasure; you attack by running up to (or through) things. Try to collect enough loot that you can beat the boss of each area. There's no inventory besides what you wear, and money is mostly useful for buying extra lives if you can come up with enough of it.
bit Dungeon II – Deeply inspired by the original Zelda, this is an expanded version of the first game, with most of the same mechanics but with a (non-randomized) overworld and series of dungeons to explore. If you die but get back to the place where you died, you can reclaim your soul and the extra life that goes with it. (If you die again without reclaiming the soul, it's game over and back to the start with nothing but your collected coins.) It took about three hours to reach the true final boss, and once I got a handle on which weapons were worth my time and how to maneuver well with the touch controls, I didn't find the game particularly difficult. I think this is much better than the first game, honestly.
Overall: The big winners here are Dungelot: Shattered Lands, Sproggiwood and bit Dungeon II, all of which were very entertaining. The fact that they aren't “true” roguelikes and make distinct efforts to provide incremental progress and be fun to play makes all the difference.
Heroes of Loot 2 - I played the PC version of the first game, and this is mostly the same setup: Gauntlet-inspired dungeon crawling; gather keys to unlock doors, avoid traps and smash a bajillion monsters that try to swarm you. New features include a second character you can swap with, so you have two full inventories and two different kinds of attacks. I preferred the PC controls, and if the PC version of this pops up in a bundle, I'll likely snag it.
Sproggiwood - This is a roguelite / mysterious dungeon game that ended up being shockingly entertaining. When you find an item in a dungeon, it automatically unlocks in the store, and once you buy it in the store, you can always choose it as your starting equipment in any dungeon. You get coins for completing dungeons, but you also get some if you lose, and you get big bonuses for beating older dungeons with new character classes. The shop also features overall upgrades, like additional starting HP or increased XP gain that are, again, permanent. You can only carry one consumable at a time, and when you pick up a new one, you have the option to use it immediately, keep it or convert it to cash. The six classes play fairly differently (some focused on mobility, some on tanking, etc), but a lot of the strategy comes from figuring out the twists in each dungeon, whether it's teleporters, land mines, respawning enemies (my most common cause of death), spider webs or something else. I also give them a lot of credit for making the dungeons 3-5 levels each, a very good “pick up and play” length, and important for a mobile game. Also: the armor of the Master Potter seems to be the best, as it restores your health by picking up pots, which you always want to do anyway.
Road Not Taken – This was made by Spry Fox, the company that also made Alphabear and Triple Town, so I had hopes for it. This is a sort of puzzle roguelike, where you’re trying to line up scenery objects, avoid monsters and rescue lost children. The thing is, the controls are really not optimized for the gameplay—once you pick something up, it drains your health and you need to throw it…but it’s really, really easy to pick things up accidentally and screw yourself over. Also, a puzzle game with fifteen “years”, but also with permadeath? Who thought that was a good idea?
Star Chindy: SciFi Roguelike - I’m not sure if this is really a “roguelike” so much as a cross between a tactical rpg and a journey/simulation game. You’re commanding the Star Chindy space cruiser, both exploring space and also trying to hunt down and destroy the Mechrons that nearly conquered humanity. Your choice of 2-3 destinations in each warp jump is random, so you need to manage your supplies and health in order to reach the next resupply point, but you also need to win both space battles and soldier battles to collect materials and advance the plot. I played through the first chapter and found it interesting, but the potential for frustration from reaching an unwinnable point was too much.
bit Dungeon I – I opted to put this on my phone, on the expectation that it would make a good “ten minutes while ARR is playing with friends” game. That seemed pretty accurate. It's relatively straightforward: You have 3-by-3 dungeon areas full of monsters and treasure; you attack by running up to (or through) things. Try to collect enough loot that you can beat the boss of each area. There's no inventory besides what you wear, and money is mostly useful for buying extra lives if you can come up with enough of it.
bit Dungeon II – Deeply inspired by the original Zelda, this is an expanded version of the first game, with most of the same mechanics but with a (non-randomized) overworld and series of dungeons to explore. If you die but get back to the place where you died, you can reclaim your soul and the extra life that goes with it. (If you die again without reclaiming the soul, it's game over and back to the start with nothing but your collected coins.) It took about three hours to reach the true final boss, and once I got a handle on which weapons were worth my time and how to maneuver well with the touch controls, I didn't find the game particularly difficult. I think this is much better than the first game, honestly.
Overall: The big winners here are Dungelot: Shattered Lands, Sproggiwood and bit Dungeon II, all of which were very entertaining. The fact that they aren't “true” roguelikes and make distinct efforts to provide incremental progress and be fun to play makes all the difference.
