Roguelike – Stately Play

Just when I thought I was out, Slay the Spire pulls me back in

January 20, 2020 David Neumann 10

PC/Mac/Linux, Xbox, PS4, Switch While I haven’t completely stopped playing Slay the Spire, I will admit my weekly numbers are down. In fact, other than plane-trip-long sessions on my Switch, Slay the Spire has been mostly ignored. Somehow, I had managed to slip free of the shackles that Slay the Spire’s relentlessly addictive gameplay had bound me in…until I logged into Steam yesterday. Sonofabitch, they added a new class. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

Bad North heading to the small screen

October 3, 2019 David Neumann 1

iOS, Android, PC/Mac, Xbox The viking-themed real-time roguelite, Bad North, has been around for a bit now, having released on Switch way back in August of 2018. I’ve purchased the game on both Switch and PC and have yet to play it. I don’t know why. It looks amazing (hence the multiple purchases) but it just hasn’t been able to push aside whatever other game I’ve been sinking my time into. (This isn’t Bad North’s fault. Those other games are Slay the Spire and Factorio, so…) Now, however, I feel confident that I’ll finally give this gem the time it deserves because it can now fit in my pocket. Bad North arrives on iOS/Android on October 15.

Righteous Hammer announces new title, ZOR: Pilgrimage of the Slorfs

October 3, 2019 David Neumann 5

Back in the summer of 2016 the folks at Righteous Hammer made their impression on the App Store landscape with a solitaire card game roguelike, Solitairica. Impossible to spell title aside, it was an incredible time waster and a perfect example of what a phone game should be. Three years later and the studio has been fairly silent. That changed this morning with the announcement of their next title, Zor: Pilgrimage of the Slorfs.

Dicey Dungeons rolls onto PC/Mac/Linux

August 16, 2019 Tanner Hendrickson 3

PC/Mac/Linux Do year hear that? That’s right, it’s the deck-building roguelike alarm! So soon after the last one, too! This time, it’s VVVVVV/Super Hexagon developer Terry Cavanaugh’s Dicey Dungeons, and it’s just wonderful. The pitch? It’s Dream Quest, but instead of building a deck of cards you’re designing your own roll-and-write sheet on which to delegate dice rolls to deal damage and defeat the denizens of these damned dicey dungeons. And it’s a game show!

Slay the Spire now slaying on Switch

June 6, 2019 David Neumann 3

PC/Mac/Linux, PS4, Switch We’ve already talked a lot about Slay the Spire and just what an incredible game the folks at Mega Crit have put together. It was in Early Access for forever before releasing for PC/Mac/Linux in January and has been a staple on my hard drive ever since. I can beat the game (or at least get to the end boss) fairly often now, but the fun hasn’t diminished. Each run is a new experience and a new chance to try something a bit different. The only thing missing was being able to play on the go, away from keyboard or console. That was fixed today when Slay the Spire arrived for Switch.

Dead Cells making its way to iOS this summer

May 7, 2019 David Neumann 4

iOS, PC/Mac/Linux, Xbox, PS4, Switch One of the indie games to make it big on Switch was the side-scrolling platformer, Dead Cells. You play a headless lump of undead flesh trying to figure out just what the hell is going on. Actually, that might not be the point of the game, but it’s what I do each time I load it up. Anyway, word just came down the pipe that Dead Cells is making the move from Switch to iOS later this year.

Meteorfall expands with just released Queen of Shadows content

December 18, 2018 David Neumann 5

iOS Universal, Android • I’m currently putting together our top five lists for the End of Year Hullabaloo and, while I don’t want to drop any spoilers, you may see Meteorfall pop up once or twice. Just to be clear, I collected those lists before the latest mega-patch dropped, which introduces a new skin, new cards, and new Meteorfall goodness. Say hello to the Queen of Shadows.

Book of Demons turns the page and emerges from Early Access

December 14, 2018 David Neumann 2

PC/Mac • Book of Demons is a weird one. Part Action-RPG, part roguelike, part card game, and with a graphic style that I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen before. It appears to be an homage to the original Diablo, complete with a Deckard Cain-alike and an ominous cathedral whose depths you’ll be exploring for loot and glory. There’s also a big, red demon sitting at the bottom waiting for you. So, it’s a lot like Diablo, except when it isn’t, which is most of the time. Confused? Stay awhile and listen!

Twinfold mashes several well worn mechanisms into a unique new experience

December 7, 2018 David Neumann 13

iOS, Android, PC/Mac • So, all the voices in my head the last couple days have been talking about one thing, the new game from indie dev Kenny Sun, Twinfold. “Wait, what voices?” you’re probably asking. To that I say, Sandwiches! [we’re not sure when Dave fell and hit his head, but we’re all guessing it was somewhere around the age of 7 -ed.]

Mechanised Dungeon Crawler Das Geisterschiff Set For Steam

November 6, 2018 Alex Connolly 0

PC/Mac/Linux • The first game I ever played was PC Research’s 1983 survival horror game, 3-Demon. And by survival horror, I obviously mean a first-person vector riff on Pac Man. John D. Price and Rick Richardson’s intimate maze-em-up was austere and unsettling, branded as a seminal experience into soft, impressionable neurons. So, imagine if that sort of ambience dropped tired old phantoms for battlesuits in a near-future subterranean lair? Das Geisterschiff, which arm should I present for cannulation, come November 25th?