Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

• This is a very pretty standard dungeon crawler. I liked the way the game looked and sounded, and it was certainly fast and easy to get into. I wasn't able to complete the game but I got apparently close to the end (level 22). It's hard to tell if the game has an ending though, because each level feels the same (similar layouts, and same enemies) and the instructions weren't clear about whether I was supposed to reach a level where the McGuffin would be found or if I had a chance on each floor of the McGuffin spawning and I needed to look for it. I felt all of this affected the Completeness and Scope scores (only 3 each), though the game otherwise felt complete and was stable. The items were interesting, and the inventory system worked well (even if I kept mixing up the keys, but that's my problem). Although I didn't see much that new beyond what to expect in a simple roguelike, the game was still fun for me.

• Nice little game. A little too simple, but have some charm in it. It's all about risk/reward. At first you just have to kill all enemies in hope of a better equipment. But once you've got best things that can drop from enemies, it's better to avoid them, unless you want to risk a few remaining HP betting on healing potion. A little too random, if the game won't generate required enemies and/or required items for quite some time, it is impossible to progress. Equipment switching could be better, though. It's too cumbersome.

• Completeness

  Polished, balance, no noticeable bugs. 4/5

  Aesthetics
  

  Pretty! The UI is OK. My biggest gripe is that the down arrow doesn't go from 'wear' to 'drop' in the item menu. Lots of dancing between X/Z/arrows to do stuff with items. Also, holes are REALLY HARD TO SEE, even when moving slowly. 3/5

  Fun
  

  I did not have fun while playing this game. It is too hard, in a way that does not feel fair.

  • It's very easy to be trapped between a dancer and a flame, without having other options in combat
  • The manual says some weapons might be better due to passive effects, but I never saw ANY passive effects. Any time I used a weapon other than the starting sword, I just died sooner.
  • Enemy variety is low
  • Most enemies should not be killed because they don't drop anything and will just sap hit points. The enemies that are worth killing are extremely tough, and drop mediocre gear that doesn't justify the HP loss.
  • Having to pick up all the gear at the start of the game is annoying, and just reminds me how frustrated I was with my previous game. up up x z z left x z z up x right x right x left left left left up up up...ok now the game's started.
  • Comparing items is very tedious, because dealing with items at all is tedious. Check stats, throw, equip, check stats...is it better? Probably not because all the weapon pickups are bad. OK, go back, repeat the whole process...

  So I have to give it a 2/5 for sheer frustration. I understand there might be a smarter way to play, but for a 7DRL, I think developers have a responsibility to make sure people can have fun without investing 100 hours.

  Innovation

  There is turn-based hacking and slashing in a procedurally generated map. Pretty standard roguelike stuff. 2/5

  Scope

  3/5 - meets expectations for a 7DRL.

  Roguelikeness

  Yep, it's a roguelike! 4/5