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A jam submission

Dungeon GrinderView game page

A roguelike for 7DRL 2021
Submitted by Devin Spikowski (@vegeta897) — 1 day, 23 hours before the deadline
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Dungeon Grinder's itch.io page

Results

CriteriaRankScore*Raw Score
Traditional Roguelikeness#24.0004.000
Fun#63.6673.667
Innovation#103.6673.667
Aesthetics#173.6673.667
Completeness#683.3333.333
Scope#1032.6672.667

Ranked from 3 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.

Judge feedback

Judge feedback is anonymous and shown in a random order.

  • (Review of a version that was updated post-7DRL to fix a crash.) This is a very short, very simple, yet really fun game! While there's only one enemy type, no equipment/progression, etc. it nevertheless feels satisfying to play thanks to its one key mechanic - the ability to glide on rails, which gives your knight so much momentum that they can immediately smash any skeletons foolish enough to be on rails in that moment, whereas simple melee takes multiple swings to defeat just one of them, and there's no way to heal (which is not a problem, since the dungeon is so short once you master the on-rails movement.) My main suggested post-7DRL improvement would be to add BGM/SFX: the game looks really nice, but it would feel even better if you could actually hear the knight grinding on rails or smashing skeletons to bits. Beyond that, it would nice to see if the author can figure out how to expand it while preserving this core gameplay.
  • I really like this idea. I've never seen this mechanic in a roguelike before. It's an unusually dynamic feeling for a roguelike as well. The tileset choice is simple and clear, and the colors are nice. Controls are simple and understandable. I would love to see the concept expanded; as it is the skeletons are fairly basic and easy to defeat and new enemy types would mix up the experience. I think the mechanic might be interesting with more enemies in a smaller space with more railroads to increase the difficulty and force you to take your turns carefully. I really like the simple tutorial, it teaches you the mechanics quickly and easily. I would love to see two paths, in the beginning, one that you should grind on and one that you clearly need to walk on, with the walking one taking you right to the level and the grinding one going through the tutorial first. I really like the ending, where you grind quickly through the entire level. It did lead me to beat the game the second time by just grinding forward. The fact that skeletons move right after the player, but before the grinding, is an interesting idea since it makes you anticipate their position. There is a lot of potential here, maybe spells that let you lay your own railroads down, or let you place or toggle a line switcher. There could be bumpers or things that reset your momentum. Even as it is though, a really interesting and unique experience.
  • Very fun! the grinding is just a really fun, cool idea. Neat look, great use of the kenney tiles! I did get the crash you mentioned in the description, but honestly, wasn't even that aggravated or anything, and I managed to win the game with no more problems after that.

Successful or Incomplete?
Success

Did development of the game take place during the 7DRL Challenge week. (If not, please don't submit your game)
Yes

Do you consciously consider your game a roguelike/roguelite? (If not, please don't submit your game)
Yes

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Comments

Developer

Post-jam crash-fix version playable here: https://pixelatomy.com/dungeon-grinder/