“The Dark Cave” is a deck-building roguelite that combines strategic deck building aspects with the tactical grid based combat mechanics reminiscent of “Crypt of the NecroDancer.” Set in a nostalgic 16-bit world, the game delivers a visually appealing and mechanically engaging experience that challenges players to think several steps ahead.

Retro, simple and clear.

The game’s 16-bit graphics are charmingly retro, featuring simple yet distinct designs for enemies and items. Each visual element is clearly defined, making it easy for players to identify threats and resources. The minimalist art style. This paired with simple effects evokes a sense of nostalgia while maintaining modern gameplay clarity. It’s very easy to memorise different enemies, what they do and how they will act. As well as being able to tell items apart and choose without reading the effects every time.

A dungeon crawling version of chess.

“The Dark Cave revolves around navigating through chapters filled with rounds of combat against varying enemies. Both the player and enemies operate on separate 3×3 grids, allowing for strategic positioning and movement. Each attack targets specific squares and specific patterns, which are visibly highlighted, enabling players to anticipate and counter enemy actions effectively.

The game’s difficulty is initially daunting, demanding players to quickly adapt and strategize. As players progress, they become more adept at predicting enemy patterns and optimizing their movements, which significantly enhances the overall gameplay experience.

The feeling when you predict enemy attacks and bait them into moving to the optimal spot, just in time for the big skill to come off cooldown and kill all 4 monsters in one fell swoop. It’s an amazing sense of accomplishment. Especially when said battle is done and dusted with no damage taken.

Choose your loadout, if RNG lets you.

Deck-building is central to “The Dark Cave.” Players collect weapons/skills that define their attacks, defences, and special abilities, creating a highly customizable arsenal. Each of those skills will come their own caveats like freezing enemies or boosting damage under certain conditions. More perks can be added with the help of the blacksmith. These upgrades can vary from additional damage to one like ‘cast the skill twice but not be able to attack for 2 turns’ , which adds another layer of strategy. Progression is marked by aforementioned rest points after every two or three rounds.

Here you will encounter an angel offering choices between resting or selecting one of two items. This decision-making process adds a layer of strategic depth, as choosing one option locks the others until the next one. Unlike the angel that will always await you, there’s also a chance to encounter the previously mentioned blacksmith or a store. At the store you can purchase from a nice selection of potions, relics and skills to aid you in the next battle.

Those rest points are essentially checkpoints that also serve as fail-safes. Upon death, you can either return to the main menu and try again or restart from the first round after the last checkpoint. This feature allows players to practice against tougher enemies without replaying earlier rounds. This gives you a chance to practice facilitating a better understanding of advanced strategies.

From one run straight into another.

As players advance through the game, they earn experience points , unlocking new skills, relics (passive upgrades), and buffs. XP is used to unlock persistent perks that benefit all characters in future runs. Completing a run unlocks new characters, each with distinct playstyles. The Knight, a versatile hero; the Fairy, adept at poisoning enemies; and the Phantom, who starts weak but quickly becomes powerful.

After unlocking all three characters, the game introduces progressively harder difficulties with each consecutive win. These challenges do more than increase enemy health and damage; they alter gameplay elements, such as reducing potion slots or gold gains, forcing players to adapt their strategies further.

“The Dark Cave” successfully merges deck-building and roguelite elements with rhythmic movement mechanics, delivering a challenging and rewarding experience. While the game’s environments can become repetitive and some translations need improvement, its strategic depth, character variety, and engaging mechanics make it a compelling choice for fans of the genre. With ongoing updates and potential for future content, “The Dark Cave” promises to keep players entertained and strategizing for many runs to come.

The Dark Cave is coming available 16/07/2024 on Steam, with a demo out now at the time of writing.

Eresys promises an intense cooperative horror experience set within a Lovecraftian nightmare. The game sees you complete quests, normally your standard fetch/extraction missions. You’ll be met with a variety of monsters that are not only there to stop you, but scare you. With its heavy emphasis on multiplayer gameplay and atmospheric design, it seemed poised to offer something unique for horror enthusiasts. However, despite the promising premise, the game struggles with significant issues that detract from its potential, leading to a mixed overall experience.

A Rough Beginning and Performance Woes

The game’s introduction is a stumbling block right out of the gate. Instead of easing players into its world, “Eresys” expects the player to take in far too much information at the start. To make matters worse, you are expected to read through all of this rather than experience it in a tutorial. This makes the initial moments feel overwhelming and daunting, which could deter players from continuing. Additionally, the game’s performance is unfortunately far from excellent. There seem to be frequent stutters and control issues that make it difficult to play smoothly, which detracts from the immersive atmosphere the developers clearly worked hard to create. I was personally playing this game on the Steam Deck and endured frequent small bugs or general issues.  These flaws make it difficult to find yourself immersed in this world.

Atmospheric Yet Repetitive Environments

Initially, Eresys’ atmospheric design was impressive. The dark, moody environments and eerie soundscapes create a genuinely unsettling atmosphere that feels true to Lovecraftian roots. However, this initial sense of dread is somewhat limited as the environments begin to feel repetitive and empty. While the maps do look great at first, they lack the depth and variety needed to keep the game engaging after a few playthroughs. Therefore, the repetition limits the game’s ability to sustain its eerie ambience over time.

Co-op Emphasis

A core aspect of Eresys is its cooperative gameplay, which is where the game should be at its best. You work together as a group to complete the same objectives as on solo but your collaboration can add more variety in gameplay – most notably the ability to revive one another. However, finding public lobbies was near-enough impossible for me, even after searching at various times of the day. This lack of an active player base made me as a solo player feel isolated and unable to experience the full cooperative potential of the game. This should be a drawback if for players who don’t have people they can play the game with online as the solo experience feels subpar in comparison to the co-op experience which seems to suit this game better.

The Horror

Despite the weaknesses mentioned above, “Eresys” delivers on its promise of horror. The game’s jump scares are effective and really get you out of nowhere. The Lovecraftian aesthetic is faithfully executed, with grotesque creatures and unsettling visuals that evoke a genuine sense of fear. The sound design helps build anticipation for one of these scares which could come anytime – usually in the form of a monster you have to do your best to run away from. The horror elements are, without a doubt, the strongest aspect of the game and provide the most compelling reason to play.

Verdict

“Eresys” is a game with a lot of potential that is unfortunately held back by several critical flaws. The info-dump introduction and struggling performance are red flags, and the repetitive environments bore over the initial excitement. The game’s reliance on co-op play is both its biggest strength and its weakness, as the sparse public lobbies make it difficult to experience the co-op experience which was. However, effective horror elements and a faithful Lovecraftian atmosphere offer glimpses of  potential in “Eresys.” For those with friends who also own the game and a penchant for horror, “Eresys” might offer some enjoyable moments. But for the average solo player, the experience is likely to be as frustrating as it is frightening. I would suggest proceeding with caution, and perhaps waiting for a patch or two to address some of the more glaring issues before diving into this eldritch world. However, for a diehard Lovecraft fan, this game is certainly capable of evoking a decent time.