@ Roguelike games

re: Loop Hero

Something, something Chapter select. Nevermind, but thanks for the response EoA.

So Ancestral Crypt or Arsenal? I am thinking crypt for farming and arsenal for boss runs? Thoughts?

Resource gathering is much easier in the second and third phases with the trade-off being stronger creatures and a bunch more tiles needed to spawn each boss. I think that some resources are just not available in the first phase too.
I'm stuck at the moment because I'm missing a resource I have no idea how to get. I don't even know what it's called because hovering over it doesn't tell me, to unlock the Alchemist Tent. I guess I'll just have to farm enough slimes to see if the river will help me out. I'm very curious as to what causes the spawning of

Spoiler:

Cosmic Slime

I accidentally summoned the monster you're looking for Eldon and looked it up to learn more if you'd like to know how.

Spoiler:

Dark Slime is a 'cosmic' type enemy like most of the bosses. You cause it to appear by killing a tile as it's spawning its critter. So Oblivion a Goblin Camp before the goblin reaches the loop tile, but after it spawns. Might be easier with something like a mountain or treasury.

Is the resource you're looking for the Time Shard / Astral Orb? The encyclopedia says they drop from 'mage' and 'cosmic' type enemies. Mage enemies are interesting. There's a fairly easy way to summon one

Place a Bookery, deplete the bookery. The 'book' monster is considered a mage. There are other mages that can combo with this.

Just popping in here (not really a roguelike person) to say great discussion on Loop Hero, all. Just bought it, but really wish it was on iPad since it’s hard to “escape” kidmaster duties to use my PC.

....does anyone play on a tablet PC? Have never owned one.

I don't, but I have used them. A good Dell 2-in-one or a Surface might fit the need. Check the graphics before buying. And they can be a bit delicate until you get used to the weight and how to handle them safely.

Keithustus wrote:

Just popping in here (not really a roguelike person) to say great discussion on Loop Hero, all. Just bought it, but really wish it was on iPad since it’s hard to “escape” kidmaster duties to use my PC.

....does anyone play on a tablet PC? Have never owned one.

Have not tried it with Loop Hero yet, but using the Steam Link app on iPad, I was able to successfully play Monster Train which is a mouse-centric game.

Nimcosi, OMG.....how did I not know that Steam Link was possible on iPad?!?!?! Game changer! .....if I can get it configured and learn to use it. Had ignored Steam Link discussions before since I had only heard of it used to Steam big-PC games onto TVs and whatnot, not on mobile devices. Now taking the time to learn it....AND to finally open up my Steam Controller I have new in box from when they were clearing out stock for $5 or so. Thank you for the tip.

Keithustus wrote:

Nimcosi, OMG.....how did I not know that Steam Link was possible on iPad?!?!?! Game changer! .....if I can get it configured and learn to use it. Had ignored Steam Link discussions before since I had only heard of it used to Steam big-PC games onto TVs and whatnot, not on mobile devices. Now taking the time to learn it....AND to finally open up my Steam Controller I have new in box from when they were clearing out stock for $5 or so. Thank you for the tip.

It really is game changing. I stream to an iPhone and an Android tablet all the time. If you find it laggy there are alternatives that some people have better luck with. I’m a fan of Moonlight but it requires a modern-ish Nvidia card in your PC.

Keithustus wrote:

Nimcosi, OMG.....how did I not know that Steam Link was possible on iPad?!?!?! Game changer! .....if I can get it configured and learn to use it. Had ignored Steam Link discussions before since I had only heard of it used to Steam big-PC games onto TVs and whatnot, not on mobile devices. Now taking the time to learn it....AND to finally open up my Steam Controller I have new in box from when they were clearing out stock for $5 or so. Thank you for the tip.

I played a bunch of Skyrim on my iPad through the Steam Link app late last year. My wife got back into it on the Switch, and that got me installing some mods and getting back in as well. She docked her switch on the living room TV so I streamed to the iPad so we could hang out in the same room. The best thing about it is I could sync my Steam Controller to the iPad's Bluetooth and the USB receiver on my PC at the same time. All I had to do was hold down the correct face button when I turned it on in order to select the correct protocol for the device I was using.

Armored Commander 2 just had a "medium" update, with two new campaigns, some new vehicles and commands, ui changes and so forth. This game just keeps chugging along...

Noita has just had it's final planned update, with new monsters, spells and traits, along with secret additions and a huge list of bug fixes, UI improvements, physics changes and even new areas and devices. There will be more bug fixes and tweaks but the game is officially complete, if you've been waiting. It's great fun for those who like games like Spelunky.

Trials of Fire launches out of Early Access to v1.0 this week, so I took a punt at the EA price.

It's an odd duck, but I like it. The map layer plays like Curious Expedition/Renowned Explorers: International Society, where you're moving around a map, managing text-adventure style encounters where you pick your option for how to address the situation. When combat occurs, it takes place on a 2D tactical hex map, but with a deckbuilder driving the action. There's strong RPG vibes given that you're managing a party of 3 adventurers, replete with equipment and levelling.

There's some roguelite progression, akin to Slay The Spire or Monster Train, where you're unlocking cards that can be used on subsequent runs, as well as additional characters to make up your party.

There's a lot of disparate moving parts, but they hang together pretty well. Run-length looks to be on the long side, but game can be saved mid run.

Jonman wrote:

...There's some roguelite progression, akin to Slay The Spire or Monster Train, where you're unlocking cards that can be used on subsequent runs, as well as additional characters to make up your party...

Sooooo, it's a roguelite-like? A roguelite-lite?

Math wrote:
Jonman wrote:

...There's some roguelite progression, akin to Slay The Spire or Monster Train, where you're unlocking cards that can be used on subsequent runs, as well as additional characters to make up your party...

Sooooo, it's a roguelite-like? A roguelite-lite?

A rogue likelike?

IMAGE(http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jqQkpFziDz8/S8THMjKU5HI/AAAAAAAAAJM/Z9SwR0XmeJo/s200/likelike.gif)

Insurmountable is out. Turn-based climbing game with procedurally generated mountains and some very tough choices to make. Barely finished the first mountain (of 3) on the Normal level of difficulty, and I'm starting the second with partial stats and sore muscles. Weather, terrain, oxygen, energy, health, temperature and sanity (!) all play a role, and events can happen randomly (more in dangerous terrain or if a stat goes to zero), or you can shoot for particular locations that have events attached. And event chains can occur; I helped a climber recover from an accident, and later on he found me and gave me some food.

An interesting change from combat-oriented games, and it's not just a straight survival game. You gain experience from events, and those can give you passive and active abilities of all sorts. And to top it off, you can only see from your current position, so you can't look around for possible paths on the backside of a subsidiary peak.

Challenging and atmospheric.

That is one of the more unique concepts I've heard for a game. Like all the mechanics have existed before but to put them together like has never even occurred to me.

Oh, and there are several (3?) climber "classes" to choose from - Adventurer, Journalist and... I forget the middle one lol. Each has bonuses in particular areas.

Tourist? Has a camera that blinds monsters? Starts with extra food?

Turn based climbing? Wow. Who thinks of that?!?

Keithustus, you're actually pretty spot on with the advantage types. The Journalist is pretty much immune to energy usage increases due to altitude, I think, and also has a ton of enthusiasm, which helps keep them going in tough circumstances.

It's a good game.

Ha. Looks like the programmers may then be quite familiar with ye old Hack versions and classes. Will check it out!

Robear wrote:

Insurmountable is out. Turn-based climbing game with procedurally generated mountains and some very tough choices to make.

Nice lead!

This looks sweet.

I have been very surprised by 2 games this week.

Luck be a Landlord

I found this when digging through my Itch.io bundle items. Every week you must pay your (increasing) rent by interacting with a slot machine. After each pull, you get coins and a choice of item to add to the machine. Items range from gold coins (1 coin) to crabs (extra coins per crab on the same line). As you play, you slowly develop combos in your own slot machine, trying to get higher and higher winnings to maintain paying rent.

It feels familiar as it essentially borrows from deck builders, but the fresh approach here really makes it interesting. You'll find combos, "thin" your slot machine over time, and completely shift strategies as you get to the higher levels. For example, I had a fun cultist build going, where each other cultist that appeared on any given pull would multiply my winnings. This strategy plateaued, so I decided to bring in an Eldritch Horror which would consume any nearby cultist, giving me a steady increase in coins for each one consumed.

Super clever game, still in early access but well worth looking into. I'd love to see this on mobile phones.

Blazing Beaks

I didn't think much of this game as it's often very cheap on Switch. I actually got it for free (90% discount + play coins). It's essentially Enter the Gungeon/Nuclear Throne with a cute bird aesthetic and interesting upgrade system.

You don't directly acquire upgrades, but instead, pick up curses and otherwise negative effects. For example, you might be dealing 30% less damage, taking more damage from explosions, or spawning indestructible dangerous ghosts whenever you destroy a bush. You must hold onto these penalties until you can find a shop, where you can hand them in for random(?) upgrades. I believe you get multipliers based on how many negative items you have on you at any given time.

It's a real game of risk and reward, that's not a mechanic I've seen in any roguelike/lite before and I'm really enjoying it. The core gameplay is probably the weakest of the other games I've mentioned, but it's quirkiness, pleasant art style and low price point make me really like it.

I like “Luck Be A Landlord” too. Strange but satisfying for a quick hit game.

Armoured Commander II will be at 1.0 later this summer. It’s currently got 44 campaigns and over 580 different vehicle units and types. And ir’s $9US. This is a fantastic roguelike tactical wargame, I recommend it happily to anyone who enjoys either type of game.

So it looks like Roguebook launched with an obnoxious amount of Premium priced DLC, and I just fled. But I notice that now they have rolled that into the base game, and I think repriced? So I'm going to give it a try. Anyone have any experiences to report?

Robear wrote:

So it looks like Roguebook launched with an obnoxious amount of Premium priced DLC, and I just fled. But I notice that now they have rolled that into the base game, and I think repriced? So I'm going to give it a try. Anyone have any experiences to report?

I picked it up a couple days ago. Put a few hours into it, and it was entirely news to me that there even is DLC. I'm liking it so far, it's ticking a lot of the same boxes that Trials of Fire does. Defo new roguelike hotness for me.

The devs' previous game, Faeria, started out as a paid game, but transitioned to F2P, so obviously had a heavy emphasis on DLC. That said, I played a bunch of it vanilla, and enjoyed it. I suspect this is a company who is still very much developing their business model.

Played a while this afternoon, and I like it. Very Slay The Spire-ish.

Armoured Commander 2 just had it's 1.00 update in readiness for final release. Lots of changes and additions, details like dust, weather, radios, new vehicles, etc. Remember you can change time period in the campaign selection screen using the Q and E keys.

SNKRX is an amazingly simple little action Roguelike, with deep building and a sort of one-stick shooter design. Start with a small one or two element snake, each element of it having different abilities, and build up to 7, along with global traits that modify the game. Then, if you hit level 25, you can add another permanent slot to your snake, but the difficulty goes up too. Amazing complexity and subtlety of play hidden behind a snake/centipede console style game.

If this had hit arcades in the late 70's/early 80's, the author would be a multi-millionaire by now.