2009 7DRLPC - DungeonMinder

I wrote about my first impressions of the 2009 7DRL entry DungeonMinder a few days ago, but wanted to post a more formal review of the game for the 2009 Seven-Day Roguelike Playing Competition (7DRLPC).

DungeonMinder is a very engaging roguelike with a twist on how the player interacts with the environment. The player's job is to control, not the adventurer, but a fairy in charge of ensuring that the adventurer is able to make his way through the dungeon safely. This is a bit of a challenge, as our hero isn't the brightest bulb in the pack. He's apt to swing his sword at anything he sees both near and far. In between his slashing and posing, he just needs to open two treasure chests, which are randomly located on each level. Once these chests have been opened and pilfered (oh, and the treasure stinks...but don't dare tell our hero), the hero will hopefully find the exit to the next level where new dangers await.

So how does our fine fairy keep that brave, yet clueless, hero alive? By mastering a total of nine spells that either directly affect our hero, his foul targets, or the dungeon itself. There are three different spell buckets, each controlled by a different mana type. There is plenty of strategy to be had here...enough, for sure, to keep the replayability at a high level.

One word of warning: This game is difficult. Initial reports on rgrd indicated this was the case and it seems they were dead on, but the game is winnable. Don't let the difficulty level keep you away from this fine roguelike.

The game has been released under the BSD licence and receives extra points for having both a Windows and Linux download available and also for supporting vi/vim key commands.

The hope is that the developer, Adam Gatt, will continue development on this title. It would really be worth the effort because this RL has so much to offer already. Some ideas for enhancement would be the inclusion of additional spells and mana types, varying levels of difficulty, and additional mob types.

Overall, this submission to the 2009 7DRL offers gameplay that is fun, humorous, filled with strategy options, and challenging. Great job on this one.

2009 7DRL

Well, the deadline for the 2009 7DRL has passed and the results have been submitted to RogueBasin. It seems to have been a record year for submissions to the contest, so there are plenty of games to try out.

I've had a chance to check out only one of the submissions thus far, DungeonMinder by Adam Gatt. The fact that initial reports indicated that it was difficult to win (a definite plus in my book) and that a Linux download was available made it a no-brainer to try out immediately. The concept behind the game is novel and the gameplay unique and very challenging. And considering this is a game coded in 7 days, it is very impressive indeed. I've managed to get to DL3 do far. I'm hoping I can actually win this one, as difficult as it is.

Next on the list may be Fruits of the Forest by Ido Yehieli. This one looks very interesting and...well, it just looks cool. I'll be trying this one out sooner rather than later for sure.