Desktop Dungeons

[Halororor]

One of our local indie developers, Nandrew, has started work on his new and really addictive Rogue-like game, aptly named Desktop Dungeons. It is still in early beta, so is not near completion yet, but is playful and so far, suffers from no bugs.

 

Ever had a quick ten minute coffee break and wish you had something to play that could be completed in such a short time aside form Solitaire? Fret no more, as Desktop Dungeons aims just to do that. Games rarely last longer than ten minutes and are always bound to be fun.

 

Hello!

 

Being a huuuuge fan of Crawl (my favourite of all the roguelikes), I identify but one minor flaw in my timesink of choice: it's a timesink. Even though I consider the game to be fully worth cutting back on sleep, work and showers for, the reality is that I need the first, get paid for the second and require the third to avoid social ostracisation. And sometimes I just wanna play something for ten minutes before going to bed, y'know? Beginning to end.

 

"WELL HOLY CRAP," I one day thought. "What if I truly had the power to play a roguelike in quick ten-minute bursts like that? I would be likened unto the gods themselves!"

 

And so came about an idea for The Perfect Game. By the end of production, it wasn't altogether Perfect or Roguelike (and looked absolutely nothing like Crawl), but I loved my child all the same.

 

And that child's name was Desktop Dungeons.

 

http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss55/NandrewZA/screen1-2.png

 

So, what's the core idea here?

 

Desktop Dungeons is a quick-session Roguelike, designed to be played casually and for as little as ten minutes at a time.

 

Here's version 0.04 (updated 03 Feb)

 

Playtesters will of course be welcome, but I warn y'all: one precious Roguelike tradition that actually DID make the transition to my game was the sheer player-hating difficulty that makes victory so sweet and life so cherished in the Roguelike world. I know everything about the game (presumably) and even I have a fairly low victory rate so far (though I'm getting better, honest). Come armed with a love for the genre and leave behind your fears of death and defeat.

 

If you like the game, let me know with your approval AND a gameplay hint for other thread goers. Character guides and the like are more than welcome, especially since it'll help me judge how people creatively use the ruleset provided.

 

Hit F1 for help when you're in the game. It's not much (the game's already too complex for a concise tutorial), but it'll give you a few very important hints for survival.

 

I'll also try update a guide in this thread for playing as one of the opening characters, so keep an eye out for that if the game seems too intimidating. It should help some of you ease into the game more and find it easier to give feedback. :)

 

Hope y'all enjoy.

 

http://forums.tidemedia.co.za/nag/newreply...ly&p=255301

 

Enjoy. Now, if only I could kill that damn Zombie Boss. Feel free to join their forums to give criticism and praise.

[evilneko]

one precious Roguelike tradition that actually DID make the transition to my game was the sheer player-hating difficulty

 

That's one of the things I never did like about Roguelikes. :(

 

Roguelikes. A genre for masochists.

[Palpenious]

I'll check it out, I'm always trying to get new Roguelikes. Strangely the only type of hard game I actually like. Probably because I know it's supposed to be quite difficult and not just because I completely suck at it.

[Halororor]

I beat my first dungeon yesterday, after about two weeks of playing. :P

 

The author says we should be getting a new version within the next two weeks.