Nicely done ten minute distillation of the roguelike genre

The Game Room
1

Desktop Dungeons.

The author’s still developing it–it’s at v0.4 right now–but what he’s got is totally playable and very fun.

It’s a game designed to take about 10 minutes to play through. It’s based on the roguelike genre of games. It’s quite simplified compared to most roguelikes, but that is part of it’s charm. In fact, “simplified” doesn’t seem to do it justice. I like the word from my title–it’s a “distillation” of the roguelike genre. Roguelikes reduced to the most basic elements.

Indeed, the mechanics are so well crystalized that it almost plays like a puzzle game rather than just another roguelike.

Though you can play it through in 10 minutes, there’s plenty of replayability because winning the game with different classes lets you unlock other classes and items and mosters and so on. Each class plays completely differently than all others, and each monster requires a completely different tactical approach. (And in my experience the unlocked classes actually tend to be harder to play with than the originally available classes, so you have a since of increased difficulty along with the increase feeling of achievement that brings.)

It’s just a really well done piece of work all around IMO.

Also, please play it, because I can not figure out how to beat the game as a wizard, and would like to see what others come up with.

2

I love roguelikes, so I’ll give it a shot. But be warned that I’m not great as magic classes, so I probably won’t help with your wizarding issues. I only suggest naming the character Harry Potter and seeing if that helps. :wink:

3

This is hard. Pretty fun though.

4

This is incredibly fun and addictive!
But I can’t seem to figure out what the LEMMISI trick they talk about is. :stuck_out_tongue:

5

:wink: You’ll kick yourself when you realize what it is.

Mostly uninformative hint: Just think about what the LEMMISI glyph does, and what all the consequences of that are.

Slightly more informative: Watch your mana when you use the glyph.

6

Thank you, Frylock, good good good.

7

I finally beat it as a Wizard. Now I just need to beat it as a Thief and I’ll have beaten it with all the first-tier classes.

I find the +20% attack glyph to be almost useless. It almost never changes the number of hits it will require to kill a monster, and it seems like that’s it’s only possible use–reducing the number of hits it takes to kill a monster. So I automatically convert this glyph rather than putting it in a skill slot. Do you guys think it’s more useful than that for any reason, though?

Also, the monster-into-wall glyph I only use if I encounter the altar that rewards me for petrifying a monster. If I find the altar and it’s not the monster-petrify altar, then I immediately convert the petrify glyph. But am I missing something?

The “first strike” glyph seems to me to be an absolute necessity for every class. But am I putting too much importance on it?

I generally keep either teleport monster or destroy wall, converting the more mana-expensive one once I’ve found both. It seems like both basically serve the same purpose–to allow access to areas blocked by monsters too powerful to kill. I won’t convert the wall-destruction glyph until I’ve found the altar, since one of the altars tasks you with destroying a wall.

But is there any reason to keep both of these glyphs that I’m missing?

Once I’ve got access to the whole dungeon, I simply get rid of whchever glyph (teleport monster or destroy wall) I still have. Any reason I shouldn’t be doing that?

Teleport self I convert on sight, as I can’t see any real use for it. But am I missing something?

LEMMISI I of course retain no matter what class I am.

What are your thoughts on glyphs?

Mild strategy spoiler, including comment about one of the unlockable classes:

I find that the fireball glyph is crucial for wizards, allowing them to kill monsters much higher in level, thereby gaining levels very quickly, thereby becoming powerful enough to take on the boss without having already wasted all their potions. I also think it’s crucial for the sorceror, since you can use it to both harm the enemy and heal yourself at the same time. But then, I haven’t beat the game with a Sorceror yet.

8

:smack::smack::smack:

This ought to make the Wizard path much easier. (Do the upper tiers get a discount on casting?)

With the attack+, I found it moderately useful with Fighter and Berserker with their already high base attack, but it seems mostly a waste for anyone else. You can use the petrify glyph on the boss if you just want to clear the level, but I don’t think it unlocks anything unless you do it the hard way. First strike is awesome, I always save it. Same thing with fireball; I use it to soften up the monster then first strike for the kill. I hadn’t thought of your strategy to access the whole dungeon, I’ll try that out next time. Teleport self just seems like a crappier way to do it randomly, so I think its safe to junk it.

9

Just to be clear: the mana cost thing isn’t the trick. Noticing it can be a clue to what the trick is, though. You probably already figured this out.

Actually, it turns out the successive classes have very little to do with each other, game-mechanics wise. For example, a sorcerer is back to having just three glyph slots rather than the wizard’s four. The sorcerer’s powers are still mana-focussed, but they don’t constitute any kind of “progression” from the wizard’s powers.

10

I know what you’re saying

but wizards cast spells for 1 less mana, so you get hp restored and regain 1mp instead of staying the same. It makes it that much more powerful. I think I missed the trick at first because I was playing as berserker with spells costing 1 extra, so I was still losing mp.

11

Fun game. So far I’ve beaten it on normal as a priest, monk, wizard, and sorcerer. My main complaint is that at level one you have pretty much no chance of killing anything above level one, so you often end up exploring half the dungeon looking for enemies.

I found it very useful on my sorcerer; it was the first glyph I found and being able to use it to heal myself for small amounts (in addition to the bonus damage) was would often make tough fights winnable.

12

In case anyone thinks it might be worth reading, here is a post I’ve made in the thread about the game started by the author of the game. In the post, I discuss tactical tips and things I think I know about game mechanics. Nothing earthshattering, but might be useful for people just starting to play.

13

I just had fun defeating the medusa queen as a level 6 Assassin with no Stone Glyph. The killer stratagem was a combo of LEMMISI to heal myself and AFEELSIK to stop her regenerating while I was self-healing. Given at least 76 health, it was a case of the sooner the better so as to leave plenty of undiscovered tiles for LEMMISI, and I found killing the boss as a level 6 character kindaawesome :cool: . A real time-waster, this game; it’s by no means ten minutes for a run through but it’s still reasonably quick.

14

I can’t seem to beat the game as a rogue. Whenever I run out of killable enemies the boss can usually still one-shot me. Any tips?

15

Huh. I’ve found rogue to be the easiest. Now bloodmage… :stuck_out_tongue:

Dwarf rogue is a good combo, the extra glyphs usually give enough HP to let you survive a hit. I usually toss a fireball or two to weaken the enemy up if needed, then just regular attacks. It might help to complete the fighter path.

Beating warlord unlocks the glyph that brings you back to life after a death blow- like the fighter’s ability, but you can cast it multiple times. It appears randomly on maps afterwards.

You can also stock up on gold and get hope to get lucky with shops selling physical and magical resistance items. Also, resource/map management is important. Be careful not to use the HP/MP and potions you’ll need for the boss when going for that last level.

Mostly, though, it just boils down to luck: getting a good starting location, getting monsters in the right spots, bonus tiles, glyphs, and the boss being something your class doesn’t have too much trouble with.

Also- Damn you Frylock! I’m addicted to this game now. :smiley:
I’m working on high scores; the "Drew"s on the list are me.

16

Wow this game is awesome! I finally beat the four “core” classes. I had a couple where I really whoopped the boss, but as a Human Priest I just BARELY killed that goat boss that does 250+ damage. Managed to kill all the creatures to get to lvl 9, burned up all my potions using fireball, and finally finished him off with my first physical attack - which of course killed me as well. But hey, it counts!
I’ve never played a roguelike game before. I (very briefly) tried to get into Dwarf Fortress but it was just a little too much for me (the “graphics” being the biggest barrier). Once I finish beating this game with all the classes I’ll want to check something else out. Any more slightly more indepth games like this anyone can recommend?

17

I think step two is Doom Roguelike.

This game is super fun and action packed - but a little more traditional in the roguelike graphics. If Doom RL isn’t for you then you won’t enjoy other roguelikes.

18

6th level wizard beat the Bandit boss, then I finished off the dungeon and made 10th level. The boss fight was only that character’s third (sic), thank APHEELSIC and lots of fireballs plus running around for recharges.

19

Indeed, I think there may be a game balance problem here. For example, this could happen:

A level one character could take down the boss using APHEELSIC and CYDSTEP.

Indeed, I think I’m going to go try this right now. Just have to get lucky enough to have the right runes and the boss nearby!

20

You might very well run out of mana first though, given 1st-level characters’ damage ratings.