If you like Sil, Infra Arcana, and/or Tome4 you'll probably like this. On top of delicious tactical combat (and really cool mechanics) the Dev has provided a top-notch UI/tileset with a well-researched setting to boot. Cannot recommend this enough for anyone who likes roguelikes or a neglected setting/mythology.
Dawn of the Mexica
- Release Date:
- Nov 26, 2020
- Developer:
- Pablo Barrón
- Publisher:
- Pablo Barrón
- Platforms:
- Windows Linux
Game Tags
About This Game

Dawn of the Mexica is a challenging roguelike videogame based on the myths from the indigenous people of the Valley of Mexico in the age of the Culhua-Mexica Empire and the invasion of the spanish conquistadors.
Our story begins in a fateful morning, in which the sun god Huitzilopochtli hasn't risen...

- Pure turn-based roguelike with procedural level generation (different every game!) and character permadeath.
- Colored dynamic lighting. Light and shadows are essential in this sunless world.
- Extremely complex and realistic combat system. Every weapon and armor type combination is taken into account. There's more than a thousand detailed critical effects: Every part of your body can be injured or broken, burn and freeze. You can become blind. Or deaf. You may bleed, become stunned, knocked out...
- Complex character sheet with 9 stats, 12 Character classes, more than a hundred spells and more than 40 skills to choose from as you level up.
- Friendly and intuitive interface. You can fully enjoy the game either with mouse or keyboard.
- Weather/survival system. Even a torch may change temperature around you. Be careful not to freeze nor faint from the heat!
- Deeply researched. You won't find "ooparts". The mexica background is not "aesthetic". Weapons, armor, clothing and items from that era are recreated as faithfully as historical data allows.
Screenshots
User Reviews
A deeply tactical and challenging roguelike that leads you through the Aztec underworld to the realms of the gods. * Fascinating mythology and stone-age combat aesthetic * Multiple viable combat and survival strategies. * Highly lethal combat system that may be frustrating for the casual gamer. Most deaths past the very beginning will occur from incapacitating crits (and sometimes critical fumbles); successful strategies will revolve around mitigating risk and/or playing rocket tag with certain enemies so they can't fight back. Unlike many other games, hit points or health is a very poor measure of character survivability - in comparison with defensive skills, armor, etc. Control of distance, visibility, light levels, and cover are very important. Personally, I like it; but not for everyone. * Fairly linear game world, with one optional offshoot (to my knowledge anyway, have gotten far but not completed the game). HOWEVER there is ultimately a wide variety of terrain types w...
My first character ended up almost dying of thirst in a cave, but was saved from that fate by getting surrounded by jade bugs and bats, who impaled my abdomen, broke my leg, and inflicted upon me Fist of the North Star levels of bleeding. I had failed to pay attention to my surroundings, and thus I had stumbled into my own grave. My second character didn't even get that far, but met a Conquistador somewhere in the opening forest. He decapitated me with one hit. My third character got lost in an underground maze and beaten to death by screaming cultists. 10/10 Would epically fail to find the misplaced sun again.
There are three things that make this game not really my style: 1) Lack of clarity, especially in the math. No way to know whether a club is better than a spear. No way to know whether 3 points in 1H is better than 2points 1H 2points shield. Imo there can be no meaningful difference between a skill that gives you dmg increase and a skill that gives you defense increase if you don't know the math behind it. Even the most notable mechanic in the game, guard/meditate actions, has no clear effect without knowing the math. 2) Lack of food/doom clock, it's a "rest until fully healed" game without many consumables. 3) General lack of QoL: autoexplore/run, common actions like lighting your torch taking multiple precise keypresses.
A very well-researched Mesoamerican roguelike that delves into a setting rarely explored in gaming mediums. The combat descriptions are quite nice, and there are a variety of different skills and classes to unlock. It's quite enjoyable to try some utility skills to round out your character, things like swimming, liquid identification, and others can all be of service. The main negative is that deaths can be nearly instantaneous. This makes for a game of planning, of thinking, "Hey, I'm a caster, maybe some perception will keep me from getting mauled around the next corner." However, as the game is approachable for new runs, this isn't much of an issue (though there are times when I'm wondering how to improve). It's a whole lot better than TOME 4's instadeaths 15+ hours into the campaign. I'd say go for it. Support the small but growing roguelike developers on Steam. Dawn of the Mexica is not only a blast right now, but it has even more potential.
So far very much liking what i see. IT's a VERY unforgiving roguelike with unlockable classes. I LOVE IT! Controls are nice!
---{Graphics}--- ☐You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ✔️ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{Gameplay}--- ☐ Very good ✔️ Good ☐ It‘s just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{Audio}--- ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ✔️ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{Audience}--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ✔️Adults ☐ All ---{PC Requirements}--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ✔️Potato ☐ Decent ☐Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{Difficulity}--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Significant brain usage ✔️ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{Game Time}--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ✔️ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{Price}--- ☐ It’s free! ✔️ Worth the price! ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{Bugs}--- ☐ Never heard of ☐...
I've just started this and made it through the first map. I'm liking it so far. I've played a lot of Rogue-likes over the years. Dawn of the Mexica is very true to the roots of the genre, with turn-based moves, focus on the main character, and of course perma-death. The shift to the Mexica mythos makes it new and compelling. Try it out if you like old school Rogue-likes.
It's a thumbs up. I like the UI, the music, the tiles, the atmosphere, all very well done. However, I have some observations. A firefly with a reasonable level in casting spells and fire- and light spells will - still - get stunned every two or three turnes and will have spells misfire added to that: which makes him an apprentice at best. And how many levels reading are needed to be able to read a spell found in the beginning of the game? The same goes for examining the potions. It makes the 'luck-factor' feel a bit imbalanced at times. Its surprising and fun to unlock new classes (no spoiler) but a little info or hints(?) on the how to's wouldn't hurt. And stats of spells? Healing using bandages can be cumbersome too, with the inventory screen closing after every single use... And there is an option to reload the last character but how about an option to reload the last character just before setting off in the wild? A 'quick' start enabling the skipping of visiting every room...
very challenging, attractive looking rougelike with a rich setting
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System Requirements
Minimum
- OS *: Windows 7 SP1+
- Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
- Memory: 2 GB RAM
- Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities.
- DirectX: Version 10
- Storage: 300 MB available space
FAQ
How much does Dawn of the Mexica cost?
Dawn of the Mexica costs $11.99.
What are the system requirements for Dawn of the Mexica?
Minimum: Minimum: OS *: Windows 7 SP1+ Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support. Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: Graphics card with DX10 (shader model 4.0) capabilities. DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 300 MB available space
What platforms is Dawn of the Mexica available on?
Dawn of the Mexica is available on Windows PC, Linux.
Is Dawn of the Mexica worth buying?
Dawn of the Mexica has 83% positive reviews from 30 players.
When was Dawn of the Mexica released?
Dawn of the Mexica was released on Nov 26, 2020.
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