Deep Rune

Presents as an RPG but it's really more of a puzzle or strategy game. Maximizing your resources is essential to surviving and getting a high score at the end. It's very short but there's great replay value with the character classes and being able to utilize your knowledge of the dungeon layout to get certain items as early as possible. Hopefully there'll be some DLC with additional campaigns in the future.

A rare gem of the niche "Tower of the Sorcerer" / "Magic Tower" genre. The genre is best be described as a puzzle + resource management game that looks and feels like an RPG (but isn't quite due to the straightforwardness of the stats and no random elements). Deep Rune is actually a pretty unique magic tower in that it has much more elaborate and interesting environment mechanics to work with (fall damage, pathing behind monsters for crit damage, exploring off map caves, etc) requiring a bit more brain power to try and min/max your way to the end. It is a somewhat short game at a couple of hours (depending on how much you try for a high score) but multiple characters give some replayability. I highly recommend trying it without accepting any deaths (reset/reload a save on death) for the full puzzle experience.

If you liked Myth Bearer, you'll love Deep Rune! I feel like this game took the essence of this developer's previous game in the genre, and then tremendously refined and improved upon it. The addition of mechanics like fall damage, critical hits, and different playable character classes (each with different bonus traits), as well as improved graphics and music make Deep Rune a whole lot of fun. I also think that this game is a little more forgiving than its predecessor; while I did do a lot of save-and-reload to experiment with game mechanics and try some speculative plays, I did not need to do any huge chunk of backtracking or restarting to complete my first run through the game (as a Tribesman, I completed a run in about 5.5 hours). There were definitely some bits I did not get to, so I am interested to try another playthrough as a different character to try to experience the bits of the game I have not yet explored; my vague impression is that there is at least one alternate end...

This game ultimately boils down to a resource management game. HP, MP, weapon durability, inventory and even the timing of your character level ups are all strategically utilized to move through this resource starved game (and that is not a bad thing). The dungeon feels meticulously crafted, and is full of components (secret entrances, nooks, and other out of the way resources) that open up to you as you progress and collect more abilities to help you navigate the various zones in the map. As an RPG, it has a a remarkable amount of depth considering its simplicity. Multiple characters to choose from actually ends up changing the way you approach the game given their unique ability sets. There is also additional surprises for being as thorough as possible in the game. My total time (Itch.io included) = 6 hours 37 minutes. This is a radical improvement to Bailey's previous title "Myth Bearer" (which you should check out too.) The resource management puzzle type RPGs that he has ...

A great strategy/rpg game about surviving with limited resources. It's short but very satisfying. Another positive aspect is the sfx/music which creates a grim atmosphere.

Well, this was a pleasant surprise! Deep Rune could best be described as a grid-based traditional roguelike, but presented as a 2D side-scroller. Movement effectively occurs on a grid, and actions are turn-based, rather than real-time. Other traditional roguelike conventions are also found here, including equipment-swapping, secret-uncovering, map clearance, and the like. Some light puzzle mechanics are involved here as well - you'll need to optimize your moves, attacks, items, spells, and money to get the best result from limited resources. Thankfully, the game is relatively forgiving, to a point: you're given the option to retry a room upon dying or respawning entirely, which replenishes your health. However, you're only allowed to respawn 10 times, and after that, you're on your own to see if you can progress further. It's well-designed and engaging overall. I will say that replayability is probably quite limited here, given that the map is static, so after your first playthrough...

Solid game about resource management and planning. Not quite as difficult or as large in scale to Mythbearer (Dev's previous game of the same genre) but that increased leeway and multiple characters allow for a lot more replayability than Mythbearer. Also a lot more secrets in this game. Would recommend.

Good game. I appreciate that it isn't too hard or lengthy to beat, allowing you to get a good feel for the map and mechanics before you make a "real attempt" for a good score. The gimmick at the end was also a very good touch and really helps create the appeal to play through a second time. The character movement does feel a bit slow, even with the "running" and teleporting. Would be nice if, eg, mouse movement let you click a tile to very quickly move there, and showed the path it would take to get there. Something simple like that would be a nice QOL improvement for routing/experimenting.

A short turn based dungeon crawler thingy with a sprawling map to try and extract every goodie from. Try the demo and see if it's your thing, it's of the first area. Core gameplay element from this that stuck with me is that every action feels permanent, for example, every health potion you use is one less in existence in the game, etc. However it's not quite as brutal in practice as that may sound, it finds the perfect sweetspot where you do need carefully consider every turn or move, but you still have some room to make fast or suboptimal plays. Level design feels reminiscent of a metroidvania with several paths to go and interconnected areas. Not super replayable, at most you may try to do a no death and no savescumming run after you play the first time, but the ride is pretty enjoyable!

Actually poggers, wtf. Basically you get 10 lives to theory-craft yourself through the dungeon with some class you pick at the start and you can save anywhere at any time and when loading the save game you will be put exactly where you left off. On death you can choose to reset to when you entered the current room (even the previous room if you fell into the room from above), effectively keeping the live, or regain all health but be teleported back to the first room; you cannot mess anything up by accident. There's just enough to work with to make it interesting without making it overwhelming, e.g. make guesses when best to take HP refill from level up, when to use ranged attacks to avoid damage, do the math on when you get the finishing strike (which won't give the monster a chance to strike back), when to trade consumables for a backstab (crit) opportunity, etc. The only criticism I can muster is that since enemies do not respawn when "accepting death" this makes the game feel a bi...