Caves of Qud

-

If you're into roguelikes, this one is breathtakingly immersive. I have always wanted to find a roguelike I enjoy, but Qud is the first one I feel like I actually understand. And all the different build possibilities are staggering!

Going in completely blind, it has taken me 5 hours and multiple dead characters to figure out how to complete one quest. Welcome to Qud.

Really fun and you can do some funny things

Lovely little game that can run on nearly any windows pc. I love when a complex game isn't asking for 100 gb of storage. Fantastic scifi stories that make me think of Ursula K. Le Guin's novels. Beautiful mysterious pixel world. Wonderful use of neopronouns. I love the colors and the minimal art style, I think it communicates a lot with very little. If you have any kind of imagination. Sometimes less is more. Reminds me of playing Morrowind, Zork, old ascii art python rpgs, or roguelikes on my dads old flip phone, but with lots of modern upgrades and quality of life features. Very nostalgic. For what it is, its extremely friendly to new players. It has an option for save points, so you don't have to start over every time you die, and a tutorial. I found it easy to get into. The controls are a little unintuitive at first especially if you aren't used to games with a lot of controls, or that utilize a numpad but the learning curve is not nearly as steep as some people have said. It only takes a few hours to get the hang of it. UI and controls are way more intuitive and clean than most mmorpgs. I love the pets omg, so cute, so worth it I can't play without them.

After 500+ hours I have only just beaten the game today. I could plumb the depths of Bethesda Susa with my eyes closed, I'm guilty of endless atrocities against snapjaws and water merchants alike, I swapped consciousness with a wall I recently brought to life, only to be dissolved. Play this incredible game. Enjoy it's brilliantly written world. Live and drink.

I heard a few reviewers say that the Roguelike tag isn't applicable here before I decided to buy it. But it couldn't be further from the truth. This game is more like the original Rogue than almost anything else with that tag. This means no cross-save progression mechanics, no extraction mechanics, or anything like that. There is a story, and the 'goal' is to beat that story without dying. Where it differs is that from the moment you spawn in you could choose to completely ignore that story if you'd like, and simply play it as a sandbox. The turn-based tag may throw some people off. The game works the same as Rogue, where you take a turn, and then the rest of the world takes a turn next. This is also how Pokemon Mystery dungeon works, which more people are probably familiar with. Most of the game is completely randomized, with a few guaranteed locations (which also have some randomized aspects, but with some guaranteed elements for quest purposes). The game is 100% worth every dollar. You are easily able to get your mileage worth in hours. It has great charm, amazing sound design, satisfying exploration, great writing, a good amount of challenge which creates rewarding combat encounters.

[b]Highly Recommended[/b] (even at full price) The world building drew me to the game, the variety kept me engaged during the steep learning curve, and when I eventually figured out the mechanics I fell in love with it all. I also like Dungeonmans, Tales of Maj'Eyal, Doors of Trithius, and Stonehard. [i]However[/i], Caves of Qud is not like any of those! It's truly unique despite its roguelike roots. Playing Qud prompts a lot of thinking. Not solving puzzles, not number crunching, not tactical deliberation -- actual THINKING. And ruminating. And pondering the meaning of existence in Qud's mind-bogglingly detailed and varied world. It's not artificially difficult or obtuse, it just asks you to pay attention and (unlike many other RPGs) decide who and [b]what[/b] you want your toon to be. i.e. I found this is one of the few RPGs that puts the RP front and centre. The screenshots may make it look confusing to figure out what's going on with all the small but detailed retro pixel graphics, but when playing I found it's actually very digestable and easy to keep track of things. There are a lot of visual cues like wiggling icons, flashes, and audio hints. I made several 'false starts' trying to play it like other games before finally realising I probably should pay attention to what stats do and how the combat works. For combat, I'd recommend reading up on the wiki how DV, AV, and PV work -- they're not outlandish, but they aren't identical to similar things in other games either, and their calculations in combat aren't intuitive. Once you know, you know, though, and you can stop wondering why your heavily armoured Praetorian keeps getting wrecked when you wade into melee unprepared :) There are literally thousands of hours possible here, and even more with the many mods and complete overhauls available, I've barely scratched the surface. Highly recommended for those who love discovering new worlds and the sheer variety of things you can be and do as you make your own way through it.

Fantastic Game, Fantastic RPG

I love this game. Despite the ASCII-like graphics/interface, it is dripping with character. The huge amount of depth to the gameplay mechanics should even surprise seasoned dwarf fortress players with how well polished they are. If you are considering this game, consider no further and just buy it. It is well worth it at any price.