Dobbel Dungeon

I bought this game after playing the demo, only to figure out that the game is basically just ... more of the demo. There is nothing really new other than higher level skills you get. You are fighting the same enemies and the same scenarios over and over again, and so while the game is cute and enticing when you start, it gets tedious and dull the more you play it. I ended up uninstalling after only 7 hours of gameplay because it got so dull.

Disclaimer: I like this game a lot but I wouldn't recommend it at it's current state for the following reasons: 1. This isn't a roguelike. Calling it one isn't even a stretch, it is a lie. It is a cozy strategy RPG - absolutely nothing wrong with that! - and randomization is so barely present and when it is present it does not make a difference because... 2. This game does not even remotely have enough content to justify the existence of its FOUR locations. Enemies across different locations behave exactly the same, have the same abilities and the biggest differences between them is their health bar and how much damage they deal. What I said about enemies is true of all missions as well. There are a handful and the game won't stop repeating them across all locations. Items are mostly meaningless. There are some items that encourage actually trying out different builds but most items are really not that deep and the bonuses they offer are either not worth considering at all or have the worth of exactly one skill point - this means shops and farming for items becomes irrelevant compared to farming skill points. Loot that is actually interesting is so scarce that you never worry about what equipment piece goes to which party member. The fact that there's so little actual content while requirering you to do that many missions... 3. leads to a game with severe pacing issues. Missions start to feel like a chore. Rewards stay static from beginning to end. Imagine playing Slay The Spire and after every battle you choose between the same 3 cards. I like the game. It has a charming presentation, what is there is polished, no bugs, clean UI and save system but what there is is just not enough. I hope the Devs will add A LOT more content to the game or restructure it as a much shorter experience because otherwise this game isn't worth your money or time after the first 2-4 hours and removing the roguelike tag would be nice because it very clearly isn't one and doesn't even try to be one. Feels like the devs weren't confident enough for commiting to the cozy dice strategy game but embracing this side of the game would have been the better choice. edit: I think I came across a little too harsh so I clarified some things.

(Tl;dr at the bottom!) I've just finished a 'run' and I wanted to put my thoughts out there - the game is good, but calling it a roguelike may be a little.. generous. Let me start with the good - the art style is easily the game's biggest strength. They've nailed the clay aesthetic and all of the designs are very cute - it makes me wish they'd opted for a longer, more focused, story-based experience. The characters are whimsical and fun, pretty much every character's name is a pun. The sound design and music are also very pleasing and appropriate for the story book-esque vibe it all has. Knocking it out of the park in all of the creative fields. Unfortunately, where it falls a bit short is in the gameplay department. I take issue with the "roguelike" definition, because it's missing a few core components of the genre. It takes a pretty dedicated sitting to complete a full run - Steam has me clocked at just shy of 6 hours played, and that's not including the hour or so it took me to clear the first map in the demo. There also isn't a ton of build variety - each character has skill "trees" that're more like branches, you'll be able to cap off most of your character's skills by the end of a fully played run and they're going to fill practically the same role every time. There's a little bit of diversity as far as party comp, you can take three of the eight playable heroes with you (once you've unlocked them all, anyway) but it's not enough to really get into theorycrafting. Not that you'll really *need* to, as the game is pretty easy. Like, "I accidentally took the fire mage to the island where everything resists fire damage and forgot a dedicated healer but still got out just fine" easy. I'm not the greatest strategist on the planet, so I played my run on the normal difficulty, but from what other reviews are saying, even the Tactician difficulty is a walk in the park for people experienced with TBS games. You're also able to challenge the final boss as early as completing the second island, and you're practically encouraged to do so, as you're told that it'll get harder the longer you wait. This feels counterintuitive, I think it'd be better if you could challenge them early and struggle, but still win the fight if you play intelligently. I understand that they have to balance around you getting two more islands' worth of skill points and gear, but it feels odd. (If the devs are reading this, thank you for your work! If you're interested in spicing it up a bit more, maybe include some map elevation that interacts with movement and attack ranges? Add a few different bosses to each island? Miniboss nodes that pop up halfway through one? Just my two cents!) Tl;dr - It's a good, cute game, but don't expect to sink more than *maybe* 20 hours into it, and if you're a hardcore strategy player, you might find it a bit dull. Better fit for casual players, or maybe as an introduction to the TBS genre for kids/young teens. Still worth the money, even if it's just to admire the visual style!

Certified FUN! Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it deeply tactical? No. Is it cute as heck and still worth a play through when you're done with gritty realism and don't want to do math on your off time? Absolutely yes.

I was REALLY excited to play this game after playing the demo, and it feels like a game that has all the right ingredients for one of the best narrative tactical RPGs i've played in years, but unfortunately it was all thrown into a subpar roguelike instead. The game really feels like it was just not built to be a roguelike, but was forced into one. The characters are all well designed and have clearly defined roles, but all that charm you see from the opening tutorial goes to waste because you never see any more dialogue from them ever again. I was excited to see their growth and the plot of the game from the beginning, but it just isn't there. The characters all have innate skill trees which would have worked great in a regular campaign, but in a roguelike it means you pretty much always choose the same characters and the same skills for each character every run, removing all the variation you'd want in a roguelike. ALL of the maps are perfectly flat rectangular maps with little variation, only differing minimally based on the mission type, so it just becomes SUPER repetitive and bland. i assume this is to allow for some form of randomized layout, but all that's being randomized is the trees in my way. Hand-crafted levels would have carried this game for miles, but the maps we get just feel so disappointing. The equipment you can get from the shops are basically all completely useless aside from the ones that give you extra dice and movement range, which is basically a staple of the tactical genre, but it just means there's really no reason to use 90% of the other items unless you happen to get SUPER lucky and get a crazy item from one of the shops, because they don't restock for the entire run, which they should. The optional objectives pigeonhole you into ignoring certain skills and equipment, because god forbid i find an item that gives me a skill my party shouldn't have. because now that skill is in the pool for the optional tasks and I'll have a task that's way harder than the other because only the person with that item can even attempt it. it incentivizes you to deliberately not upgrade certain skills, because now they can stun or something, and then I have the same problem of only one person having the capability of doing the optional task. Because this is a turn-based tactical style game, the stages themselves are NOT quick, so runs last well over an hour or two. This basically makes you so exhausted with the recycled maps and enemies by the end that you have NO desire to actually do another run. I want to say I REALLY wanted this game to be good, because it just had so much potential, but unfortunately it was all wasted.

Fun for what it is. If you needed another grid turn-based tactical game thats got solid but basic mechanics and is fun to jump in for short sessions, this is absolutely your game. If you wanted Xcom 3 you need to keep looking. If you expected Civilization or GalCiv or Imperium Romanium or Total War you deeply misunderstood those screen shots. Dobbel is great fun even for hardcore TBS lovers, just dont expect much. Its also a good starter game for people unfamiliar with this genre. Am looking forward to maybe a sci-fi ground or space game from this company, or cruising the high seas, or cleaning up the streets in 20th century Crime City or whatever.

cute, simple but still quite strategic, satisfying A mod framework would be awesome!

Amazing game! A tactical rpg game that I really wanted since there's not much options within this genre. Really charming graphics, simple but deep gameplay, can be really challenging depending on your choices, freedom to upgrade your characters to define your playstyle. A must play!

Cool idea love the art style but omg no option to manual save in the middle of a fight sucks plus losing your party and your forced to restart with the only thing is carry over being the areas you've unlocked and the character you've unlocked

Great game. only negative is that i can't play the same save on my steamdeck as my pc. which is wild considering theres indie 64bit games that do this.