Incremedieval

The game begins with five space colonists landing on a new planet and deciding to claim it for themselves. You directly control the warrior, who attacks enemies with his sword, while the other four colonists manage buildings that allow you to spend resources and improve your abilities so you can survive for longer. Each run takes you through a series of arenas containing three waves of enemies. Once all three waves are defeated, you open a chest containing some free resources before moving on to the next stage. This continues until the 10th stage, where you face a boss. Defeating the boss takes you to a new environment with another ten stages and another boss, continuing in this way until you eventually defeat the final boss. Fortunately, you can continue from the last stage you reached, so you do not have to restart from level 1 after every run. The main issue I had was with the chests. Sometimes they contain relics that increase your damage, ore gain, or provide other bonuses, but it is not immediately clear whether these effects carry over between runs. There is also no way to see which relics you have collected so far. Eventually, after unlocking a fox helper that runs around the arena collecting ore for you, you realize that the relics do in fact carry over between runs. It would have been helpful if the game had made this clearer from the beginning. Every defeated enemy drops ore, which is the main resource used for upgrades. However, you cannot simply grind for as long as you want because your energy bar steadily depletes throughout a run. Collecting ore restores a small amount of energy, but you will eventually run out, especially if you get hit by an enemy or one of their projectiles. When your energy is depleted, the run ends and you return to the campsite. Thankfully, you automatically collect any ore that is still lying on the ground, so nothing is lost. The first few runs are not particularly exciting because the four structures take some time to build, but the game opens up considerably once you have access to more of its systems. The first building you unlock is the blacksmith, where you can improve your damage and energy. The second contains an upgrade tree similar to what you would usually see in incremental games, although it is presented in a simpler form. There are various perks available, including faster attacks and movement, increased energy, and additional attacks such as explosions and lightning. As expected, new upgrades become available as you purchase existing nodes. Most nodes can also be upgraded multiple times, with each additional purchase becoming increasingly expensive. The third building allows you to hire three companions: a warrior, mage, and ranger. They join you in the arena and fight automatically, although they can also die quite easily. Once hired, further purchases increase their level and effectiveness, but there are no additional skills or abilities to choose for them. Finally, the fourth building unlocks three blessings. These provide useful bonuses that can make a run easier, although you can only have one active at a time. Overall, the game is surprisingly short, even by incremental game standards, and can be completed in less than two hours. This is also reflected in the achievement requirements, which do not ask you to fully upgrade and max out everything available. Instead, you mainly need to defeat all the bosses and purchase the best armor and sword.