Plunge

https://youtu.be/EsAwpyowD_w Ice physics may not be the first choice design decision most make but in works rather well to make this into more puzzle focused dungeon crawler.

OMG, where do I begin to try to explain at just how AWESOME this indie title is? For those of you looking for an easy-to-pick-up title well you are in the right place! This strategy puzzle game with rogue-like elements is what the gaming world has been missing but never knew it. You will thoroughly enjoy Plunge with all of it's cool visuals and challenging game play! This is one of those games that will make you rag quit and then pop right back on it because it beckons and challenges you in ways you wish other titles would. Plunge takes a simple concept of dungeon crawling and weaves it into something unique and fresh! The depths of the prison consist of grid-like floors that each contain a key to a trapdoor leading to the next floor. As prisoner Billie, your objective is to continue to plunge further down into the prison to navigate each floor, defeat boss monsters, and eventually win your freedom. Sounds simple enough... right? Well things get tricky very quickly... As you are forced down a shaft you arrive at a hub floor with entrances to the game’s three worlds, a door for unlocking and changing into new characters who have different traits, and tables that show the various abilities and potions you can and have unlocked. The first area is called Ironblocks, and it consists of 30 stages and a boss fight. The stages are randomly drawn—to some extent, that is; floor 1 is always going to be easier than floor 25, for example—from a pool of over 400, which makes every run feel different. The layout of the floor and the enemies you face change each time you restart. What makes Plunge unique is how it uses familiar gameplay in an unfamiliar way. Using only the left stick or direction buttons, you slide your character all the way in one direction until they collide with an enemy and attack it or hit the end of the floor and stop. It’s turn-based in that enemies on the floor will only act after you have, and a pink indicator appears on screen that highlights any tiles that will be attacked on the next turn. This gives you a chance to plan your strategy in terms of avoiding enemy attacks or defeating them before they have a chance to strike and this is what I meant earlier as tricky lol. You have a life meter in the bottom corner of the screen, and once it runs out you’ll be sent back to the hub floor. Fortunately, once you’ve unlocked a new area you can just start with it again, but you lose any perks or potions you’ve acquired. In Plunge, perks are called Charges, and they are special abilities that make navigating the floors a little easier which makes discovering all of the charges, characters, and potions functions like a nice, built-in achievement system that rewards multiple runs and makes failure a little more palatable. I found myself going into the game thinking that it was going to be a game I would sit down and tinker with for 15 to 30 minutes but there is just something about it that kept me playing for hours and hours desperately trying to get deeper and deeper into the plunge wanting to continually challenge myself to beat myself at my own record of floors being cleared. While the music doesn’t stand out too much, the sound effects are pronounced and contribute to Plunge’s simplicity and brutality. However, it’s the predominantly black-and-white aesthetic featuring cartoon graphics and splashes of bright color that really draws you in and complements the puzzle-like feel. Neon pink and other colors alert you to enemies, dangers, and keys, which makes the minimalist style so effective. One glance at Plunge is likely to be enough to draw you in, but it’s the randomly-chosen floors, the unlockable elements, and the simple but thoughtful game play that really hooks you. There are times when the isometric view makes it difficult to navigate the floor tiles around you, especially when you’re surrounded by enemies, but this is the only noticeable issue I encountered. Those looking for an easy-to-pick-up title that plays almost like a puzzle game with elements of a rogue-like will thoroughly enjoy Plunge, as I did. The cool visuals and challenging game play are clear highlights, too. I highly recommend casting aside the shackles of an ever-growing backlog and just taking the Plunge.

Controls are weird, no instructions, couldn't get into it.

[h1]3/7[/h1] A good idea let down by poor execution. The game isn't fully fleshed out, and I had to alt+F4 out of the game dozens of times as it would just break. Characters and perks could have used more variety.

I don't like the art style this game is going for, in my opinion it is not soothed for this kind of game. In bigger arenas in the crowd of enemies and traps you can't even see what are you hitting sometimes you can't see the map because of your life bar. There is no contrast between enemies and surface and that leads to some very frustrating deaths. I know there are people who love the system where you have to finish one dungeon in one run but I find it boring and frustrating, you can finish 20 levels and die on some silly mistake and have to do the same thing over and over. I also think that the game unfair when it comes to luck system, you can be on a good run but the cards you have to choose from have a major impact on the outcome, if you get 1 good cards in one run you will most likely be fine but I found that is very rare. The OST and sound design deserves a mention because it is very good. I know the game was designed to be hard but I just don't understand how low contrast (enemies/tiles/traps) benefits the game play. Shame, I wanted to like this game but it is not a good game in my opinion.

Consistently engaging gameplay. Good for short 15-60 minute game sessions.

Nice aesthetic, great gameplay. Part puzzler, part turn based strategy. Nicely polished and balanced game. Hours of fun.