Words of Yendor

Odd game. Tries to build on top of Scrabble as a foundation, but the result is overly complex and not fun for me. I applaud the attempt to make something different and this could have potential, but focus more on logic, fun, and simplicity. More playtesting and feedback from different types of gamers could help a sequel for this.

Has its charm, reminiscent of small Game Crafter titles where hobbyists express their wild and unsellable ideas. Exploration involves cards, much like the classic Mini Rogue (it was a pleasant surprise to see my fav mentioned in the Credits as inspiration). What sets it apart for me are the scouting, the small, "find the word" puzzles that unlock more options for your next moves. I also liked that certain duels require that you only wound your opponent without killing them, which fits well with the dark, Victorian theme. The gameplay can be short if you opt for smaller word lengths, but hardcore puzzle fans can go for 12-letter word marathons.

Edit: i really like the idea, that this game exists, but it has to have more character to it. Once you have done about 5 runs it feels like a job. It gets boring and you look for efficiency. What you want to get instead is novelty and sense of wonder with the options available. If you had a game mode for the interesting Gothic quotes as awards or maybe a game mode that only does them in the form of Hangman, I could see me coming back for more. As it stands it is a 2-3 bucks game with some gimmick, nice poem excerpts and Bierce's Devil's Dictionary shenanigans providing a laugh/ food for thought here and there. Which is more than most don't get me wrong, but this needs a few more touch and then it could really get addictive instead of just interesting. ------ Good job, but... Expected a narrative, it is hardly that. And the hangman mechanics are just too severe a punishment. In my opinion the best part of the game is the verses buried behind the hangman, but one tries to avoid them if the run to be successful. Not good, if you would make a separate game with the hangman mechanic and verse of romantics fitting the game, that would be a good pitch. As the game is right now I would not recommend.

https://youtu.be/0fi9OnGm8q4 With a bit more polish and presentation this collection of various word based mini-games wrapped in a rogue like would really be something more than the sum of it's parts.