Oh, don’t mind me. I’ll just be gushing about the latest one-man game that is currently beating out anything that the multimillion-dollar suits can churn out for the next whatever number of words.
Demon Lord: Just a Block is a strategic roguelite game made by a singular creator, Yuwave. You play as the Demon Lord, or rather, the Demon Lord’s disembodied skull head. Felled by a hero and forgotten, you awake in your castle, determined to take vengeance and re-establish your dominion.
Calling it just a strategic roguelite does it a disservice, though, as its gameplay proves even from the opening minutes. You move around in a turn-based fashion on a grid, attacking enemies by jumping onto the square they occupy.
Here is where the innovation begins: the game’s enemies only move when you move, similar to something like Superhot.
You can decide to take it slow and methodical, carefully deciding your next move. Or you can speed the game up, making multiple moves per turn by rapidly pressing the WASD keys in the direction you want to go, and using dodge and parry mechanics to keep the now faster-moving enemies at bay.
Enemies’ attacks are pattern-based, and once you get their behaviour down, you’ll be fighting like your namesake in no time. That’s just the mere start of everything.
There is a whole manner of weapons that not only make the damage numbers go up but alters your playstyle. A lightning rod that makes you move through enemies to the tiles beyond as you cleave them in two? Or how about a shadow dagger that makes dodging more efficient and introduces a directional cue on enemies, allowing you to backstab them for extra hits?
The interactions of modern game mechanics and old school style are very impressive to see in real time, and the game’s ability to switch genres is nearly effortless.
One moment, you are still whittling away at angry red blocks surrounding you, while the next, you can be exploring bonus rooms, taking on wager fights with 1HP and finding merchants who trade you power for vitality, akin to dungeon crawlers of old.
As is usual, death is a natural part of the game’s progression. Here, though, each run feels truly different. Take it from someone who enjoys this genre far less than your Souls player or average masochist: I never felt frustrated at any part during my playthrough, and felt compelled to give it just one more go. And another one. En nog enetjie…
Whether it’s the slew of weapons you can unlock during your delves into dungeons, the quirky characters you meet or just the awesome variance in the level design, a session of just ten minutes or hours can feel equally rewarding.
But don’t take my words for it. Play the game. That’s the biggest compliment I can truly give this one-man one-of-a-kind.
