I attempt quite a lot of video games for each work and pleasure, and typically one grabs me so instantly and utterly that I simply wish to shake it round and shout about it. The Loopy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles is one such launch. Indie developer Repair-a-Bug’s dungeon crawler is without doubt one of the greatest RPGs to cross my desk shortly; I used to be completely offered ten minutes in, and one other hour had melted away earlier than I even realized it. Combining D&D-style courses with a novel fight system and an unserious perspective that calls Undertale to thoughts, it is free to attempt due to a sturdy Steam demo, and a cut price value if you need the total factor.
The highest-down perspective of The Loopy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles virtually makes it really feel like a contemporary twist on Rogue, however you’ve extra freeform management as you wander its dungeons. Your aim is to hunt out the fiftieth ground, the place a legendary relic awaits, however alongside the way in which you may take care of all the things from dodging previous traps and struggling with skeletal necromancers, to cooking up a storm to impress a (literal) troll meals critic. There are easy assessments of agility, puzzles to unravel, hidden buttons to search out, cooking and crafting recipes to study, and an entire ton of loot to gear up your character with.
There is a easy pleasure to the exploration, however the fight is much more up my alley. Timing-based actions are all the fad nowadays (hiya, Expedition 33), and I like what Repair-a-Bug has constructed right here. Battles pull you to a display screen the place your enemies stand in packing containers round you, and you need to goal them in real-time to assault or block. Ticking meters preserve observe of who’s subsequent within the flip order, and each blow is traded with a timing minigame that varies in problem primarily based in your opponent. It is not fairly like anything I’ve performed, and it sells the fantasy completely.
The dialogue is basically lighthearted and, to its credit score, lands far more usually than it misses, even when a few of the jokes had me shaking my head on the truth they’d bought me to chuckle. There’s a variety from puns to extra nuanced thinkers, and even delicate jokes that play in your data of all the things from D&D tropes to basic rock. Thankfully, whereas it is frequent, it not often will get in the way in which. Repair-a-Bug is aware of once you simply need data introduced clearly and when it may have enjoyable, and manages to maintain the humor feeling flavorful relatively than compelled into each nook.
Top-of-the-line features right here is that you would be able to tailor your expertise to your tastes. Selecting a personality is a straightforward matter of choosing Hero or Heroine (the opposite turns into a Gary Oak-style rival who seems periodically to taunt you as they try to remain one step forward) and setting your beginning weapon. The spear is ideal for those who prefer to be quick, the sword and protect assist you to strike a stability between offense and protection, and the mace is ripe for all-out destruction.
After that, nevertheless, you are requested to select a play model, and that is extra about how the sport presents itself to you. I went with ‘explorer,’ which grants you extra expertise and stock, and ramps up the quantity of puzzles and crafting you may should take care of. Select ‘resolver’ and you will get extra dialogue, simpler battles, and even key encounters you may speak your approach out of. Go for ‘destroyer’ and you will face extra, harder foes, whereas the sometimes prolonged chit-chat is reduce right down to a naked minimal. It is a intelligent twist on issue that makes me desirous to check out the opposite settings and see how they evaluate to my first playthrough.
The Loopy Hyper-Dungeon Chronicles is out now on Steam, with a ten% launch low cost which means you may pay $11.69 / £9.89 for those who purchase it by Thursday October 30. You can too obtain the free demo to attempt it out first; simply be warned, you may get sucked in as shortly as I did.
Love discovering hidden gems? Then make sure to verify in with our decide of one of the best indie video games in 2025. For those who’re principally right here for tales of dragons and derring-do, listed below are one of the best fantasy video games on PC.
What was the final recreation that grabbed you throughout the opening moments and would not let go? Be part of the PCGamesN Discord and inform us about your most shocking favorites.
