Mad Mage is a fun concept. I was curious to try it out after reading the initially summary. Here's the gist: you (the wizard) are slowly (or rather quickly in some cases) going mad. This means the reverse of the standard roguelike identification system. All of your items (scrolls, potions) are identified to begin with, but become unidentified over time.

The great thing about this is that it sort of becomes a meta-game outside of the game. You start thinking to yourself: did I put that scroll of murder in my sash or in my robe. Was it slot a or slot b? Oh well, I'll just toss this random potion and see what happens!

It's a mad world

Mad World has a nice old-school look to it. I personally like my roguelikes to look like roguelikes. I didn't have any problems running the game on Windows XP. It also does a nice job of mixing up the scenery, which is strangely not done very often in roguelikes. Your mad mage travels through grassy plains, caves, dungeons, deserts, and swamps on his quest to find the... something? In particularly mad fashion, I never was able to end the game by finding the ossuary.

Scroll of Mass Death. Why don't more games have that?

Deserts look like deserts

The various potion/scroll effects are great. The randomized enemy names are very charming. As is the inventory system. When I first looked at it I was annoyed: WTF... I have to put stuff into 9 different slots?? After playing the game for a while I figured out why. It's a great way to organize your items and help you remember things. Like I said, it's charming too. It's fun to think about a wizard wandering around with random scrolls in his hat and potions in his boots.

I put on my wizard hat and robe. And boots.

The charm comes out in the random messages your wizard says as well: now where did I put that...? What did I have for breakfast this morning? Excellent stuff.

I've seen other reviews of the game talking about the map generation. Personally, I found it to be a little annoying. I ran into way too many dead ends. But hey... maybe it is just part of going mad right? The levels are also huge; I never really got that feeling of "everything is explored" that you do in other roguelikes. I always felt like I was missing something, but really there was nothing leading me in any particular direction, so it was a little frustrating to me, personally. Now, I am the kind of guy who has a label on his label maker so it could just be me. :)

Mad Mage has a lot of charm and I am hoping to have time to go back and beat it once I've played the rest of the games. Great job!

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Duuuuuuuuuuuuude.

Awesome name? Check.

Amazing title screen? Check.

Love a good title screen

Unique gimmick? Check.

Tight leather pants? Check!

Extra tight please.

FLAMETHROWER?? Check!

Toasty.

LAZER MEGACANNON??? CHECK!

Does your game have a lazer megacannon? Didn't think so.

So, yeah. I had a blast playing this game. This is the kind of game you play and look at all of the blood and dead monsters, turn towards the spectators and say "ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!?!?". This is the kind of game that you play and then hang your head in shame because your own 7DRL is pretty lame in comparison.

I would review this game more but I really need to change out of these tight leather pants and go fix my rocket launcher. Meanwhile, I suggest you play this game, yesterday.

5 out of 5 @s. TO THE EXTREME!!

EDIT: I guess I should include a link to the actual game! Go play it.

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Ok, 13 out of 45  7DRLs reviewed. Almost 30%!

If the rest of these games are as good and complete as the ones I have played so far I am in some serious trouble.

On to the next game: Light, by Kaw.

This is another libtcod game! Man, this thing is everywhere. Maybe I should actually sit down and look at using it? Nahhhhh.

First off, Light looks great. As expected from a game called light, it handles lighting really well. The diffusion is great and the independent light sources are amazing. It's rare to see actual lighted MONSTERS wandering around, casting light as they go. I had to keep from running into the glowbugs because I didn't want to actually kill them.

All of the lights.

It has a very limited inventory, which normally forces some interesting tactical decisions. However, in Light I didn't feel like I could give up my light source, and I couldn't figure out how to drop my tinderbox, so I really only had one 'spare' slot for one of the many potions I came across.

The dungeon features were cool. I like pulling switches and jumping down holes and all that.

Unfortunately that is about all I can say about Light. It crashed a few times on my windows machine and I never got past level 3. (I did let the author know, since that is what I would want someone to do for me.)

But finishing any sort of 7DRL that runs is considered an accomplishment in my book, so kudos!

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You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Regicide!

Bart: [watching Flanders] An ax.  He's got an ax!  I'll save you, Lisa![tries to walk on his leg, falls back] Uh, I'll save you by calling the police.  [dials 911]

Voice: Hello, and welcome to the Springfield Police Department Resc-u-Fone[tm].  If you know the name of the felony being committed, press one.  To choose from a list of felonies, press two.  If you are being murdered or calling from a rotary phone, please stay on the line.

Bart: [growls, punches some numbers]

Voice: You have selected regicide.  If you know the name of the king or queen being murdered, press one.
-- The Simpsons, Season 6, Episode `Bart of Darkness`

I had been looking forward to playing this game since I saw the name. I also vaguely recall being very interested in the author's previous 7DRL, Chompy (looks like he went ahead and finished it, awesome! Will have to check that out after these reviews are done).

So, Regicide! The plot is pretty simple and drives the theme very well. You are tasked with dispatching an evil King. The game starts in a prison, and the prisoner mechanic is very nicely done. Throughout the prison levels, there are prisoners that you can free with keys. Some are fellow revolutionaries and will help you. Others are vicious murderers, and will attack you! I wasn't sure how to tell which was which before I let them out but I suppose that is part of the game! (A fun part, too)

I'll admit that when I first freed a prisoner I wasn't sure what would happen. I was pleasantly surprised when he started bashing the prison guard with me. I was hoping that would happen!

I was hoping that would happen.

From the display side, this is another libtcod game. I could've used bigger fonts... I had trouble making out the doors (+) from the walls (#). But, that could just be the fact that I am a) old, and b) destroying my eyes by playing so many roguelikes! Playing in full screen mode greatly alleviates this. I also really dig the scrolling levels. Nice and smooth.

The friendly revolutionaries were helpful, but not very good at avoiding my dagger when I walked into them, or following me through doors. According to the author, the next version fixes this. It would also be awesome if they could follow me downstairs, although I did learn later to not waste gold on prison guards and to save it instead for the Royal Guard down below. This bribing feature is one I really like. I guess we both independently came up with it, since I included it in my 7DRL, GnomeSquad.

Once you get past the prison level it gets crazy. There are worms that spit acid and destroy your armor! And the rock walls! Having monsters destroy the scenery is an awesome feature. I don't know of any other roguelikes that do that. Can someone enlighten me if I am wrong?

Arg! My armor! (destroyed by acid)

This is as deep as I got :(

So, at this point I died. A lot. I really want to go down and kill that stupid king but no amount of potions or scrolls of fire seem to help me. I am looking forward to going back and trying once I have finished these reviews though! This game shows a large amount of polish for a 7DRL. Very full featured but simple in all the right places. (e.g. no need for giant inventory, just pick up a better weapon if you find one) Even the little things, like the way the prisoners moan or the murderers yell stuff, and the way the message buffer slowly fades over time.

Very promising stuff, keep it up!

And I will be back to finish off the king later!

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Stygia! The very name conjures up memories of ancient lands.

Stygia! I really dug the lighting and the dungeon layouts were awesome.

Sygia! I died. A lot. So many times.

This happened a lot.

Stygia is a classic (in a good way) roguelike dungeon diver, with a few twists. I like the heating effect. Throughout the dungeon are random "hot spots" that raise the temperature of the otherwise chilly dungeons (this temperature drops as you go down). When you are warm, you can rest to regenerate health. This makes locating hot spots a top priority for each dungeon.

According to the author's posts on 7drl.org, you can finish the game by getting down to dungeon level 10 and defeating the bad-ass boss. I would love to meet him! I couldn't get past the 3rd dungeon level. However, that doesn't mean I'm not going to come back and try! It just means that I have many other 7DRLs to play.

So, stuff that I liked? Title screen! I love a good title screen. The story is interesting without being overbearing and explains some of the game mechanic to you. The libtcod engine looks amazing as per usual. I did have a hard time seeing the grey "g"oblins through the diffused yellow light, but maybe that was just me. Kobolds and ogres were easier to see.

Title screen!

I also dug that the weapons/armor were highlighted based on (I assume) rarity. So, if you see a green weapon lying on the ground, you know it is more rare (better?) than a white or gray one. And it goes up the color scale (white, green, blue, purple, etc) that I learned from Borderlands, but probably started in World of Warcraft or some older RPG that I haven't played.

It was a little hard to tell which armors were better than others. So if I find a green +2 leather armor, is that better than a gray +0 platemail? It's entirely possible I was missing something, but my armors did not seem to effect by "Defense" stat.

The other thing that bugged me (that was also maybe a feature) was the enemy movement. These guys pounce! They seem to move 2 spaces for my 1 space. Again, maybe this is on purpose, but it takes some getting used to.

Other than that, the combat felt really solid. I seemed to be bashing monsters with an appropriate number of hits. They were just bashing me much more quickly! :)

So, Stygia, I wish you well. I will probably come back and play you after these reviews, but for now I must move on. Definitely keeping an eye on this one.

(Since typing this originally the author has come out with an updated version, which I will try out soon.)

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

LordBistian has a 7DRL challenge entry for us. It's name? Well... in his own words:

It has no name but whatever. 

Indeed Lord Bistian. Indeed.

So, this is a first-time 7DRL entry and for that it is a great entry. I really dig the graphics. It has a few nice touches such as "brodollars" (best currency name ever?) and a really great intro screen. How much do I love a simple and uncluttered intro screen? SO MUCH.

I really liked this water effect!

BroQuest (there, I just gave it a name) is a minimalist dungeon diver. You have four (three really, one is reserved for weapons which I later found out) inventory slots to fill up with as much treasure as possible. One thing that confused me... I am supposed to leave the dungeon with $15,000 brodollars, but I only have 3 slots. I guess this means I need to optimize and carry the most valuable items available? This is a bit odd since things like a single "diamond" or "gold coin" do not stack. Why would I carry these around? I think related treasure should pile up in one inventory slot. (e.g. one giant pile o' gold, one giant pile o' diamonds)

The gameplay is somewhat limited. It's not obvious which monsters are easily handled and which aren't. I was butchered over and over again by an Arch-Lich, but smote Asmodeus in about 6 turns without taking any damage. From someone who plays a lot of nethack (e.g. a lot of the people who participate in/play 7DRL challenge games), this is a bit odd to me.

Also, I would kill for some dungeon memory. The dungeons (mazes really) are nicely generated, but I can't tell which sections I have already visited. With the levels being so huge, this is tough to deal with.

I got this screen a lot.

That being said, there is something to be said for BroQuest's simple interface and cartoon-ey, hand-drawn graphics, and no-nonsense inventory system. It's something I could one day see growing into a lovely android or iPhone game. Lord Bistian... do you accept this challenge??

As a first-time 7DRL entry, it is a great accomplishment.

PS: There is something to be said about the roguelike community in that I will download and run a random .exe file from a mysterious dropbox location with no questions asked! That is some brotherhood right there, my friends.

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You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Gridfolk was initially classified as a successful 7DRL entry. However, the author has since reclassified it as a failure. Either way, I started looking at it.

After playing the game (I had no problems getting it running, personally) I tend to agree with the author's own comments. It is an interesting tech demo, but not a game.

That being said, it is a very interesting tech demo. The multiplayer roguelike is an elusive holy grail for developers. The concept for this game was a good one. I would certainly be interested in playing the end result.

The fact that the author got a fully functioning client/server realtime roguelike working in 7 days is impressive in itself. Although I have a lot of experience with python, I have never done any networking code beyond a few simple socket listeners.

Also the screen is nice. I like the presentation and the colors and the weird enemies.

Digging Mode definitely needs to be a toggle. Having to hit 'D' every time you want to dig is a super-pain. I didn't go down very far.

So, great concept. Interesting tech demo. Looking forward to next time. :)

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

So many roguelikes! Up next is the epically-named DESTINY OF HEROES.

When I first read the name I read it as DENSITY of Heroes. Not sure why. But then I got to thinking... Density of Heroes would be an awesome 7DRL! You could have monsters based on the elements of the periodic table and try to gain protons and electrons (and neutrons) in order to defeat your enemies. Combat is resolved by density. Of course your nemesis is the arch-fiend of elements: UNOBTANIUM.

Anyways, back to the game. Destiny of Heroes is the first 7DRL entry by IBOL. It was created in Dark Basic. Which I imagine is some sort of twisted arcane version of regular-basic. (I personally used a lot of Q-BASIC back in the day) The version I played was not the "official" 7DRL version but rather the next version, which I assume fixes some number of annoying bugs. I'm no glutton for punishment.

oooh.. dynamic lighting! (nice)

First off, I love the intro screen! This roguelike is off to a great start. Clear goals, big font, no overly-wrought fantasy setting introduction (let's be honest they all boil down to the same thing).

The game itself is a fairly standard (and I mean that in a good way) crawl-esque dungeon diver. I say crawl and not nethack because of cool things like this:

• throwing items -- appears that you can throw anywhere within radius X, as opposed to cardinal directions (the throwing interface is especially awesome)
• dungeon generation -- these are cool organic-looking dungeons, not your usual box & corridor (great job on this part IBOL!)
• no-nonsense inventory -- it knows when you pick up a mace you would rather just get rid of your dagger (Vicious Orcs was great about this too)

So, now for the less-good. I thought the game had way too much whitespace. The window was huge, and this was part of it (but not necessarily a bad thing since it had a nice on-screen inventory). The real problem was the font. The glyphs didn't have enough weight on them for me. The grid squares were also too far apart. 

Go away, whitespace!
(Although a surprisingly useful implementation of SENSE TREASURE)

The game also felt a bit laggy at times. I would punch the arrow keys in quick succession only to have my little @ only move 1 or 2 spaces. However, I know from experience that making a scrolling dungeon window is a giant pain in the ass so I was not bothered too much. Certainly it is something that can be cleaned up and optimized at a later time. (7DRLs are not really the place for optimization)

I really liked the monsters -- they weren't your typical fare. I am also easily entertained by non-standard characters such as the ÿ and σ. There were a few times in this game where I got more than a passing whiff of Brogue. This is in no way a bad thing since I love Brogue and still play it constantly. The AI was fun. The water sprites were especially obnoxious.

One thing that bugged me was the length of combat. On more than a few occasions I felt like I should be smashing my way through monsters but ended up going 6 or 7 rounds with... a bat. I expect a certain number of "windshield kills" in my roguelikes, and bats are certainly up there on that list.

It was also a bit annoying to not see the final few game messages. There were a few times when I quaffed a potion or read a scroll in desperation (e.g. down to my last 1 or 2 HP), only to get a big ol' "game over" screen, without telling me what the scroll did. That is a pretty minor annoyance though.

Killed by python. Yeah, that seems appropriate for me.

So, all in all, a solid vanilla roguelike. I couldn't muster up the strength to dive all the way to level 15 (these levels are quite huge!!), but it is always nice to see a fully functioning game in a 7DRL challenge.

DENSITYDESTINY OF HEROES!!

PS: Oh, I also loved the mini-map!

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Next up is the confusingly named 7DRL Challenge Challenge. I would've gone with a more descriptive name like "Time Attack" or "Time's Up!" or "Where the @#$%^# is that damned down staircase??".

This game uses the LOVE engine, which is some kind of 2D lua game-making framework. Since my game requires both python and pygame, I can't really complain about downloading LOVE, so away we go.

First problem -- this game is way too small! Apparently some people in the forums had the same problem. Since I was determined to play this game I found a solution (others may not be so forgiving):

• Extract the .love file
• edit the "player.lua" file
• rhe last line says "fixed.ttf', 8
• change the 8 to 16, or (presumably) any other number
• rezip the files
• re-name the archive to .love
• re-launch the new .love package

Aaah... much better!

Now, with that out of the way, we can play the game. Here is the good part: this game is fun! The goal is to get yourself (@) to the down stair (>) on each level. In your way will be pits (0) walls (#) and doors (+). So, what's the catch?

You need to do this in about 30 seconds.

It is a perfect example of a first 7DRL entry. It has a simple potentially non-genre-standard mechanic (time is ticking in real time) and a simple presentation. The way the level fades to black as your time runs out is quite ingenious and also quite maddening! Never before have I mashed my numpad keys so frantically in a roguelike. Running, Running, RUNNNIIINNNGGG!!!!

Noooooo! (fade to black)

So yeah, it's fun.

One beef -- is every level "winnable"? There were a few times when I couldn't see a way through.

A few suggestions:

• exit highlighting -- show me the exit when the level starts. I wasted the first 5-10 seconds of every level just looking for the > symbol. Or maybe just change the color?
• time tokens -- if you can't find the exit quick enough, run for one of these to give yourself some extra time

Good for what it is. A solid 7DRL.

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Rook is a 7DRL entry by Joshua Day. The concept intrigued me, and the screenshots caught my eye. (Note to roguelike developers: screenshots!!)

At first, I was at a loss of what I was supposed to be doing. The readme.txt was not very helpful in explaining some of the core mechanics of the game. However, the success post on 7drl.org was helpful:

As long as you’re wearing the orb of the Turk, you can’t die a stupid death — every move you can make has to kill you.  If you take it off, you’re playing a traditional roguelike.  The ring of vulnerability will save you from losing any hitpoints, because every hit you take will kill you, which is forbidden by the orb.

Well, that explains that!

After reading that I felt a little bit stupid. Surely the name "rook" should've inspired me with some vaguely chess-oriented thoughts. Once I got the mechanics down it was a very fun little roguelike.


The game gave me a mad pell-mell sort of feel, with bouts of extreme tactical decision making. This is a good combination! I also liked the terrain. The trees (&) were first seen as obstructions, but later, as friends. I can use trees to lose pursuers! That way I don't have to risk taking off the ring to dispatch them. And always, always, always, trying to move right.

Nice line of sight (through the grass)

A fate worse than death?

Being "checkmated" is a unique way to end the game. Is there some way I can reverse my steps and make different decisions? That would be pretty amazing.

There is one particularly mean bug in that potions and scrolls can fall on obstructed terrain. The author is up-front about it and mentions it in the readme. But it is still quite sad to run out of your way over to a healing potion (!) only to find your way blocked. It is like the game is taunting me. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Who doesn't enjoy a good taunting every now and then?

After a few dozen mad-dashes rightward (yes, it is worth it to go after potions and scrolls) I was finally able to kill the king. Huzzah!

Take that, you evil tyrant of some kind!

I also noticed that the game seems to be using curses? This would make for a great terminal game. Perfect for breaks at work between other games.

Either way, excellent work. Looking forward to the next version.

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

Next up is Benhem (OK, technically I can't find a name for it and Benhem is the author, so "Benhem" it is!). Time to fire up the ol' PuTTY for this one.

I am digging it already.

Benhem is not what I would call a complete game. But it does so a lot of potential. I really enjoy the old-school "gold box" design. The fact that it is played from a terminal is (in my book) a plus. Games that you can take with you anywhere? Just great.

The fact that so much is shown on the screen without any noticeable lag is impressive as well. I am used to playing nethack on alt.org and other servers and there are times when you can definitely tell you are not playing a local game.

I didn't find any items. But I found lots of doors. And plenty of monsters.

I love the turn-based grid combat. You might say that sort of thing is my bag.

However, it seemed unfair that the monsters could attack me diagonally and I couldn't attack them. Some terrain would be nice as well, so I could wedge my cleric in the corner while my fighter tanks. The author mentioned he is working on adding abilities and such things. I could easily see there being some fun tactical battles here. Again, no lag, which is nice!

The ASCII art is nicely done as well. It was immediately clear to me which of my dudes was the fighter, thief, cleric, and mage. (The fact that this is so easily done using so little information says something about the artist but also a lot more about our established canon of fantasy game imagery.)

So, not a complete game, but certainly an awesome tech demo. There is lots of promise here. Hopefully the author keeps it up.

---

You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

TROUSERS DESTROYED!

Pitman Krumb. Odd name, but definitely worth a play.

I'm a little familiar with the Unity browser plug-in, but have never seen it used to build a roguelike. I am impressed! Especially considering this is the team's (Friedrich Hanisch & Jana Reinhardt) first entrance.

Having to move the camera manually is a little odd at first, but I did get used to it quickly. I like the look of the game a lot. The textures seem hand-drawn, rather than generic "rock" or "wall" panels. It's cool to see 2D art represented in a 3D manner. I also liked the items -- they lay on the ground like little cards. A slight annoyance -- it's hard to tell what you are looking at until you pick it up. If your inventory is full, this means you have to drop something, pick up the new item, check it out, and then either drop it and pick up your old item, or keep it. But even that is not too cumbersome a mechanic.

The game is surprisingly (for a 7DRL) filled with small touches of polish that make it fun to play. The way the terrain "popped up" when you entered a new area. The satisfying way in which your enemies fall over and then "float" into the sky, off the screen. Also the music was excellent, but I'm not sure how much was composed specifically for this game.

Things I didn't like? I was confused by what an "exploration card" was at first, and why I was interested in how many I had left. But I figured that out. I was also unclear as to which potions were health and which were mana but maybe that was just me? Overall, most of the things I found annoying were things that I got used to rather quickly. Having every game use the exact same controls and mechanics would be rather boring, after all!

I had to cut my review short on this one because I just kept playing it, and there are at least 40 other 7DRLs to get to. After this game and Vicious Orcs, I think the rest of the competition will be very hard-pressed to measure up. But that is a good thing! It gives us all something to shoot for in 2012.

I'll definitely be returning to this one after these reviews are complete. Well done, guys.

5 out of 5 @s.

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You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

I had an absolute blast playing Smart Kobold, Jeff's entry for 2010's challenge, so I was very much looking forward to playing Vicious Orcs. So my original plan was to save this one for last.

That plan failed.

Vicious Orcs is beautiful to look at. Like many games this year & last, it uses libtcod. But not in an overly obnoxious way. No diffused multi-colored light or particle effects. My personal preference is for roguelikes to look like well, rogue. Games like Brogue are about as fancy I want my graphics to get.

That being said, Vicious Orcs is also amazingly fun to play. It is simple, but in a complicated way. It has enough strategy in it to make it fun. It is rare to see a fully finished game done for a 7DRL.

The combat has a good feel to it, and the town is tons of fun. The limited inventory took some getting used to, but feels necessary in a game like this. I hope the town's folk didn't mind me leaving my broken armor lying around.

Speaking of broken armor, I really dug that whole mechanic. Finding a broken weapon/armor in the dungeons is awesome (OMG PLATE MAIL), then taking it to the forge to get repaired is almost inevitably more expensive than your current gold supply. So, it's off to the dungeon to get more gold. Except then you find an even BETTER weapon. Repeat.

At first the non-euclidian dungeons bugged me (as they did in Smart Kobold), but once I saw what was possible with the Town Portal spell, I was a convert. Simply amazing stuff to see in a roguelike.

My favorite feature might've been the "Orcs" count in the top-right corner. Just seeing that '10' sitting there the entire game made me REALLY want to kill some orcs. A surprisingly large amount. I'm guessing that was the intent.

I've likely started out with one of the best of this bunch of 7DRLs, but I'm glad I did. I'll be coming back to this one once I am done with these reviews for sure.

5 out of 5 @s.

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You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.

My (mostly successful) entry for the 2011 7DRL Challenge was GnomeSquad.

Download and required python distribution/library is here.

My entry for this years 7DRL event.

GNOMES!!!!!!!!!

Dungeon generation is working nicely thanks to roguebasin.

Of course, I still need to add ye flask.
And yes, the "Eyeball Necklace" is what you think it is.