It shouldn’t come as a surprise, but when you’re in the gaming and tech industry, your smart device will push all sorts of gaming and tech “things” your way – through whatever means necessary. Instagram, yup, Facebook? A-yup. Twitter? Yessiree-bob! Everywhere you look, the algorithm has got you.
And don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it isn’t good. The algorithm tends to show content I enjoy consuming, so big-ups to all you techy coders who have figured out how to use my data properly.
On that note, while scrolling through the endless feed that is the interwebs, I stumbled across an indie dev posting a work in progress of a flashy, glowy, awesome-looking, shooty-shoot dungeon game-like thing, along with the word “Hades”.
Back then, Hades was the cream of the crop for rogue-lites and for very good reason. I instantly followed the Twitter account of the person who posted it. And then two years and many snacks passed.
I’ve been watching the work-in-progress posts for the game come up over the years. I’ve seen it change its name from Robes to Lone Ruin, and each time there’s been a new development, I’ve become more and more excited about giving this little indie gem a go.
Finally, on January 12, it launched.
If you have yet to gather from me speaking about Hades and rogue-lites earlier, Lone Ruin is part of that same genre, although, to be more specific, it’s a rogue-LIKE. Meaning there’s no meta-progression in the game. When you die, that’s it.
You get the bragging rights of your score (or not, depending on how much you suck), and you start over from scratch. To some, that may be off-putting, but to others, it provides a challenge. Also, the game is relatively short, so realistically, meta progression doesn’t make sense, as there isn’t enough game for any meta progression to have an effect.
One of the first things I noticed is that Lone Ruin clearly started as a quick little passion project that turned out to be too much fun for the creators to leave, so they continued to build it up and turned it into a full-fledged arcade experience.
There’s no story outside of a single cutscene when you start and a cutscene if you win. There is also minimal dialogue; for the most part, the story is for you, the player, to make up in your imagination.
Are you a wizard hell-bent on destroying the things that lurk in this place? Is there some inner sacrifice you’re being forced to make because you’ve lost all your loved ones to the evil of the world? Nobody, but you, knows.
However, the lack of story is more than made up for by the gameplay, and I get this feeling that the devs are going to be throwing more and more fun things into the game to keep me coming back for more… once I finally hit the number one spot on the leaderboard.
The pixel art visuals are a neon dream. The surroundings are grungy and dark, and the spells, fired from the main character’s finger gun, are vibrant pinks and blues that paint your screen with death and destruction.
The 2D art on the 3D Backgrounds makes for an incredible experience while diving deeper into the dungeon. Still, the music is what really takes the cake here. A dark, deep house soundtrack thumps in your ears, almost like the blood flowing through your fingertips as you whip and wave your spells around the map.
The dev team put effort into making the gameplay experience work, and it does. The game has two modes at the moment; Ruin Run, which is the game’s “story” mode. This is quite typical of a rouge-like, where you venture as far as you can, keeping everything you have gathered thus far in hopes of defeating all the bosses and achieving victory in the end.
Ruin Run has only three bosses, and they don’t rotate, but the levels, items and rest points all do. The second mode is Survival Mode; this is more reminiscent of something like Vampire Survivors. You’re given 10 minutes, or as long as you can live between now and then, to score the highest possible score. Each kill drops points, which you can use to upgrade yourself as you go along.
Yes, the game is relatively short, and it will be beaten in a half hour or so, depending on how good you are at dashing. Still, it’s satisfying enough to play it again on hard mode and then again on survival mode and again and again until you’re satisfied with your score on the global leaderboard.
There’s more than enough randomness in the game to make each play-through feel different as you pick up a different set of spells and blessings to rake up every point you possibly can. The game is also so damned juicy with all its effects and music that you’d be able to survive these hot Johannesburg days without leaving your seat.
THE GAUNTLET!
The first South African NAG reader to top my score of 78726 on HARD SURVIVAL mode and email me (cody@nag.co.za) a screenshot before 14th February 2023 will get an R120 Steam Gift Card from yours truly. T’s and C’s below.
Terms and Conditions:
- This competition is open to South African residents only.
- The competition closes at midnight on Monday, 13 February 2023.
- The winner will be the first to have proven to have a higher score.
- Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash.
- The judges’ decision is final, and no correspondence can be entered into.
- NAG is not responsible for entries not received for whatever reason.
- NAG reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice.
- NAG hosts promotions, giveaways and competitions in good faith and cannot be held responsible for any misrepresentation on the part of the custodian of the promotions, giveaways and competitions.
- The winner(s) will be announced in this post’s comments section and the social media posts where it was originally shared. If the winner cannot be contacted or does not claim the prize within 14 days of notification, NAG reserves the right to withdraw the prize from the winner and pick a replacement winner.
- It is the responsibility of the winner to ensure that the correct address, dimension, and direct contact details (email/ cell number) are given.
- Prize delivery will take one to two weeks, dependent on Steam timelines.
- Participation in any promotion, giveaway or competition and/or acceptance of any prize implies full knowledge and acceptance of all rules and portal etiquette.
