Roundguard is a super fun Peggle-inspired game with typical roguelike RPG gameplay, which means our goal is to get through a dungeon full of stages while gradually upgrading our character.Each stage in Roundguard consists of a one-screen level full of clay pots, enemies, and health and mana potions that are all spread out like the pegs in the original Peggle game.To complete a stage, we must defeat all the enemies by hitting them with our character. We do this by aiming and launching our circular hero from the top of the screen and then watch as it bounces between objects until it eventually reaches the bottom.Just like our hero, all the enemies have health and attack stats, which means we both deal and take damage whenever we hit one of them - and that’s exactly where the potions come in.But this is where it gets interesting because we can also equip two skills that we trigger by tapping either side of the screen. Using these strategically is crucial to winning, and they’re fun to experiment with.Whenever we complete a map, we may get a new skill or piece of equipment that drastically increases our stats and makes it easier to defeat the final boss. Unlocking these and deciding which to use is part of what makes the gameplay great.Before starting a new run, we select one of four distinct classes and may equip a relic that drastically changes the game to ensure each playthrough feels different. The game also features quests, daily puzzles, and even a weekly speed-run mode where we compete against all other players.The controls work surprisingly well, and the art-style is well-executed.Roundguard is a $6.99 premium game and it’s one of the best roguelikes I’ve played this year.

Buriedbornes 2 is a great old-school dungeon-crawler RPG with turn-based combat. And as a sequel to the 2016 Buriedbornes, the gameplay builds on top of the predecessor. We begin by choosing our race, job, and origin. And as something new to Buriedbornes 2, we can also select body parts if we’ve stitched these parts to our race/job in previous playthroughs. Our race and origin determine our starting stats while the job defines our starting skills. We can also bring items along and pick "contracts" that let us craft various skills, equipment, and skill-boosting runes. Then, we finally select a dungeon to explore. Once inside, we progress by continuously picking one of multiple rooms to enter from a map that splits into several branches. Each room leads to an enemy encounter, equipment, items, or a random event. We may also gain status effects that completely change the rest of our run. What makes Buriedbornes 2 fun is that all of the above heavily influences our run, and finding beneficial synergies between the many different factors is quite rewarding. This is RNG-based gameplay at its best – or worst – and a fantastic run can easily end with a strong enemy that doesn’t jive with our current build. Unfortunately, unlocking extra races, jobs, origins, contracts, and pretty much everything else, is tied to “unions”. And skills have limited uses. Joining a union costs lots of gold, and only after that can we complete missions to earn union credit and unlock the associated rewards. In the previous game, these could just be bought for gold. Buriedbornes2 monetizes via incentivized ads and iAPs for extra gold. None of it is necessary to have a great experience. It’s a great game with challenging gameplay – as long as you don’t mind the chaos of losing due to RNG.

Infinite Dungeon Crawler is an endless turn-based tactical role-playing game where we explore randomly generated worlds full of dangerous enemies and valuable loot with a party of adventurers. When creating our first character, we pick between 6 races and 8 classes and fine-tune its stats and skills however we like. With enough gold, additional characters can be recruited at the tavern. But we must take good care of our crew because they die permanently in battle and may leave our side if their morale becomes too low.Leveling up allows us to improve our stats and learn new moves, but most of the character development comes from trainers back in town that teach us new skills in exchange for gold. This makes establishing a stable income a top-priority.During exploration, we walk around to pick up stashes of valuable loot and fight monsters to gain XP.The game features an incredibly deep and complex combat system that takes into account a huge number of factors, such as weapon proficiency, stamina level, equipment conditions, and even unusual things like the amount of surrounding light and recent wounds. Simply bashing the opponents with everything we have may work on lower levels, but when facing superior forces, carefully studying their weaknesses and choosing the right skills and strategy is the only way to emerge victorious.While the graphics may look primitive, there is a serious system behind them. Every character is constructed from individual body parts, facial features, and equipment pieces – all of which can be heavily customized to make each character and enemy entirely unique.Unfortunately, these many customization options make the game heavy on memory and CPU usage. The game runs slowly, lags a lot, and may crash even on top-tier devices. Infinite Dungeon Crawler is free during early access, but the developer plans to implement iAPs to unlock each new world once the game is finished. Despite the game's technical issues, I enjoy playing it on a regular basis because of its interesting combat system and high replayability.