Catacomb Kids

Catacomb Kids
N/A
Metacritic
89
Steam
79.98
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$15.99
Release date
20 February 2015
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
89 (497 votes)

Catacomb Kids is a brutal platformer roguelike that pits you against the deadly Catacombs aided only by magic, steel, and your quick reflexes. Traverse procedurally generated dungeons and hack, slash, burn, and blast your way through hordes of things that want to kill you.

Show detailed description

Catacomb Kids system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
  • Processor: 1.2GHz processor
  • Memory: 512 MB RAM
  • Graphics: 256MB
  • Storage: 100 MB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
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Knight9910
Knight9910

I originally bought this because of the trailers, and how they made the game look so deep. Where you could kill a slime, and get a little ball of slime jelly... and then you could do so many different things with it. Throw it on the ground to make a sticky trap, or into an enemy's face to blind them, or onto a wall to make a handhold to climb it! It sounded so cool... like, if there's that much utility with one single object, how nuts must the rest of the game be?!

Well, it turns out, that's really the only object in the game that even has any utility at all, much less some crazy deep level of utility. It's also kind of a lie - being able to climb walls is something you can just already do.

The game itself is kind of just a Spelunky clone with random character generation.

Which, I guess, if that's what you want, then go for it?

Ohm
Ohm

Really great art lots of gradual updates, and gameplay that feels smooth and interactive. The enemies feel alive...until you kill them. Super challenging, I've never gotten past the first few floors. Lots of variety in characters as well!

Griefcliff
Griefcliff

It's Very Very Good.

In a Nutshell: Spelunky + Heavy Roguelike elements.
This game has depth, there are mechanics upon mechanics, and many ways to approach it.

There are 4 classes, with a lot of room for differentiation in play-style via starting conditions and build.
The Catacombs are cruel, and punish smack down hubris, the A.I is clever, and more advanced enemies will trick you.

Like, it's fun, very fun.

Ste_Makesgames
Ste_Makesgames

This game is seriously hard, I've played 15 hours and I don't think I've past more than 3 levels in one go, *TIP* Go slow, learn each guy, some characters have annoying quirks like being loud while others are nimble.
It's a great game.

VdPe
VdPe

A very fun title, very heavy on variation and experimentation. This game is an excellent example of emergent gameplay.

DarkPaladin13
DarkPaladin13

great game, manages to be both hilarious and hardcore. cant wait for the full version! definite recommend.

I love plants
I love plants

Games good, its insanely difficult and you need some fat concentration

just farted on the final boss, mf needs to finish this GAME

EDIT: NVM this guy is a dummy and the game is probably a scam, people gave him $30,000 for him to work on it 6 hours a week if that.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fourbitfriday/catacomb-kids-a-very…

SmellyCanadian
SmellyCanadian

Have pumped so many hours into this game! It is such a satisfying roguelike.
That will make you want to keep playing seeing how far you can get each time. (Unless you die to a crusher trap)
Overall fantastic game. However, the small indie developer can be slow with new updates and the game is still alpha, it's still so much fun to play. Even local co-op is fun, though with the pace and skill sealing it sometimes can be tough to coordinate with your buddy and most of the time you won't make it very far.
But truly this is one of my favourite games love the class options and the daily makes me want to see how far I can get even though I know the inevitable demise of my kid.
Would rate 9 crusher traps out of 10. (Undo spell is your friend never not take it please!)

retoid
retoid

Catacomb Kids is probably the best game I've picked up in Early Access. The game play has similarities to Spelunky and Vagante but differs plenty and in a good way. Expect to die a lot. But don't be dismayed, the game is just plain hard, but very rewarding! Experimentation is a heavy focus and the game wants the player to learn new things by trying. The amount of interactions with objects and items will surprise you!
Choose between 4 different character types all with randomly generated stats and traits. Enter Floor 1 of the dungeon.
Sneaking around and planning out how to kill certain enemies is encouraged and rewarding. Catacomb Kids encourages you to explore the entire map/dungeon as there are interesting things to be found. Stay alive and get to the exit in one piece. Enter Floor 2...

Highly recommended, already considered one of my favorite games!

nunu
nunu

Tricky little game that's fast to play. Surprising depth to mechanics and reasonably frequent updates.

Shir0
Shir0

This game has been in development even before it was kickstarted in 2014, and still continues to get updates. The one developer streams his development once to twice a week or so though.

In the current state it's in, there's no metagame / out-of-run progression, and multiplayer is only local same-computer play.
That said, the game is amazing, even in the state it's in. It's an unforgiving roguelike platformer with great combat.
There's so many underlying systems that take place, giving every item and tool so much utility, and all the upgrades during a run vary so much.
There's a temperature system, food and meal system, and a cooking and potion system that are all well connected. All of which aren't interacted with in any menus. The upgrade orb you get every floor doesn't just give your character a stat increase, but allows you to pick a radical utility - like the ability to combine two spells at once, cast differing spell variants, grapple enemies in combat, airdodge, see an item's trajectory when throwing it, etc. Combat ties really well into the platforming elements as enemies have their own ways of navigating the terrain, or move exactly as you do. Weapons have differing moves you can learn, there's a stealth and potionmaking system, etc. I'm only touching at the surface.

It's well worth the 16 bucks if you enjoy Vagante or Spelunky and wanted far more difficulty, depth, and rpg-mechanics.

Owl>
Owl>

Great and unique rogue like game that i cant seem to stop playing..... help

realcoolfriend
realcoolfriend

Fun roguelike platformer. Easy to jump into, but there are complex mechanics to learn for those interested. Active dev. Great game overall.

ga-b
ga-b

In depth interactions between objects, enemies, spells, etc. are amazing

mr.nicksanchez
mr.nicksanchez

My routine while playing: Boot up, do daily, die, play as poet, die, play again, die, get a good run, kill the reaper, die by a slime.

MrPowerGamerBR
MrPowerGamerBR

An awesome addictive game that has the "I will play it just ooone more time" but you end up playing for hours.

Very hard, but every new run you get better at understanding the game mechanics so in futher runs you can get farther than ever before.

And, well... you will die a lot, sometimes by "omg I'm stupid" reasons (like falling on a mushroom while there are spikes on the celling, heh).

Even if it is still in Early Access, the game has a lot of gameplay and replayability value! :3

肉蛋葱鸡
肉蛋葱鸡

I need Chinese, we need Chinese translation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

klan apecx türk
klan apecx türk

Very deep and intricate game mechanics, it makes the game feel a lot more emergent and rewards you for thinking creatively. It's quite difficult to learn the basics but it grows on you and becomes second nature after a while.

i-i'm rudy !! ≧◡≦
i-i'm rudy !! ≧◡≦

This game is a lot like spelunky in that you will die. A lot. Learning new things and getting used to them is an amazing concept and I've always enjoyed any roguelike similar to this game!

Gerk
Gerk

you can be very creative in this game, must try if you dont mind dying a few times learning.

C A W F E E
C A W F E E

first of all its rouge-lite, you will die all the time and thats the game for most part. but after getting a little bit better, you start to get into the depths of the combat, item, interaction,enemies, and start to see more and more unveil. The stages and its insides are procedurally generated, meaning it will never be the same everytime you play it, 'xcept for a few stages of course.

All in all, i reccomend this to people who like castlevania like game, but want something different and challanging

Daggoth
Daggoth

I really wish the developer would work on this game, it has quite a bit of potential and is fun to play at the moment... Alas, the game was released onto Early access in 2015, I daresay this game is vaporware at this point, it seems the developer is working on a new game rather than this title. I have owned this game since it first appeared on Early Access, maybe it will be finished in 10 more years, but I think it's been milked for all it could be, and now is all but forgotten. Which really pisses me off, not only because I'm out of ~20$, but as I said before, it COULD be an OUTSTANDING game.. Check back in a couple years..

Al
Al

I don't care if you don't like the graphics, the game is stellar;
Many new interactions between enemies, items, and yourself; with the classic Rogue-like feel!
Travel through dungeons where any trap, bat, or slime/goo can kill you with enough missteps along the way.
Incredibly challenging gameplay with tight movement controls, leaving only yourself to blame when you die.
Choose from 4 classes to play as with their own unique traits and strengths, fight many monsters that may SEEM to repeat for the first few floors, but just get to Floor 5 + 6 and everything you knew from the previous floors goes out the window.

Good luck. Enjoy playing this amazing game!

LilEndie
LilEndie

A genuinely great game, I've been watching it grow since it first came out, and while I never played much due to a lack of time, I've enjoyed every second of every update and will continue to follow this game until it gets the recognition it deserves and well after. A beautiful balance of difficulty and rng, with a surprising level of depth that has caused some of my friends to compare this to nethack, there are plenty of secrets and hidden interactions to enjoy, while the game itself is still enjoyable on a surface level, with challenging AI and traps that require the reaction speed of a cat on crack. This game is just great. Nuff Sed.

GoodSpirit
GoodSpirit

Still updated almost weekly. We now try to kill the tank for fun :p Nothing quite beats the level of depth and difficulty in this game.
https://youtu.be/GT0U9g_1A54

CynicalCloth
CynicalCloth

Great roguelike. Very excited to see final product. Been playing for over a year

gamesare2fun
gamesare2fun

Hard as nails and not afraid to kick your teeth in the minute you start, and absolutely best played via controller, but an interesting world and deep desire to try to delve further and further. This, and "Vagante", are must-haves in the genre.

HereWeAre
HereWeAre

is fun for those that like dungeon crawlers like Vagante

LargeFry
LargeFry

Ton of fun! Maybe a couple of dollars overpriced, but when the game is finished, it will be worth it!

Gizmo the Mogwai
Gizmo the Mogwai

Random level generation. Diverse classes. Advanced character building venues. AWESOME PHYSICS FUN.

Get this game. Play it. Thank me later.

joeclyne90
joeclyne90

Catacomb Kids is a dungeon crawling Roguelite with substantial Roguelike elements. It’s probably most similar to games like Vagante, Spelunky, Caveblazers and Spirits Abyss, perhaps even Dead Cells. However, if you’re a fan of Monolith, Enter the Gungeon, Nuclear Throne and Unexplored then you may also find this to your liking.

Initially the controls do feel a little janky and combat is frustrating as it seems every time you encounter a humanoid enemy they completely wipe the floor with you. You might find yourself electing to use the daggers (for its speed) or the spears (for their range) before intrinsically learning the rhythm of combat. Eventually you’ll come to realise that the game isn't really designed to test if you can smash the square faster than the enemies can attack and combat will often require you to assess the many aspects of your surroundings. This includes your potions, the floor layout, the number of enemies and their weapons, your spells, and your classes skill power. In general, I do find the combat to be “fair”, although sometimes you can’t help feel a little hard done by the ability to move around the floor or strike the enemies consistently. Although not turn based the games environment encourages a mosaic game design. As enemies don’t attack you till they know you’re there you’ll often find them crowding round the fire before you engage. After dispatching them in the “combat mosaic” you’ll move through the floor to a platforming section then perhaps a small puzzle or maybe an opportunity to upgrade your character.

The characters themselves are very interesting. There are currently four classes which start with a different innate skill each and bonus to certain stats. They all play very differently and due to every single Kid having individual stat differences, traits (both positive and negative) starting gear, and spell mana the possibilities are endless. This mechanic makes you identify the weakness in your Kid so that when you get your skill points you level into the best attributes that will enable your character to progress. It attempts to stop you from just upgrading the same thing again and again every single run until it becomes repetitive. I believe this works quite well and helps keep the game fresh. I find myself debating what to upgrade as if I’m using a skill tree in a RPG despite the fact my character will likely die in under 10 minutes.

The movement has many interesting features which pivot the game into a platform genre. It reminds me of Towerclimb; you can couch jump to reach higher ledges, roll through enemies and sprint to jump further. Dexterity-wise, the game demands a lot due to the classic inclusion of traps which litter themselves throughout nearly every procedurally generated level. There’s Indiana Jones style boulders, spikes, lava, teleport traps, fire breather traps, icicles and laser turrets everywhere you turn.

After getting familiar with the controls the game really opens up. The game has many fresh takes on consistent Roguelite mechanics. Health regen and food, character selection, potions and spells are pretty much a given in games like this these days. Despite this, Catacomb Kids manages to open them up to new ideas while still keeping the major components recognisable to anyone with a RPG or Roguelike/lite background.
The dev is active on the discord and streams himself making the game. Despite the great features in-game, it’s worth remembering that it is in the Early Access. As such, bugs remain within the game and can sometimes ruin a particularly good run usually by crashing rather than a particularly broken bug, of which I am yet to see. Although crashes can happen, in my experience they’re rare and they become closer and closer to being non-existent with every update.

I think that overall, Catacomb Kids proves itself as a strong title in the ever competitive world of Roguelites and will hopefully see a surge of support and new players throughout Early Access and into full release. I can see myself playing it for many more hours.

Boney
Boney

Great game, if at times a bit cryptic in many of its features such as meals and interactions between certain items.

MR.Anal
MR.Anal

Cool little dungeon crawler.
Frequent updates make the game fresh and interesting

Your Homework
Your Homework

This game is really fun and has a great style. There is a lot more to this one than you'd expect.

PresuntoDeQueijo
PresuntoDeQueijo

it is a such amazing game! the only thing that must be implemented, its the workshop

fernanflouyer17
fernanflouyer17

This game is one of the best games I have played with a friend, it makes us go beyond than just throw ourselves to the game without a plan. This game is very strategy-based and I would love to add that this game is the only game that has made me rage this badly, like, i almost break my keyboard!! I'd recommed this game to anyone that likes difficulty.

6809e
6809e

Getting better...
The latest updates make the game less frustrating,
The game play is actually quite fun, but so unforgiving.
The movement is fluid but even the smallest mistakes are fatal.
Wonky mechanics make navigation confusing and frustrating.
Getting stuck in weird places is not uncommon and usually means death.
Multiple traps stacked together usually means death.
Hidden traps force you to tread cautiously, but enemies will force you to make sudden rash movements which means death...
Falling into water usually means death.
The result is usually dying a ridiculous and frustrating death quickly.
Plummeting onto spike traps that can't be seen is common and results in death.
Clever little things like disarming falling traps with bones are wonderful.
But not being able to explore the map properly without risking death is annoying.
The game has been in early release for a LONG time ...
Potentially a great game in the making...

Ted Bunny
Ted Bunny

Infinite loop of being dropped on spikes during tutorial 👍

Pretentieux
Pretentieux

Very slow development, but what is here is interesting enough to be worth the asking price for the most curious of action roguelike fans.

Figuring out how this game works is half the entertainment. I rarely get very far into the game on any given run, yet each run manages to feel distinct and characteristic of itself better than many games with much longer run times.

Speaking of development, check this out:

In this GDC 2016 talk, Catacomb Kids creator Tyriq Plummer explores both the resilience and fragility of the human body, and examines how our physical shortcomings can be applied to games in order to create more interesting challenges and experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nEJOkTjJqk

poppens
poppens

leo, you would be, wouldn't you?

sensitive armstrong
sensitive armstrong

wow they really made hotep a mfing class 10/10

david777
david777

it has a lot going for it in even in its alpha state

Seymour Knightington
Seymour Knightington

I want to like this game, I really do... I'm a huge fan of rougelike games like this, but this one just didn't hook me. While I do think this is a quality game and a good addition to the franchise, the overly complicated gameplay just killed it for me.

Complexity is catacomb kids biggest drawback. Stats, level ups, perks, gear slots, spell slots, character traits, skills etc... all packed into a game that will kill you in under a minute, combine this with overly complicated controls and the game starts to feel clunky.

But for those who enjoy this sort of thing, Catacomb kids will provide you with many hours of entertainment with the insane amount of variety it has to offer.

JayXan
JayXan

Insta-death to bullshit undetectable traps the game. Pretty sure I died about 35 times in an hour and a half. No exageration. Game There doesnt appear to be anything you unlock as you play the game either.

Anaxyx
Anaxyx

This game is HARD. This game is NOT for everyone. Sorry. You WILL die thousands of times. So why play it? Here are some PROS and CONS for the game as I have encountered in my (currently as of this review 13hrs) of game play.

Lets start with the CONS.

There is a slightly steep learning curve. My personal stance is to try and not use outside information as long as possible. I enjoy figuring out mechanics and whatnot within games. There is a LOT to this game.

There doesn't seem to be any "progression" as there is in some other roguelike games. You DO collect coins after every run that can be spend on rerolling your kids to run the Catacomb with, including customizing your own. I don't see this as an inherent bad thing but some people need that sense of outside each run progression IE: Item unlocks, floor unlocks etc.

That is all of the CONS I can think of presently. Now for the PROS!

The sense of reward you get as you play more and more, learning what things do what, how things interact and how to safely (hahaha) navigate the Catacomb, is a huge one. When you have gotten a good grasp of the combat and movement, use that knowledge to outmaneuver and emerge victorious after clearing out a space of grumbuls is a very good feeling.

This game has a deep sense of exploration. I know that I have barely scratched the surface of what is here in this game that is, yes, unfinished.

All in all, this game isn't for everyone but if you like challenge, exploration and gratification for efforts spent...this game is for you. Give it a go, Steam refunds are fairly easy and painless if you dislike your purchase. Although I will say that 4hrs is not a lot of time to get a good grasp of this game.

Dynast
Dynast

And here i thought TowerClimb was hard.

Ark
Ark

Love this game. Every run is new, fresh and fun. There are so many intricate little details, so many things that can happen, so many things you can do, ways to destroy your enemies. Ways to die. Most games, I get rather upset when I die. Not this game. Some hilarious deaths, or the perfect combinations of things going wrong that lead to my body being crushed, burnt, dismembered, frozen, poisoned, keep me coming back for more.

Until you get fluid with the controls, and even after, its a difficult game. That being said, it's absolutely worth it to GET fluid. Movement feels so good. And the developer is always adding more things.

I recommend this game, BIG TIME.

Sudstah
Sudstah

Not complete but 1 guy made this, its a very fun game to just see how many ways you can die!

Arche
Arche

The concept and the gameplay is good unfortunately its still unfinished even after so long in EA. I doubt the developers are working on it at all and honestly at this point i gave up on it.

N,N-dimethyltryptamine
N,N-dimethyltr…

These fucking idiots havent even updated it with anything worthwile for fuckig ages

Godlyvexx
Godlyvexx

Very good game.

The game is not finished, however. Updates are very slow. There is a very great amount of content in the game so far, despite only half of the areas being in the game. Most of the systems are very fleshed out, except the skill system, which looks like it will be huge.

The game is very hard. I typically die in the first or second area, even when I get great stuff. To make progress, you need to either be diligent, get extremely good gear, or have enough skill to maneuver around the many hazards.

Based on the current amount of content, I'd say the game is worth getting, and much more will be added, at a slow pace. We're at 4/6 classes, 2/4 areas, and 14/30 skills, as far as I can tell.

Ebanella
Ebanella

Unforgiving hardcore gameplay;
sloppy controls;
infrequent updates with no clear schedule, still in alpha;

Good for some, waste of money and effort for me.

W!ZARD
W!ZARD

Great Roguelike experience. You're going to die a LOT and that can be frustrating but you'll get better with each run. Don't recommend keyboard controls personally. Don't let the Early Access thing fool you, this game is great in the state it's in and will only get better with time. Also, keep in mind it is being developed by a single dude who also does development streams regularly on Twitch (He goes by FourbitFriday) ! Give the guy some love!

Muscle Man
Muscle Man

It's a fun little rouge-like dungeon crawler. There's a lot to experiment with and find. The difficulty can quickly pick up but the difficulty curve always keep pace with player-development. All in all it's a very solid game.

CapnSquiggles
CapnSquiggles

Look, I've played this game for 114 hours and it isn't finished. Development is super slow cause its one guy but the game is REAL polished and REAL difficult. I play it hardcore for like a week or two at a time, let it sit for a bit then come back and I never feel like I'm playing an unfinished game.
I have faith the dev will finish but it will be a while. Until then, back in the catacomb.

fiddlydip
fiddlydip

at this moment, with ~100 hours in this game, i have beaten one boss. ONE. I love this game, and i think it's difficulty is one of it's main benefits, mostly because it hides the lacking amount of content. if you have the patience to learn this game you will be rewarded with an incredible experience.

FaZza Lunafreya
FaZza Lunafreya

One of my all time favourites. Catacomb kids is an extremely fun and challenging game. every time you play you discover new quirks. I recommend this game to anyone who's looking for a new and fun experience. It may not be everyone cup of tea, but its perfect to me. You can tell the team thats working on it cares tremendously about the product they're making.

If you're thinking about buying this game, don't hesitate for a second. The more you get the hang of it the more fun it becomes. words cant describe my love for this game.

devilfish
devilfish

~~ note to future self ~~~
- game is f-ing hard
- cool ideas, great AI
- dev is chugging along slow 'n steady
- game runs @50fps, watch out with that new 576hz monitor
- get a liposuction + botox job old fart
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

mister six
mister six

i honestly don't think i've ever played another platformer with such subtle depth to its gameplay

Hatred
Hatred

This game is fire. It's definitely got a Spelunky vibe, and it's nice to fall back on when you finally wake up and realize Spelunky 2 is garbage. However, it is a real dungeon crawler, unlike Spelunky, with leveling up, weapons and stats, and potions. It has a unique take on encouraging players to fight monsters instead of avoiding them, which makes a good compromise between "kill every enemy for xp" and "never go out of your way to kill them because its pointless." Enemies have a chance to drop their corpses, and after eating 5 corpses from the same type of enemy, you get a buff. It's a really clever system. My main objection with the game is the weird theme with Kids. I don't like it. Besides being lackluster and lame, it is just weird. Got me feeling like Oingo Boingo in here. Got me feeling like Michael Jackson. It just makes me a little uncomfortable.

Fant0m of Arg0s
Fant0m of Arg0s

Awsome work, hight level of ideas and a great pleasure to play the game.
many things to discover and to try! Well polished game.

And the caracters selection screen is pure genius.

Chris
Chris

Quirky and hard. Sometimes seemingly unfair, but there's a lot of love that has gone into this. Also, dismemberment.

Weston
Weston

A good way to vent without abusing children in real life.

NOLA Puma
NOLA Puma

Before the newest update, you really had to just play for 100 hours just to test and retest ideas or strategies against bosses or tough enemies. Now you can practice or retry relentlessly either spending Catacoins or on Generous mode. I think this game is 112% worth buying now with these new changes.

RustyC
RustyC

I play quite a few roguelites and I have to say, this is one of my favorites. I've been playing for the better part of six years now. The developer has been slow to update, but every update has been worth it. I can't wait to see where this game goes in the future. Can't recommend enough.

Seven
Seven

It's got a lot of things going for it right now. Solid controls, tight combat mechanics, flexible approaches to every scenario, and movement that doesn't feel too floaty. You even have inventory management, like Vagante, but with the feel of something akin to Towerclimb. Very high praise for me, as I consider Towerclimb to be the best platformer in terms of omni-directional movement and multi-faceted combat. Catacomb Kids has some of that magic and more, allowing for some really interesting interactions between items.

The reason I can't recommend this is because it crashes way too much. When I say "way too much", I mean every time you clear a floor, or resize the window, open your inventory, or even so much as pause the game, there is a very high chance the game will just straight up crash and you'll be forced to Abort the process via the popup dialog. It's not a fun experience, but that's the state it's in right now. I have some personal nitpicks as well (such as sprites mushing into each other during combat so you can't really tell what's what when there's four characters in the same-ish location), but they're all small in comparison to the game just outright dying on me every time I have it open.

TLDR, it's an excellent game, but the constant crashing of the current state of the game is just too much for me to honestly recommend it to anyone right now. Give it a few more updates or wait for a Steam Sale before getting it at this current state.

RBrandon
RBrandon

Catacomb Kids is an unforgiving dungeon-diving platformer with tight design and a living, exotic environment. In it you play as a kid who has descended into the mysterious Catacombs in search of treasure or knowledge, or a good fight. Each of these things can be found in great measure within the dungeon.

The goal of the game is to obtain the Orbs of Leveling hidden or guarded in each level of the dungeon in order to become powerful enough to defeat whatever lies at the bottom. The gameplay involved in doing this consists of both a solid platformer/brawler core and some of the deepest systems I have seen in any game.

One of the most interesting inspirations that the author lists is Nethack, a venerable classic roguelike famous for its interaction-filled world. It is known for accounting for many fringe cases in it's' messages and gameplay such that "The DevTeam Thinks Of Everything" is commonly said about it. I get that feeling when playing Catacomb Kids. It is probably the thing I most like about it, and I will use several examples as explanation.

The first concerns the spell system. There are around 20 spells in the game, but this number becomes much higher when you learn that there are many different ways to cast each spell. Take the humble Frost Bolt spell: cast normally, it shoots a icicle shaped bolt that does a small amout of damage and freezes enemies. If you have a negative perk or not enough maximum magic to cast the spell, you will cast the unstable version, which fires several smaller ice bolts in a spray. There are then two opposing magic perks to cast an enhanced version. Overloaded frost bolt fires a massive ice boulder that pulverizes enemies in addition to freezing them. Trance frost bolt instead summons several small ice bolts to your side, ready to automatically fire at enemies you attack. In addition to all of this, the Multicast perk allows many spells to combine together. Not all spells combine, but there is a fairly massive list. If we use the ones for frost bolt we can add Chill Dash, Ice Break, Frost Shards and Raise Icer for a total of eight ways to cast this one spell.

This depth in gameplay also extends to the objects found in the dungeon. Potions can be imbibed for certain effects, of course, but they can also be boiled to spread their effects as a gas, thrown to splash nasty effects on enemies, or (with the help of one of the classes robotic friends) sprayed about to squeeze additional uses out of them. With intelligence perks potions become even more interesting as you are able to dip weapons into potions to apply on-hit effects (or repair weapons with a health potion!) or mix potions together to create new types. My personal favorite is the potion of smiting. Created from a potion of lightning mixed with a potion of flames, throwing this at enemies results in a flaming lightning bolt of near-divine power.

I could talk about the equipment, replacing limbs, making soup, meal effects, weapon skills, boons, bosses or any of the other cool things that this game rich with, but the crux of why I enjoy the game is this: it is both interesting and fun. I have run into games that are interesting without being fun. These are the games that are more like toys or perhaps a slog to play, with robust systems bogged down by a poor interface. I have also played games that are fun without being interesting. This is probably a better spot for a game to be in, but without depth novelty can only carry a game so far. For me, Catacomb Kids is at the perfect intersection of being fun to play and being interesting with its complex and interacting systems.

While my recommendation, gushing review and playtime all betray the fact that I adore Catacomb Kids, no review is complete without noting some limitations. The primary one is that it is incomplete. While what is there is very good, from a dungeon length perspective the game is only about halfway done, with 2/4 of the game's planned zones being playable (although it is getting closer to 3/4 according to the work shown off in the developer's weekly streams) and the final boss is a bit of a placeholder at the moment. This is mitigated somewhat due to the zone design: the two zones that exist are fairly feature complete and, frankly, more than likely you are not good enough to get to the end of the end of the game as-is without a good deal of practice. The only other incomplete part that affects gameplay (that I can think of) is that some 3+ level boons and all 4+ level boons obtained from leveling up stats are currently unimplemented.

The pace of development is likely to leave some frustrated as well. It is my understanding that it is developed part-time by a one-man crew which, while impressive in its own right, does lead to long wait times between major updates. On the bright side the game does have a semi-active community to discuss the game and share stories, strategies and videos.

In summary, I think this game is easily worth $16 in it's current state. It well deserves a place in my top-10 games both in time played and, more importantly, in how much I actually like them. If you enjoy the confluence of interesting, thinky systems and engaging, fun gameplay, I think you will like this little gem as much as I do.

Halkrath
Halkrath

Very intricate with its interactions, yet doesn't lose its simplicity to play. Deaths are mostly fair, but sometimes frustrating (as should be expected from this genre). Development is slow but steady with a communicative developer that streams weekly. Stylized, subjectively great pixel artstyle and sound design. It focuses on smart play and utilizing what you have + the environment to achieve victory; stats help but are not the winning factor. I love the design of it all.

As a sidenote, switching to a controller after about two dozen hours made my experience much better.

Captain Kit
Captain Kit

I like this game it not often that a game lets you lose a limb without killing you it is funny when battle cost an arm and a leg!

Falrnfods
Falrnfods

This game is trippin' balls! It's like Spelunky, but its a real dungeon crawler rpg. Magic system is boss and very deep. The people who say it's too hard are little babies, and they like Dream (who is fat and cheated) and they play undertale like little morons. Dumb sheeple! you don't know crap about real video games. You play dwarf fortress in ADVENTURE MODE. You people think Binding of Isaac is a roguelike! It isn't! Roguelike's are turn-based, and Binding of Isaac is not! This game isn't even a roguelike! The purpose of classic roguelikes was to simulate classic table-top rpg's, and you cannot effectively do that if it isn't turn-based, moron! That means that this game, as boss as it is, isn't a real roguelike, but only a rogue-LITE. I watched the Joker 2019 and I liked it.

Epictacoman
Epictacoman

Super well put together rougelite whos Dev is constantly working on it

Renschnitzel
Renschnitzel

Chopped off my enemies arm, then ate it. Died by the poison shortly after. 10/10 would eat the arm again.

Dr. BadTimes
Dr. BadTimes

A lovely, tight little roguelike in the vein of Spelunky but with more complex mechanics. Compared to many other platform roguelites, Catacomb Kids encourages a slower, more tactical approach to things. Many of the game's mechanics aren't obvious at first, which makes learning and mastering them feel like a conquest of secrets.
[The developer is a friend, but I think I've been playing this game longer than I've known him!]

HotChokletyMilk
HotChokletyMilk

ROCK AND STONE, BROTHER!
(You can pet the catacombs!)

Gr3ySyndicate
Gr3ySyndicate

This game is a F%$^ing underdog and deserves to be a top dog. 4BitFriday is a gem. It just gets better and better with time, and it started out so f%$^&ing strong from the get go. * * * * *

twinkle_stix
twinkle_stix

for anyone who likes a challenge i

SaltyBuckets
SaltyBuckets

Catacomb Kids is a wildly in depth game that rewards creative thinking and diverse decision making. There are many thing that contribute to the unique gameplay experience i find i have when playing the game, one of them is that the game is hard, as is advertised, the game will in most situations test your critical thinking and your twitch reactions with the ability the change the outcome of any encounter with good planning or good reactions, for example, if you see three enemies you could just go in there and beat em up to the best of your ability mashing the attack button, jumping attacks, rolling or shield bashing and parrying, this could result in a victory, you get the loot and go on your way, but it is more risky you could also pick up a boulder and place a portal so the boulder will loop and gain speed effectivly making a blender and then taunt enemies into it to get the win, both resulted in the same thing, a victory where you got what you wanted, but both were different approaches and both had a different mind set. That is what i find the most intriguing, i have spent a few hours in this game and i am sure i will spend some more, the game boasts some comfortable platforming with some pretty tight controls that feel nice for me, the combat can be fun and unique with the four different classes in the game at the moment i find myself bouncing between all of them and using them in all different ways, cleaving through hoards of enemies with the bully or igniting a group with the poet using flame wave or using my lighting boots on the wanderer to lighting dropkick through a group stunning them all or even using the tinkerer and having my robot use a potion of smiting i made to spray over a bunch of undead. What i feel i am trying to say is if you are a fan of games that pay attention to the small things and the little details then this might be for you, what i am saying is that if you like a challenge and like to be tested this game might be for you, what i am trying to say is that if you like a game where you can get involved in a community and change the game for the better and have you input matter right now, this game might just be for you. I seriously love this game a lot, it has been well worth my time and money despite not putting all that much time into it yet, it has kept me entertained even unfinished, to be completely honest i have only beaten the game two times on permadeath, despite playing a pretty good amount, this game is pretty hard, or i am trash who can really tell right now. In conclusion, the game is hard, the game is rewarding and the game is getting more and more content as the days go on. If you got this far thanks for reading and please try out the game, and if you do maybe DM me and we can do some co-op.

carlosrodrigz_
carlosrodrigz_

Great game been playing for so long that i forgot when i started highly recommend.

kiwionly
kiwionly

(A quick disclaimer before you read the rest of this, Catacomb Kids is updated very infrequently, which is reasonable considering this is pretty much a one man project. Just don't expect a constant stream of new content and patches like you might see with other early access titles)

Despite initially appearing as another cookie cutter sidescrolling-dungeon crawler-roguelike, Catacomb Kids feels distinctly unique, even in its (currently) unfinished state. Even with over a hundred hours in the game, I still find myself coming across something new in every run... at least the ones that last more than a few floors. This game, like many others in its genre, is incredibly punishing; a single error can quickly lead your death, if you aren't outright killed in one hit. This is fine, there's a reason many other roguelikes are similarly brutal. It forces you to take things a bit slower and consider some of your actions more carefully, which I like.

I only have one major issue with the gameplay: the starting classes feel wildly unbalanced. The poet/mage can start from floor 1 as an untouchable killing machine, meanwhile the wanderer/rogue gets to the mildly useless ability to track inanimate objects and outline their surroundings. It is not exactly unheard of for player-characters in roguelikes to be purposely unbalanced, like in The Binding of Isaac or Nuclear Throne, but I feel like this game isn't really going for that, especially considering the completely randomized aspects every character starts with. Your starting traits, equipment, spells, etc. are all completely random, though you can see exactly what you start with before beginning a run so there's no surprises. I imagine that for a project of this size balance is not a priority, but its an issue I have regardless. Overall a pretty neat game. I hope one day to see it in a finished state.

Mommy~
Mommy~

It's very rare to see a game that isn't a horror game that incentivizes actively running away from encounters. Stealth is also a thing, but just panic running away from monsters as they hunt you down is a valid and oftentimes necessary strategy. That's a unique design element that designers can definitely learn from, and much like that, this game has a lot of unique and interesting mechanics that's worth checking out if you wanna play something weird, or again to learn more about game design.

backfromvenus
backfromvenus

Taken at face value, this game is brutally difficult. A fair fight between 1 humanoid is risky, and between 2 is nearly suicidal. You'll always need to have a trick up your sleeve (or two!) for every fight you get into, and boy, does the game have a lot of tricks. Rolling boulders onto heads, knocking over braziers to momentarily set passageways on fire, knocking enemies into pools of piranhas, using your spells, using your class ability, or sneaking past with a shadow step or potion of invisibility -- and that's only scratching the surface. The game gives you so many options that dying isn't because you were handed insurmountable odds (it's a given that you're going to enter any given fight on the back foot) but because you didn't use all the tools you had access to. It's a game about being clever that gets being clever right. Over my tenure in the Catacombs, I've mostly improved not by getting better at the combat (although that is a factor) but by learning new tricks and planning out each fight better instead of just rushing in.

I'm 200 hours in and I'm still learning new things. I think that a choice between 2 perks is a no-brainer, but then I take the other one and realize I was missing out this whole time. You think you've got a handle on all the spells, but then you learn about Overloads and Trances and Multicasting and realize that there are 3 times as many as you originally figured. So many parts of the game are like this, and while lots of the more obscure systems are quite hard to find out on your own, it's still quite rewarding to browse the wiki and apply what you learned in game.

A final note: while the game is incredibly difficult, one of the more recent updates cuts down on that by allowing you to continue a run from the start of your current floor, at the cost of a currency shared between runs. This makes the game much more fair by cutting down on the frustration of instakills and by letting you hang out in the later areas longer before having to start from the beginning again, while still keeping a tense atmosphere: each continue costs exponentially more coins, so deciding when to continue and when to throw in the towel is an increasingly more difficult choice. I think it's a great change that makes it far more approachable, and if you don't like it, you can always stay on the original permadeath mode.
It's a great game!

Daddy
Daddy

The movement is so fucking TIGHT!

Urbanmist
Urbanmist

This game is extremely enjoyable & addictive, & the fact that it's being made by one person is insane. I can't wait to see what all will be implemented into this game & to eventually see the finished product. Even though the game crashes now & then, it's not often & not a problem at all unless you consistently get to the deeper levels.

Iloria
Iloria

The vibes of this game are absolutely immacculate.

SomeoneElse
SomeoneElse

This is my favorite roguelike and I love roguelikes

Ry
Ry

Awesome on CO OP but can't seem to get further then a couple levels without crashing

deram☭
deram☭

I bought this game back in 2015. It took me 2 hours to beat the game with what they had done at the time, and I thought it had potential. My plan was to wait until the game is finished, which it seems will never happen at this point. I would not recommend buying this game, and it shows how it can be risky to buy an early access title.

Hawaii-Desu
Hawaii-Desu

I only have 8 hours on this game. It's been a difficult game to progress in for me.
However, every death is absolutely a learning experience of what to do next time. It's not unfair.
It's just learning what makes you better at the game.
I also want to state that I picked up this game in 2015 and have always kept an eye on it.
It's crazy to think the dev is still updating it and working with it.
Kudos to the FourBitFriday team. I will be working on those hours played.

Virgin
Virgin

This is a hard game to review, but I think I got enough out of it to make it positive. This game is really incredible, and after more time I would give it a fully positive recommendation, but as of now, any attempt to play the game from where I am kinda just feels repetitive. Now I don't blame this on the mechanics of the game; those are i m m a c u l a t e, but the progression feels a bit cut short. Again, this will of course change with time as this still isn't release, but late game does feel a little dry after cycling the game a few times.

Mibombo
Mibombo

Fun game, would be great if it ran on Linux. I would love to play this sort of game on the Steam Deck.

machinedgod
machinedgod

This is a fantastic roguelike, which I haven't played for over 7 years, but you should totally get it and play it. It is one of the probably most interactive roguelikes I ever played, that aren't ASCII roguelikes with 30y of development time.

To try and show you just how interactive it is, let me tell you about one encounter I had:
there's a room with three orcs. I have crappy equipment and 3 health points, and I am not a good close combat fighter. There's a campfire in the room. I also happen to have a portal spell and an invisibility potion.

So what do I do?
Well, first - I quaff the invisibility potion, open the door, and cast the portal spell on the ceiling right over the campfire, then close the door.
Then I backtrack to the area full of poisonous mushrooms, and irritate some of them to release a gas clouds. I throw my now empty bottle through the gas clouds to collect some gas, and then throw the bottle in the nearby water - creating a poison potion.
I go back to the orc room, and cast a second portal nearby, and throw the bottle into it.
Bottle falls on the campfire, it heats up and explodes, and creates a poison cloud that poisons every orc in the room, and drops their HP down to 1.
I open the door Leeroy Jenkins style and just smash through all three orcs without issues.

Without this kind of gameplay, at least in earlier incarnations of the game - you wouldn't get far.
This is why I heartily recommend it for every roguelike afficionado.