We Who Are About To Die

I was excited to play a game in long while, the art and design are incredible the gameplay although it is not complete yet it feels so fun. this game is great rouge-like, and built solely by a single creator which is baffling.

The attack commands are a little clunky. I still haven't figured out how to actually throw anything. But this game is great. Extremely promising for early access and just one developer and it has a lot of repeatability without feeling repetitive. Each gladiator is unique in their own way, and each life (and inevitable death usually) is its own challenge.

I've been having a lot of fun with this game. The combat is fluid, the movement smooth and I feel like I have a lot of control over my character, that's fantastic. The difficulty scales nicely, and the different origins feel like they really change my economic play.

The only technical issues I encountered so far were that the camera sometimes gets stuck behind scenery, and that the AI in 1 vs Many battles sometimes freaks out and the enemies go running off or just stand still completely.

I've played the game for 11 hours and beaten it thrice, twice with the easiest origin, and once as slave, so the learning curve isn't insane, I'd actually call the game pretty intuitive. I'd love some sort of ascension system in the future that makes the game harder, because most of the difficulty right now I feel is from getting to the point of having full equipment before the enemies scale, which can be sped up DRASTICALLY with an inherited artefact (my slave inherited a godly plate for the right arm).

Obviously, the game still has issues, it's in early access after all, but I already enjoy it heavily for what it is, and I think it's absolutely worth the money to support.

The combat system takes a lot of work getting used to, and you have to be prepared for all your hard work to disintegrate in an instant due to one bad decision: or even just plain bad luck. But this intriguing and addictive game represents an excellent combination of strategy and tactics, where nearly every choice you make has both short-term and long-term ramifications. It is a thinking man's game, and it is an action man's game: a true Renaissance Man's pursuit. The more I play (and I nearly gave it up early on, it is very frustrating at times!), the more I'm glad I pushed thru the initial learning and the more impressed I am by its elegant mechanics. Well done, Jordy: well done!

great game. good representation from the initial video and screenshots on the store.

22 euro is a but much for this early stage of the game. I refunded it for now, but I put it on my wishlist. I will pick it up again when it is on a sale.

This game oozes with passion, potential and love. It is far from perfect, its janky at times, insanely hard to learn, but the satisfaction of getting a good run going, doing better than you did with your last character, and the glory of finally hitting the victory quota, is a feeling i have not felt in a very long time whilst playing a game. The price point may seem steep, but its rougelite nature really itches the spot. Its all about a gradual climb up the ranks, and i have friends who are already verging on 100 hours. I urge everyone to give this game a chance, or at the very least keep an eye on it. For one person to make such an in-depth game, that feels so satisfying when everything works is incredibly commendable. Jordy, you're killing it, please never give up on this game, i know you have 4 times in the past, but you have a real hit on your hands here

Combat is similar to for honor but could use some adjustments to the hitboxes of the weapons (particularly the spear) to be more aligned with their given animation.
In order to block you're suppose to keep your cursor on their weapon (or on the particular region where their weapon will contact your body) while holding RMB, however this is extremely hard to do and rather extemporaneous when attempting to block certain weapons such as the spear which seems to poke through your block, or high level opponents who feint to the point of omitting the animation of their directional swing completely upon release.
Other than these 2 noticeable errors, the combat is pretty smooth and allows for skill based techniques such as feinting, hilt spamming, complimentary footwork etc.

This little gem has you "managing" a gladiator. Yes, you move the gladiator, swing his weapon, block with his shield, but There's equipping and raising stats and buying perks for your gladiator. Then they die. (or very rarely retire).

There is just something inherently fun about throwing your gladiator against a mob and hoping for the best. You can be best geared, with high/max stats and still die to due to bad luck.

My few gripes have to with convenience: should allow queuing for buying things; too many times i've forgotten to heal up after a fight, and get into the next fight without any health.
Also, the rando weapons you can buy from the shop... i've spent waaaaay too much rep re-rolling to get a specific item.
There is also a bias for weapons. As far as I've seen, there is no "godly" tiered 1-H sword. Also, armor progression seems to be bad, ie moving from sturdy to godly just seems to mostly eat up your stamina and rep bonus, with higher armor provided.

Anyways.. it's been a while since i fell in love with my character and yelled at the computer.

love the mechanics! I love running a chill easy mode run through on quick weekday nights. Sometimes ill go for a more challenging play through on weekends though if I'm feeling spicyyy! Great mechanics (combat and player development).

Short answer:Amazing Indie game you should buy even if its still in early access! I usually stick to Triple or Double AA games as i used to see it as the safer bet, but this historical gladiator setting and game play caught my eye immediately and I had to give it a try. I must say i am not disappointed its so much fun and the fact its still in early access and getting better leaves me so excited for the future. Amazing Fun!

~TLDR at bottom~

This game barely got its first update and it was already 10/10 before that. The game has a fantastic tutorial which does a great job showing you the basics. From character management to combat and learning to take it easy when you can to prepare for tougher battles, the game gets much deeper than it seems and takes time to master while making all of it an enjoyable experience. The road map is very promising and I look forward to all of the future updates.

A few minor things that don't break the game:
I do believe that if the AI can sprint while charging an attack we should be able to as well. I also think that if they can swing at us unarmed that we should be able to do the same to at least have some offence since since the crowd occasionally does not throw any weapons in the arena at all (rare occurrence but it has happened once).

Edit: After reading a few reviews I wanted to make an edit. Take a look at most peoples play time when they reviewed, some only have a few hours if that. I have only played for 12 hours so far and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. I do agree that this game has match ups that seem unfair and sometimes has AI making very fast inputs. However, this is not a game that you can jump in and be amazing at right away. This is also not a hack and slash. Blocking most definitely works it just takes more skill the smaller the size of the item you're blocking with is and the finer the point of the weapon being blocked, this is a good thing. I understand the stamina concerns but if you learn to pace yourself with swings and blocks then it isn't really an issue as you progress since you eventually end up having a lot of stamina as well. Hint: don't over gear and use heavy weapons and shields that you cant use because of low stamina, training is very important but should only be done when you're at an advantage. AI blocking is not a dice roll or rng your swing directions definitely matter. Taking note of your weapon and how you swing it, as well as their gear and positioning all matter when trying to find a small gap in their armor or blocking stance. Sometimes disarming them is easier than trying to fight a strong shield all day and sometimes breaking a weak shield is the best thing to do to ensure an easy match.

I'm definitely open to new takes or constructive criticism and feel free to ask any questions below and I will be more than happy to answer them.

TLDR: Game is 10/10 and in a very playable state right now with plenty to do and a lot of mechanics to master.

I have long been looking for a game that captures the spirit and style of the gladiator games I adored on the Playstation 2, and I have finally found it. This game combines some management and choices with its core game play, which is in some ways similar to Mount And Blade: Warband. A highly enjoyable roguelike.

Really good concept, horrible execution. AI is some of the worst i've ever seen. As a video game designer myself its pretty embarrasing to see the AI in this game. The physics engine is just as broken as well. I found that in about every other match, especially when you are higher level, AI will have higher movement stats and will be glued grinding up against your face glitching as though there only goal is to sprint directly into you. This makes the game almost unplayable as the game will physically not allow you to deal more than a miniscule 1 or 2 damage unless you hit them at the proper distance. Even worse if your playing a 1 vs many match you will be blocked from attacking by an AI that gets glued to you where the rest of them can still hit you almost guarenteeing you'll lose a quarter of your health if not worse. I also ran into problems with my payer having his arms and weapons getting stuck behind his back unable to attack. AI also will target you before targeting your AI teammates. If you do have AI teammates and youre fighting an opponent they will happily watch you get your health chipped away and die before helping you in a many vs 1. Overall good idea but developer doesnt know how to code don't waste your money on such a weak game.

This game is still in its infancy, but it is massively fun. With more events, starting randomness, ect I could easily see myself sinking thousands of hours into this game. I hope the dev continues to improve on it for a long time because what they already have is amazing.

If you're looking for a good Gladiator game this is it. It works so well as a rogue-like I would truly recommend this to anyone. This is made by one guy (wow is he talented) and it is easily one of the better games ive played and it captures a coliseum experience amazingly.

Serious, the most fun I have had in a Roguelite game.
The physics and the blood are amazing and spectacular.
The thrill of the game ending any second is thrilling.
The armor is fun the earn and you feel the difference,
Protip keep the cursor close to you

The game is pretty funny, and also fun to just mess around or take it seriously on each run. One of my run, I was going to just make it a meme since the dude looked like he was a manager of a food chain, and yet he was my farthest run. Going to miss him, however I love the moments that he gave me, spamming the taunt before obliterating the enemy...

So good, there're a few early-access things that will definitely get ironed out, but oh man... this game strikes a great balance of personal investment in a run and DEFINITELY each battle can bring out some "sweaty gamer" vibes, but also allows me to just sacrifice bodies to the rogue-like gods.

Definitely recommend. Kudos Jordy! Stellar work!

The shear randomness of this game makes it a no go for me. It seems like it would be a lot of fun, but after playing about 10 ish lives and realizing that you cant ever keep up with the enemy and any attempt to setup your next play through is pointless it gets a big 0 from me.

My first character I decided was just learning so I would invest everything into the second character. The max you can invest is 10% of 1k... Basically for every 1000 gold coins you put into your next character you gain 100 coins... That's not enough for shit. Takes 10k to get 1k and so on. When you playing you will see about 3-6k from winning. If you only send money to your next character you will start with maybe an extra couple hundred coin. Why? Well because you arent upgrading your armor or weapons. You aren't increasing skills, you arent doing a damn thing so you will die exceptionally fast.

So on my second character i choose to go toward a max 1H axe skill with good gear. I lasted a while, but there was no way to get enough money to keep up with the enemy characters. Their armor, weapons, and skills increase exponentially faster than you could ever hope to do. With healing costing an absolute ass load of money, you can take almost no damage if you actually want to buy just ONE piece of gear after the fight. Most gear at NORMAL quality costs about 3k. If you want any good quality gear your are looking to 10-20k coins. So 5 to 6 matches to get 1 good quality gear....

The gear costs/quality doesn't make any sense. I have paid 10k for an impressive armor piece and then found a 7k Masterwork armor piece shortly after. It's insane the difference, and the Masterwork was better than the impressive piece.

Attacking is clunky as hell. I have had fights where a guy will just stand there and no matter how you go to attack him he literally blocks EVERY hit. Then when you attempt to block from the direction of their blow it's simply ignored and the you get hit anyways.

The thing is, it's all so random. Every bad point i have made can be horrible in one run but then next the exact opposite happens. I had one play through were it seemed i couldnt be hit by anyone, and one where it couldnt hit a damn person because of thier magical forcefield or whatever.

I played as a slave once. The second fight i was able to get into was against 6 enemies with amazing armor and weapons on all of them. Like why was that even an option on the 2nd mission. You can't say i pissed off any of the Patrons because it was literally the second battle lol

It's not a game for winning, it's a game to play when you want to be angry and not understand why you are dying.

First off I wanna say this is an Early Access game with a single developer. No one forced you to buy it, and you had plenty of heads up. The only person to blame is you and you alone.

I think the creator of this game expresses this in such a polite way people don't quite understand, but yes the game is hard and half of the negative reviews are people with 3 hours and are absolute dogwater at the game. It took me my 12 hours before I had an actual understanding of combat. One of the death messages in this game is literally "Time to leave a bad review". Yes its janky, it has its frustrating moments, but 80% of the reviews I see are simply a matter of a skill issue. I think this game does exceptional in everything its trying to do. So while leaving a positive review, Ill also go over the current issues im noticing that ARENT due to the player being a clown.

This is my list of anything remotely negative I can think about this game thus far

-The camera pisses me off sometimes, and i feel like its a little too top down. This is a legitamate issue I have consistently, Ive gotten used to it and my experience has gotten a lot better, but the camera angles and rotating could definitely be done better.
-Enemies have no stamina bar, you however do. Kinda big.
-Enemies will instantly drop their fight and sprint at you if you lock on to them from afar
-You get negative reputation for using your expensive weapons. reputation isnt vital, in my games about halfway through I no longer even look at it. But I just bought a 20k axe, im not gonna toss it out and pick up a stick on the ground to please the crowd
-Sometimes the crowd gets angry at me for not facing an enemy, while actively facing an enemy
-The game doesnt want you to use shields, they give negative fame, are expensive, bad stamina stats, you have to repair them often... I love this, but the enemies suffer 0 negative consequences for using giant shields that cover their whole body, and they start the match with full durability so any blue tier or above shield wont be broken in that match whatsoever
-The guard break options feel very weak. With a shield, you actually stun the enemy and can get a hit in, MAYBE, but without one it stun locks you in a kick animation that does nothing at all. Why is guard break stronger with a shield? That doesnt make sense considering the shield is considered a crutch in this game
-The enemies will constantly try to get as close as possible, they retain their full weapon damage while at that distance your weapons will do around 90% less, which makes it a backpedal simulator. With movement upgrades, this is much more manageable (people never upgrade movement and then complains constantly??)
-Being of slave origin is pretty cruel. You can reroll your origin as much as you please, but I wish their were more origins though, even with duplicated victory conditions i wouldnt mind. The "good" origins dont really help much either.
-Sponsors are pretty useless. The game says its important to keep all your sponsors happy and not to neglect any, but I had my first game recently where I had all 4 at 100% and the only time they are even remotely helpful is when Auloria lets me increase my friendship with another sponsor too at the cost of a hangover. ie., game says Valerius specializes in gold. But the only thing hes ever done for me ever, and only once per all my playthroughs too, he will let you SPEND GOLD TO GET FAME. That seems backwards, and I wish your reputation with the individual sponsors was more fleshed out. They make damn sure to cut your stamina in half if they are even remotely upset though.
-Im not a fan of 2h weapons having a pommel strike as their left side attacks. Thats their shieldless side. So you cant actually swing at it. I found myself EXCLUSIVELY using the overhead attack, because its the only feasible way to hit behind the shield and sword.
-Dude I still dont understand swing speed. I get 10% speed swings that do 42 damage, and 55% speed swings that do 0.7 damage. I might just be dumb but I havent figured that out after 12 hours, and I personally cant really make my swings faster by swinging my mouse (I have hundreds and hundreds of hours in chivalry 2 I know a thing about this) all it does for me is jank up my attacks and make me miss.
-Game seems to get easier as you go. Right off the rip just healing your character entitles you for bankruptcy, but near week 20 I had all godly armor and weapons. Only way I can lose at that point is if i Put myself in a clear disadvantage. Of course the enemies equipment also scales, but in terms of raw damage taken your gonna get beat up a lot more early game.
-Not a fan of the blacksmith concept. My best run ended because I needed him to repair my chest plate, and my 1v1 enemy happened to have a lightning fast spear. I died in 2 hits. With that armor I probably couldve stood still and took a smoke break, came back and been fine.
- I like the little random events that happen after a battle, and your choice will affect the outcome. Sadly they dont happen too often and their isnt a large variety of them. One of those things im sure will get updates. Early access right?
-When putting in an order of godly items in the shop, I believe ive only seen like 2-3 godly weapons. couldve been a bug, bad luck, or maybe just not enough content, I rerolled a godly shop probably 15 times in my last playthrough and only saw 2 godly weapons. And I mean only 2 kinds. I would still get the same godly weapon 3-4 times in my shop at once.
-The weapons seem to have fixed stats. I guess this mechanic is up to personal taste. I think it would be more fun if you could get different stats and abilities on weapons of the same make. I would get 3 of the same axe in my shop and all 3 would be exactly the same in every way.
-More weapons and abilities is a great idea. I still havent discovered 40-50 of the shopkeeps items though
-Please let us equip a 2 handed weapon when we have a shield equipped and only 1 auxilliary slot. You either have to sell the shield or buy another auxilliary slot.
-I wont lie sometimes the enemies block you and its just some bs. Like youll watch your sword go right into the perfect opening and nope. apparently deflected. Ive only noticed this a single time, and i made up for it by swinging again. People act like its the end of the world and its every single fight, but no. its not.
- The bets dont scale with the bet difficulty. The reward for completing a battle with 100% health remaining should NOT be 1200 gold. But youll get the same amount for winning under 5 minutes, getting 2 kills, or dealing 200 damage or something. I like the bet system alot its a good way to keep extra money coming but harder bets should pay out a lot.
-The game tells you to use your sprint to make your attacks swing harder, but Im not able to swing while sprinting.
-Gonna reiterate the guard break/shield issue because fighting a big shield enemy, god forbid with a spear, is just boring. All you can do is hope.
-Enemies pick up items instantly. This wouldnt be a problem, except there was a single instance where my weapon was disarmed and it was in his hands before it hit the ground.
-Throwing needs a complete rework imo. I dont use it and never will. You can call it a skill issue but I think the dev needs to just add a throw key like every other game instead of this luck of the draw type bs where your weapon either goes straight into the ground, or into the stratosphere. Even then, I cant imagine a scenario where you throw a weapon and it gets a clean hit on an enemy. Btw the enemies basically shoot their weapons out of an auto targeting railgun.

I only have a cons list so the developer can hopefully get some ideas from my experiences. IT seems like a lot but its all small. The pros? Everything else. This was me being very nit picky. After learning a little bit the game really isnt that hard.

Very fun game. Recommended at full price.

This is an early access title and it shows, but the core gameplay loop is a lot of fun. There's really a lot of potential for this game, particularly if some of the currently implemented features were expanded on (like politics) and if the game got a good balance sweep. One thing that I found utterly hilarious is that sometimes when you give one of the gladiators a good whack, their upper body will wobble around all over the place. 10/10 game, excited to see it grow

Do you like doing Mount and Blade Arena/Tournament runs?
What if that could be the game, and none of that running around the world map running out of food and money?

We Who Are About To Die is the answer, a light roguelike with runs in the 60 to 90 minute range.

Good: Combat works. The graphics tell you what's happening, and don't get in the way otherwise. Music and sound design is clean and enjoyable.

Meh: The shop and inventory system is annoying, as it has to be rebought each run. Heirloom is a crazy strong upgrade if your run is doing well, letting you pass down top notch equipment to your next run. Entourage gives you buddies sometimes, turning fights around! Every other Scola upgrade feels meh. Each character type only gives one victory bonus, but you'll still roll it and have to play it out for little save-file progress.

The Bad: If you liked how crisp M&B's combat is, and how predictable the hitbox of each weapon is, you're gonna be disappointed here. Weapons seem to randomly lose parts of their hitbox midswing, with longer weapons particularly prone to just thudding for no real effect. For a roguelike, most of your random bonuses are going to be "next run only", which means if you drop a run you're going to have a bad time. The "all future run" bonuses seem to be deliberately undertuned for EA. Patron favor from matches is so random, and so frequently hidden behind shroud, that it's little use to try and target a patron's fights to get their approval - you just have to give them money and hope RNG goes your way.

I'm nitpicking, obviously, but these are the splinters that need to get sanded down before formal release so the whole thing feels as smoothly as it honestly deserves to.

100% recommend this game to others.

While its challenging once you start, the more you play the easier it becomes to slash your way to victory. While I may have lost a good many gladiators being overzealous and accepting 1 vs 6 battles, starting over is very easy and fun. I made it about 40 victories before I decided to retire my Slave Gladiator because the gear in the shop wasn't getting any better, and it was getting fairly repetitive, but my last fight was a 1 vs Many that had me begging the Gladiator Gods "Please just let me get through this last fight and I'll retire".

The game is still in early access, so I'm very excited to see where Jordy can take this upon full release

Hello there,

you cant imagine how satisfying it is,to hack your opponents into pieces.

its really fun- not to easy not to hard to play.

Quite addictive

Anyway after 20-30 hours you have reached the main goals.(till now)

Have fun guys

So this is the first review I've done on steam and I'm not too sure on what to say but what I do have to say Is that LOVE this game,Sure I may not have as much time playing than other people but the love I have for it is still there.I'm not gonna lie, its pretty difficult at first and the attacking feels off sometimes but I think that's more of a "I suck at this game" and not an issue with the game at all.I love how there are different stories with each character and once you complete multiple stories there is a benefit for completing a story.

I am in love with customization because if your not playing seriously you can have a run where you look like a hobo from new York and still be dominating the leader boards with your finely crafted frying pans.
Despite what some people might say, the 1v1s are fun as hell because it either you or them and there's a great adrenaline rush when your up against a spartan from the 300 movie and all you have is a training wooden pole arm and yet you find a weak point and you hit his helmet off and land a winning right after, it feels so good and the payout is sometimes great.

the only real complaint is that 2 handed weapons feel off because sometimes I'll take a swing and then my charter proceeds to shove his weapon up his butt leaving the opponent to get a free shot or two but my gladiator will correct himself so there is that benefit.Like I said earlier Its probably because I don't have much time on the game and simply have to learn how to use the weapon properly. so yeah that's my review,feel free to correct or explain any contradictions I may of made when writing this.

P.S I had a little idea, how about an ai vs ai mode where you customize an AI and the opponent like they where your own,Of course that's probably gonna be the sandbox mode come up later down the line.
and another is a "historical reenactment" where your given a specific set of armor and weapons or something for a single match.

Alright for real this time. this is the end of my review.

Let me describe it in a few words

I freaking love it. You can feel the love the dev has put into his pet project.

Really addictive gameplay.

Funny extra
When i played first time i didn't knew the blacksmith would keep my gear for one round so i ended up totally naked in the arena, I lost the match offcourse but had great fun going down bucknaked :P

One of the most fun games i played in the last few years.

Freaking fantastic game. No other game makes me fear character death quite like this, and in a spectacular way. It does have some jankiness (it is a physics-based, so whaddya expect), but the game is so enjoyable through all of that. The thrill of purposefully taking on a low level 1v8 fight because you think you're a god gamer only to get swarmed and pummeled for your hubris is unparalleled. Super excited for the future of this absolute labor of love!

This game is an awesome Physics based fighter set in the gladiatorial times of Rome. "We who are about to die" will test your metal in different environments but not only that but in weaponry and armor. It offers an unique fighting experience which that will keep you on your toes. My only complaint would be the AI with certain weapons, spears and polearms are a game changer if you aren't prepared for them but all that means is that you'd have to slow your play style a little. But I reccomend this game high props to the solo creator of this project.

I've always wanted a game where you could play as a gladiator and rank up and rise your way to the top. But there's been an empty void for Gladiator games since Coliseum: Road to Freedom.

This game definitely filled that void, with only a short amount of time played so far I'm loving it.
With the game being perma death, every battle feels intense, because it could be your last.

Looking ahead to the road map for this game I can't wait to see new features, weapons and modes arrive!

I definitely like the game so far, but it didn't really invent this style of sword combat. It's very similar to Mount and Blade/For Honor/Chiv/Mordhau, but it's single player and honestly the health bar is just crazy high. Of course, they put their own spin on it and it's unique in certain areas, but if you're experienced in any of these games you likely won't find this one much of a challenge. Doesn't mean it's bad though...

They kinda prompt you in the beginning like you're gonna get SLAUGHTERED off the bat, literally says "You might not even land a HIT in your first fight") -- I've gone about 6 fights undefeated (like... nobody even got me to half health) and I always take the hardest missions.

Definitely some REAL potential in this game here, they need to lower the health bar (for player and AI) and make the AI quicker. This game just released though so I'm excited to see where the devs take it.

game is pretty good pretty enjoyable and they seem to keep adding in things to the game. i do think the combat needs to be reworked on a bit more. controls seem very janky and some times even annoying. once they get it fleshed out a bit more the game should be pretty golden

I have waited so long for a game like this and not only is this so well executed for one guy making it but the game, even in an early access stage, is genuinely fun and brilliant to play. I tend to buy some stuff on early access that I see potential in but don't touch it until full release but I couldn't not dive right into this. 2 hours vanished in the blink of an eye and I'm dreading how much more time I will inevitably pour into this.

I can't wait to see where this goes from here because it already feels like a complete game.

Steep learning curve, the real work is done in perfecting the skill shots and backhand swings. Very fun, engaging game. Your champion WILL die and its up to YOU to get a win. Very tough but rewards hard work and patient skill improvement. The game makes you want to come back with new tactics and skill to push your champions further. Worth it!

Think Mount and Blade fighting mechanics, but the direction of your block when you have a shield also matters. The combat system is very, very fun. However, don't get too attached to the characters you develop as you will die a lot to unfortunate overhead hits that your shield will never be able to block no matter how high you raise your cursor. I'm not bad at the game; you are! My overall review for this game is that it is extremely fun and replayable, but with minor bugs (character models glitching out) and jankiness. It can be pretty hard to predict enemy AI swings with the animations not feeling quite right, and since there are 6 body parts you have to defend, you only have a 1/6 chance of guessing the right part to block. However, I have high hopes for this game based on what I've seen, and I expect the bugs and janks to get fixed over time. This game feels very good for an early access, let alone a solo developer.

Honor. Blood. Glory. Death. Rage. Redemption.

Insert obligatory " This game makes you FEEL like a gladiator" now.

I'm flabbergasted that one person could put this much effort and heart into a game like this. It will have you laugh one fight watching your team literally kill each other trying to fight one person and then the next match your asshole will be puckering like your great aunt helens lips as she comes in for a kiss on your cheek at your older brothers wedding. Maybe thats a little too specific but I bet a lot of you know what I mean. This game is not for the weak of heart, it is tough and unforgiving, but it is not unfair. Hardwork and practice is the only way that you will ever see yourself claim enough victories to grant your Champion freedom, but by that time you'll understand that the only place you will ever be free is in the Arena fighting against and along with your fellow warriors.

We who are about to die salute you Jordy and may your days be long and your nights pleasant.

P.S. just git gud

P.P.S. you throw like a girl

One of the best games of 2022 in my humble opinion.

Rogue like hack and slack with a complex and fun combat system reminiscent of mount and blade. You die, a fair amount and ocassionally your able to survive long enough to hand down some epic items or upgrades to your next character when you inevitably die.

The game has had its 1.0 release and is truly a gem!

One of the most unique games I've ever played, I love it!
Definitely some janky physics with the combat- but I'm sure that'll improve over time.
The combat system is similar to games like Mount & Blade, but much more in-depth.
Love all the menus, the items, armors, perks and things that carry over from character to character.

Overall a great experience, a very unique game with some awesome content and epic possibilities!

Often frustrating, unfair, and janky BUT it really is trying to do something new and when everything clicks, it's awesome. The combat has a good feel too it (outside of the jank of course) and is genuinely unique. The closet analog for it I can think of is a more complex, in depth version of Mount and Blade's melee combat system. The management of your character between fights also adds some nice depth to the overall experience. You could definitely mismanage this area and be screwed for your next fight. Overall I'd say it can be fairly challenging to get the hang of all aspects of the game, but it feels quite rewarding when you do.

First and foremost this is NOT a rougelite, it is a rougelike. The "progression" is laughable and hardly worth even mentioning. Starting with a meager bonus to gold on a single play through is not a rougelike system and will not make a meaningful difference in that play through. It also falls into the category of being difficult for difficulty sake. It does not feel rewarding when you learn how to cheese the game in order to win.

Pros:
- Physics are fun to play with and learn, and it's rewarding when you figure it out
- Animations are smooth, graphics are great. Really impressive for just 1 person.
- AI is smart, without being unfair... kinda.. more on this later
- Lots of systems and risk/reward though as the game goes on, your risks increase and rewards decrease... more on this later too

Cons:
- Have fun using a wooden weapon to fight enemies with armor and real weapons when you first start. The longest fights are the starting fights because regardless of how good you are, a wooden sword will deal 1 damage against an armored opponent. And if you do not get a fight that lets you take the equipment from killed enemies, you will eventually be left weaponless unless you save every penny to be able to (maybe) buy a weapon (if you're lucky and there are weapons for sale).
- You want to use any of the 220+ items in the game? Good luck, you might be able to buy 1-2 items a playthrough. Unless you get the background that forefits 50% of your gold. In that case, you'll spend all your money on training and then eventually die because you can't afford to replace your items as they slowly break.
- You will win off of luck, or die off of luck. Sometimes you will get easy fights, and sometimes you will get impossible fights, reroll, and still get impossible fights.

The game has potential to be a fun rougelite, but I don't see the dev investing into making the game any more rewarding, he seems to enjoy the impossible difficulty/luck based aspect of the game. I'll play again if the systems are improved or if for the love of god, wooden weapons are removed from the starting equipment pool. I'd rather remove this game from my library than ever have to bonk someone 15+ times with a wooden stick to kill them to get 1/10 of enough gold to buy a real weapon, meanwhile my enemies have giant hammers and swords.

I've been enjoying this quite a lot. Its a gladiator game I've wanted for quite some time, and its both visually appealing and very well done mechanically speaking.

The difficulty can be considerable, so do not get too overly attached to any one run, as you never know what can happen in the arena. I'd suggest watching some of the videos the developer put out on combat, as well as not skipping any tutorials in-game, so you can have an idea of what you're doing.

Game is very fun. Well thought out. A bit more content would do nicely imo. Maybe some kind of campaign, though even if it's just the arena, the gameplay loop is fantastic. It's like Exanima, but far easier to get into. Though, I do feel dumb... Almost finished the game and when I died, I alt-f4'ed out of frustration and lost all the progress I could have sent over to my new character, such as a godly weapon and like 40k in gold.

Point is; if you're gonna repair your stuff, make sure you have appropriate gear to tide you over until its done, and/or don't go a 1v1 with an end game NPC on your next fight lol.

Keep it up, dev.

I've waited so long for a game like this to exist, be a gladiator and manage the whole thing and just bought the game the moment I saw it on Steam. The combat just feels extremely clunky, many hits dont register and I just didnt have fun. Felt like the opponents were not held by the same rules as I was. I am very used to this style combat system from Mount and Blade and this adoption to that style feels very sluggish and non-responsive. Ended up refunding while I still had the time to. Maybe will revist after its not an EA title.

We Who are About to Die is a neat and addicting physics based combat game where you play a gladiator and try to survive in the arena until you fulfill your character's goals and ascend to quieter yet more boring life. In the current version there are 5 character backrounds you can play, each with their weaknesses/strengths, and 5 more to come in upcoming updates.

As of yet, even though there is currently limited content to experience in the game, it is highly polished to a level you sometimes forget you're playing an early access game. Also the main progression is actually your own learning curve with the combat system and how to survive in the arena. From picking the right battles, to learning when and what skills to train, and so forth. It's also fun trying out many of the weapons in the game. Swords, axes, great swords, two handed axes, flails. It is a combat simulator after all, so come on! grab a weapon and join the carnage.

I just finished each Backstory and I'm 62 hours in. I had a great time and I'm not burnt from the game at all. I could easily drop another 60 hours into it. I'm Looking forward to any future content this developer adds to the game. Even if they don't it was well worth the $22.

@Jordy Lakiere if you read this, Great job my dude! Nice game.

It's as if Colosseum, Road to Freedom received a makeover. I love and hate roguelikes because I get so invested in my little gladiator growing up and then.......oops you messed up, sorry. =D I only got one fatal error and even then it recovered and i lost no progress. I hope there will be dual-wielding but for now I shall smack people with a big stick. Keep up the good work! I look forward to playing this game as you evolve it.

Good Rouge-like with interesting progression. Combat can be difficult at first but very satisfying when correctly executed. The guy behind the scenes has given us a great game and he keeps adding new ideas while listening to the community.

VERY fun game. Combines strategy with gameplay skills. I highly recommend this game. It may be in development but it runs smooth and is steadily being improved. INVEST in this game and prepare to die.

Impressive that it is made by one developer but the combat system doesn't really work for me. It is unresponsive and you are not given the flexibility to deal with most enemies. It simply isn't enjoyable to be this handicapped in every battle. Maybe after some time the combat system clicks but the game is not enjoyable enough to invest enough time in it to find out.

I've played or attempted to play many other games with a similar combat system where you have to click and drag and direct your attacks- die by the sword, kingdom come, exanima, and even gladio and glory, but this by far the best implementation of this mechanic. The game is just incredibly well-made in general and is worth buying.

I played for about six hours in my first sitting...I think this game might be hazardous for my health. XD

This game is a really amazing ride once you get a feel for it. If you're a fan of the tournaments in Mount&Blade, and especially if you like Exanima's combat system, you're gonna love this, its a treat. It plays like a combination of both, with swing speed and character position being key in landing good hits, along with swinging around an opponent's armor and arms. Landing a good hit feels so GOOD and it will keep you hooked, the feedback on hit is intoxicating.

The simulation is also a very interesting blend of roguelike strategizing and resource management. It's pretty simple at the moment, but the developer intends to expand on it. For example, you can play matches hosted by four different lords, each of whom you have a reputation value with. Having a high or low enough reputation will trigger events after matches, either to your benefit or detriment, respectively. The system is very basic at the moment but the developer's roadmap says the number of planned events is double what it is now.

I also would like to shout out the very great and approachable discord for this game, on which I left some of my feedback, and the response and discussion that other members posted around it was wonderful. Give this game a shot if any of this sounds interesting.

Alright, I must say I've enjoyed this game. Put quite a bit of time into it and will definitely be playing it more. I've been enraged, I've been redeemed, I've been slaughtered. I've gotten so lucky, only to die in the next match. Golden shield that absorbs all hits? Yea right, tell that to the guy with the damn hook weapon that cut my head off within seconds. Great weapon that has good range? Tell that to the spear guy with the fancy shield as he's poking holes all throughout your body. After about hour 15 I realized I've finally gotten good at this game, and loved every second of my roller-coaster emotions during the journey. Thank you for allowing me to enjoy this little masterpiece. I'd recommend it to anyone who is willing to get better through punishment.

It's pretty epic, worth the Money if you love Decision Based Strategy Third Person Melee Fighting Gladiator simulator. If you liked Swords and Sandals but also like Mount and Blade this is a perfect combo literally.

8/10.

The game is really fun to play and has a fair bit of longevity due to it's roguelite elements and the fact that the gameplay is just fun on it's own. It clearly isn't feature complete yet, and it has some serious problems especially with the physics that will get you killed and end your runs, but when it is I can see it being a 9 or 10/10.

The Gameplay is pretty straightforward even though the tutorial tries to scare you into thinking it's hard. You can attack in any directly like in Chivalry, Mordhau etc. and there are also overhand and stabbing actions which work on certain weapons. You can change the spot where your attack is aimed by simply moving your cursor at any point during the attack, but it's not really lined up with the cursor due to the way the camera works. There is a "dodge" mechanic called dashing but it's hardly ever worth your stamina to do so and I wouldn't really recommend worrying about it. You can also sprint, but the AI will always sprint after you and they won't run out of stamina so don't bother trying to run away from a fight.

The physics are a big focus of this game. Combat works by deciding how fast your weapon swing was and dealing damage based on that against the body part you hit. Depending on which body part you hit, you will hit that part of the enemy's armor and damage it, eventually destroying it. You can increase your skill with certain weapon types which will increase your swing speed with those weapons, thereby increasing the damage you can do with them.

The physics can also be your greatest opponent. I couldn't count how many times my weapon has gotten contorted in some weird way or stuck behind my head which allowed the enemy to get a free hit on me. It's going to happen multiple times per battle and you've just got to deal with it. It is especially common if you are changing directions or types of swings.

The Items are very cool and this is one of my favorite implementations of the roguelite system. For your first ~5-10 hours of play you will see some really cool looking items in the shop but they will most likely be out of your reach. Flashy helmets, Swords, Armor, etc. that are just way too expensive. Once you learn how to pick and win battles efficiently, you will start being able to afford pieces one at a time and it feels really good. Picking which pieces to buy is a tactical decision because the most effective ones change based on your weapon of choice.
For example: when you are using a shield, your left arm will most likely be covered by the shield and therefore your right arm will be where you are hit most often, so it makes sense to get the best armor there. However, if you are using a 2-handed weapon, the largest part of your weapon will rest close to your right arm, so it makes more sense to armor up your left arm.
This type of decision making is really cool and I enjoyed the act of balancing my money with which body part I thought needed the most armor.

After ~10 hours I felt that I had seen really everything there was to see and I would've been content to stop there but I kept going because I wanted to "complete" the game. If you aren't worried about finishing it, then there is really only about 10 hours of content in the game and there aren't any additional modes just yet.

This games combat is crap. It's unresponsive and the AI seem to be able to do things that is almost impossible to do with a mouse as the player yourself. Pretty crappy.... Wish I could get a refund....

SUGGESTIONS FOR GAME AT BOTTOM.

Amazing game. The combat feels clunky at first but once it clicks it feels innovative and unique among other third person melee combat games.

Graphics are surprisingly good for a one man dev team, and I find it quite charming. The gameplay loop is a bit repetitive but it IS early access so yeah. It has a good flow though. Start character, fight battle(s), upgrade gear/training grounds/buy training equipment to improve stats, fight more battles, improve relations with some people, they help you out a bit, fight more, repair gear... you get the idea.

While the game is very unforgiving, with permadeaths and no chance of only being knocked out and such... there is also a small amount of progression that can carry between games. Namely, you can invest into a future gladiator by spending 1000 gold to transfer about 100 to that new gladiator, which doesn't sound like much but if you get a really good run going it adds up. I had a game where I ended up transferring 15000 gold to my next gladiator, which is almost enough to singlehandedly buy a top tier item right off the bat. You can also get an upgrade to make an item to an "heirloom" which will transfer to that next gladiator.

Finally, there are legacy buffs. There are several backstories your characters can have, and each has their own "victory condition" A pit-fighter slave may become famous among the masses and be allowed to retire, an aspiring gladiator may be immortalized as an arena champion after reaching a high enough rank, etc. Whenever you get these, it unlocks a permanent buff that will benefit future runs.

Overall, $20 is a steal for this game and I highly recommend it.

SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPER:

1. Add some variety to what an arena match could be. At the end of the day all the matches are "guy(s) kill other guy(s)" which doesn't help its longevity. Maybe things like chariot racing, add new traps/hazards to the arenas like pitfalls or lions, maybe have different types of gladiators/fighters to add some variety to the matches?

2. In my opinion, shields completely kill the flow of a match in a lot of cases. They just seem so absurdly bulky and a lot of matches that had multiple shield-wielders dragged on from me just trying to break the shield and then kill them before they picked another one off of the ground. The matches will take long enough without any meaningful damage that the crowds will start booing as I'm actively slashing away at the opposing gladiator while they hide behind a shield because there isn't enough bloodshed. I would recommend either making shields altogether smaller so they can't block everything, or make the bigger ones more frail so there is a trade-off between ease of blocking and longevity of the shield, because in their current state it is hard to justify running two handers when you can run a strong one hander and some trash shield and be able to tank constant damage to regenerate your stamina at little tradeoff.

Once again, love this game, and it can easily become one of the best 2022 offershas offered so far!

I am having a ton of fun with WWAATD.
The combat feels new, though the formula is familiar.

So far, this game has been a great RPG and Gladiator sim that I could see myself grinding away at for as long as it allows me to.

Build your warrior by taking the fights you want and spend your rewards to become stronger.

It is a "wonky controls" physics game. Controls are all over the place and the movement system has your camera constantly spinning most of the matches. Can be very nausiating at times. It's Not bad, not great. Definately do not recommend to anyone who gets motion sickness, But otherwise, the game can be fun for a couple of matches here and there.

Exanima-tier.

(It means its good)

Titanic amount of work from a single dude, respectable, but doesn't mean that he is not going to get himself chained to his puter until he makes more content and multiplayer mode.

Starting at the bottom as a basically naked slave in a scarf, making it round after round until you end up as a glorious gladiator in shining armor, making thousands of cash while the crowd cheers.. or possibly get beheaded from behind while fighting in a 1v1v1v1v1v1v1.

It's a great concept that fits wonderfully in the roguelike genre, and is made even better by the really unique, but very fleshed out and fluid physics-based combat system. I am sure many will struggle at the beginning if you know nothing about the game, but for an early access title there is a great tutorial available, and if that is not enough, Jordy made a very useful video tutorial explaining both basic and advanced combat techniques that I would recommend to anyone interested in the game.

In between fights you can use your earned money and fame to heal up, train, buy better equipment or repair your current one. This is also a factor that requires more strategic planning than I anticipated. Even as an accomplished gladiator, you might end up spending all your money on some new shining armor, and then end up dying in the arena bare-handed, because your legendary sword had to stay with the blacksmith for a round of repairs.

I only hope we get some more form of meta progression. There are some systems in place to save money or equipment for your next character, but I would hope for even more permanent upgrades or unlocks in the future; it is the one aspect I feel is currently lacking.

Overall, a big thumbs up.

Actually insane one guy built this whole game - incredible polish for the stage, and well worth the $$

Combat is tense and fun, the real difference as you progress is how much damage you can tank. Some attacks are OP so you can end up spamming them but they're not that easy to replicate so still a skill gap to jump.

I've got 1000 Hour in M&B and picked this up pretty quickly I feel, but much like M&B the learning curve is steep and punishing. Investing doesn't feel very powerful either so it rarely doesn't make sense not to go for broke on every fight. (especially if there's only 1 vs Many options against high lvl opponents)

1 vs Many in general is punishing, and later on difficult to scale well. Duels are more forgiving in late game so I've specialized there.

This game will frustrate you early on if you're not familiar with the combat style (think mount and blade arenas), but as you put more time into it and you get familiar with the controls and how each of the weapons work you'll improve and you'll begin winning more fights than you lose.

Is it perfect? No
Is it fun? Hell yes

Awesome premise, very impressive efforts for a single developer, and clearly a labor of love, so I really want to like this game, but I just... can't.

While I definitely appreciate the originality of the combat, it's so clumsy and unbalanced that it feels like you could as well be spamming random buttons. Controls don't do what you want to do, weapon types are imbalanced, and enemies don't seem to follow the same rules as you (like stamina usage), Since it feels so out of your control, it's super frustrating when your run ends, whether it was due to being unlucky or just genuinely messing up. When this does happen, your stored progress only works for the suggested character, which is likely either not what you feel like playing or just plainly terrible and impossible to succeed with, which means it's wasted.

However, it's early access and, looking at the other reviews, maybe I'm just bad at the combat. For now, I would just keep it on your wishlist and save yourself the frustration until it is later in development.

Really good so far. The combat is SUPER JANKY but when you land a good hit it feels fantastic. I kept getting killed until out of nowhere I got a aspirant that was workable and jumped from a max of level 5 to level 15. the combat method needs to be massaged a lot but I can tell once it starts to click more it will be extremely satisfying. the one glaring issues that does need to be fix is how bad the throwing system is. It is much easier to throw a sword and have it land then it is to throw a pila (which are made to be thrown), also long range pikes/poles are pretty much unusable.

I am very excited to see where this game goes, I am hoping for a co-op/ lan based PVP mode or something like that.

Considering it is still in alpha, I would give it an 7.5/10

The game could be great, but for the design decision to tie camera movement to both character facing and mouse movement. This wouldn't be a big deal, if it were not for the fact that blocking/striking direction is also dependent upon mouse movement.

This game is so awesome! I can't wait for more content to come out and for gameplay improvements. I know it will take a while but if mulitplayer comes out for this game i think it will be a blast. I might be a bit biased since i love everything to do with gladiators but this game is something i never knew i needed. Great job on the game Jordy!

TL;DR very fun game. Some bugs, really need to learn the mechanics to start having fun. Check end for tip

This game is truly fun. The combat system is a little messy, but that's the charm to it. Once you've figured it out and get your first win, the wins just keep coming. It took me about five hours to discover there was a red hit marker. Once I figured out the range of my weapons, the combat become much more smooth.

The stamina system is really nice. I saw complaints that "the AI has infinite stamina" and I think that's untrue. While they definitely have more stamina and stamina regen than you, it is limited and you can tell if you play slow. While there are key moments in which you can absolutely go wild with swinging, but you have to realize that blocking, dashing, running, even taking a hit costs stamina. If you play defense until you find an opening, I don't think you'll ever have stamina problems.

I've also seen complaints about how expensive things are in the shop. I agree that at first glance the shop prices are outrageous. But now that I've won a few games, they aren't bad at all. Once you get a Godly weapon, living to see next week is much easier. Then once you get the Heirloom upgrade, you can pass that weapon onto your next character. My current character is covered in Godly equipment and I'm shooting for the Ascended rank.

There are bugs that'll ruin your experience sometimes. Things such as a thrown weapon stuck in your shield and jiggling and it breaks your shield. Or getting hit while swinging and your right arm becomes a second left arm. And all these things inhibit your fighting ability and really leaves you vulnerable (I've lost a few characters to this).

Overall, very fun game. Some bugs, really need to learn the mechanics to start having fun. And a tip to leave you off with. Once you have a character that wins, invest enough into your next character to unlock Entourage right away.

9,3/10

A game for everyone who remembers "Swords And Sandals" or just enjoys a rather challenging PVE game. After 15 Hours of playtime i've completed the game and I can definitely say it was a blast through most of it! Since it is still in early access and has a complicated combat & physics, it has some jank, which can both be enjoyable and frustrating at times, but through and through a great concept and game as a whole!
I'd recommend everyone to check this game out and it's well worth the price!

Some things that I think should be improved:
1. Balancing of weaponry and shields.
After a few hours into the game you quickly realize which weapons are viable and which are absolute trash. Some weapons look amazing and I just wish they would actually be able to hit a target! Some of the weapons movement work a lot better than others. Most 2 handed weapons are unusable and some requires a shield to even be able to swing properly.

2. Buff the stamina regeneration!
Once you've acquired good gear, your stamina is in the gutter. The game forces you to hold the S button (walking backwards) to recover your missing stamina, which makes the gameplay passive and more boring! And in a 1 vs many game it's almost unplayable when you block a hit and your stamina goes down to 0 and it takes you 1,5 minutes to be able to hit again.

3. Rearrangement the quality grade of weapons & armor should be implemented.
The Godly weapons are much much worse than weapons graded even some the Sturdy weaponry. Especially the Impressive and Masterwork weapons are 100x better & the price & everything should be rearranged.

4. Implement a higher chance of shrouded matches, get harder fights as you level up.
I feel like you hit a threshhold where you have gotten good enough gear and weapons that you are unkillable, for me it came almost instantaneously after Immortalizing my first character. Once you've unlocked all the potential matches, it is almost certain that there will be a 1v1 or a Many vs 1 option, which makes the rest of the game easier than it could have been! Only once in my playtime I've been forced to take a shrouded match (24 hours IGT).

5. Add Achievements to the game and Challenges would be fun!

6. Nerf the Immortalize buffs
As i said above, after I managed to Immortalize the first character, somehow money and fame wasn't an issue anymore. And since I got a large shield with a high durability, the jank to the game made me unkillable. The large shields are just way to OP and makes some weapons unusable and others Overpowered.

7. Improve the betting system!
Most bets you can take is not even worth it and some doesnt even make sense (the audience one). It should be tweaked so the difficulty should fit the actual payout.

8. Continue to add more unique items, armor and weapons!

9. Improve the Shield Slam/kick mechanic.
If this mechanic actually worked and it staggered the enemy properly, more weapons would be viable and would make the game much more fun!

9. Add a PVP element
No idea how this would work, but don't see a reason not to try ;)
Would be Hilarious and frustrating but SO FUN!

Lastly I just want to Congratulate you on a great game, product and wish you the best! Hope you continue to update and improve the game, which I definitely think this will be a loved and cherished game for years to come!

//Best Regards ChiliJesus

One of the few games I'd write a review about, let alone praise. With any new/early access game you expect the occasional bug or game breaking glitch, especially with it only being a single dev creating all of it. I played both the base game and the sacrificial build, both ran as smooth as you'd expect, as well as surprised me with some features and graphics that I wasn't expecting. This is probably the closest you can get to a "gladiator simulator" while still having a For Honor/Chivalry feel in regards to positioning your attacks and blocks. I look forward to what the future holds for this game

Early Access Review:

I really enjoy the *bones* of this game. The combat feels visceral and weapons have impact when you learn how to use them.

The learning curve is VERY high. This makes winning feel meaningful and I wouldn't really dial down the difficulty at all.

I am not really going to comment on any feature that is currently listed for development on the dev's roadmap since he clearly is already aware of those items.

The game as it stands is certainly playable and worth your time. I have enjoyed what is already there in this early version IMMENSELY.

THE FOLLOWING NEEDS FIXING BADLY THOUGH:

Get the RNG crap out of the parts of the game the player cannot effect. It is FAR too prevalent right now for a skills-based game.

As it stands right now the RNG rules the overwhelming majority of the game. Just a few examples:

The "store". Break this into 2 stores. One for Basic or "Adequate" level items and the other for higher tier items.

There should NEVER be a time when a gladiator with 4,000 gold should be forced to go into battle without a basic weapon and/or shield. EVER.

This is moronic and when it happens (often around fights 4-7 it doesn't encourage more play. It encourages quitting because there was NOTHING the player could do about it.

Same for really dumb RNG events like "Oh, the Sturdy Weapon you sold all your armor and excess fame for that had 300/300 durability is now totes broke unless you can pay 700 gold to fix it because SOMEHOW in Fight 1 (a low level fight against guys often using wooden swords) they managed to break this hugely durable thing. Had this 3 times in 28 hours of play and it is an instant game quitter.

Lastly:

Make the "skip week" thing real. Not just some meaningless free re-roll of the fights.

Let the player have some agency and strategy here to use these rare skips to heal and train for a week WITHOUT a fight.

Also, for a rogue-lite you need to allow more things to carryover to new characters. These carryovers should stick no matter if you need to re-roll for a new Background or not.

Investing the time and energy to win 8-10 fights before dying SHOULD carry over a bunch of benefits to the next character, but right now it often is less than 2k of gold that simply gets thrown away because the next auto-gen character has a stupid background. Playing a Slave with an extra 1.5k to start with has no real attraction.

Interesting game. My first 30 runs were soemtimes good (aiming lv12 or around) sometimes pretty bad (aiming around lv5/9). My last 2 runs were enough to win the game twice and see the limit of this V.0.1. So i hope the dev is going to see this, even if it's not on his discord. I gonna focus on what really need to be improve in my experience of this game (i played a lot offline btw).
1) the betting system. Dev seems to don't want us to abuse this system by fixing the bet at 1000gold. That's bad, limit unfair for slaves, who btw need a bit of a buff because they really s#cks at the begining. But for the betting system in general, it would be better if you let us bet what ever we want, in a limit range like 100g up to 2000g if you want to fix a cap in the betting system, and scale the multiplier as you which for all bet individualy.
2) The gear. There is already a lot of armors and weapons, don't get me wrong, but they are missing someting. i belive that's classes. Light/medium/heavy armors and weapons with specials effects and stats should be a nice though. Even some "very" special set of gears - with unique stats and effects - could be awsome (by unlocking system for a new run)
3) More classes of gladiators. Here it's simple, more classes = more possibily of game = more runs = ggwp. (multisave profil is also a good thing to have, you know for a "real new gameplay" or for a NG+)
4) Fix bugs of course. And i'm not talking about caulisions bugs. They are frustrating but that's part of the physics game, which will be improve until the realise of the V.1.0, i'm sure. No here i'm talking about the system that made your match being "unranked" (no gold and a little bit of fame) if the game krach during that match, and you try to reload your game. I belive that was made in good purpuse, as an anti-cheat/rage system. But in fact, when your gladiator is up to lv 15 the amount of krashing matchs increase drasticly, idk why, but when the reward is over 10000Gold/Fame the game tilt. And i do too. I remember a 40.000G/F match 1 vs 8 Lv 24 with "entourage", i was like, hell lets go ! and then...krach. "Unranked". But don't worry, you still have to fight 8 guys for nothing, but save your run. That kind of cooky. And the second bug which is probably connected btw, is that your gladiator can't go over lv 16. Yes i was lv 16 against 8 lv24 b*st*rds, for nothing. Even if that 10 hp, 5% reg stamina, or whatever i think it could be nice to have the feeling to still scale with the bracket levels, that look even more important in the end game.
I would like to say that's a really good game, but that's a V0.1, so i just gonna hope that gonna be one. Fixing all bugs and add more content will change my review of course. For now it's a 10/20. And steam don't have any average notation so... i'll be back for the release ;)

Been waiting for another good gladiator game to come around and this one checks all the boxes. Perfect mix of good game-play, career management, and bashing people over the head with a flail. Not to mention the fact its made by one guy. Super impressive game. 10/10

Nah dont bother. Clunky rng based mechanics, a lack of content, its just a bare bones alpha. ##########maybe it might be a good game in the future for a pass around, but a lot of fundmental mechanics needs to be fixed before fleshing out the game.

Every couple of years I try to fill the deep hole in my soul that was left by Colosseum Road to Freedom.

Now if you are looking for a holistic Gladiator game, that allows you to have a gladiator "career" or ludus management this is not where WWAATD shines. The game is an area roguelite with a fairly unique physic combat engine. The primary focus of the game is centered around the arena combat. The other systems of the game: training, upgrading and managing gear/health, random events, influence all are at surface level at best.

Training: Just almost at ever chance train your Stamina / Movement or a weapon type. I personally found my comfort spot was sliding the bar to the highest tier of the 4 training gear mark. Once you have high 80s in a stat you can move on to another after you have your stamina, primary weapon, movement, and dashing if you would like to go full ninja you really don't need to train and rather save the gold/ stamina loss.

Managing / upgrading gear: There is a wide variety of gear choices in the game that each offer a unique play style, I just find that large shield are too strong. You turn into a juggernaut and you don't even need to block since the enemy will be busy slamming their weapon against a large metal shield (that will break their weapon before it does). I prefer spears early game before amour is prevalent, then switching to swords (the 1/2h one is my favorite). gear progression is very rng based with .

got to high to finish this

combat is very fun

I got my dollar an hour of value

completed all the victory conditions

happy I got it

7/10 I will play this every so often, but it is more of a mood than something I come back to often.

If you are a fan of Mount and Blade, this is different but similar, if you are a fan of Exanima, this is extremely similar, if you are a fan of the film Gladiator, this game will leave you wishing you could ask the crowd if they were not entertained.

As for me, i am entertained.

AWESOME GAME!!!
completed all the current backgrounds. Civilian took a few attempts but got there in the end. Would love it if it was multiplayer in the future.

Tips for future downloaders:
Get in close, like stand on their toes close. if they have a spear or a long reaching weapon. It makes it very difficult for them to hit you. If they have a close range weapon back up.
know your weapons and the ranges n good luck

I thought with the motion controls it would've been fun, but I didn't like it personally. I was also really confused about the gameplay loop. When I died, I got a little bit of gold and some of my character's equipment initally for the first death and then afterwards I died again and lost everything. I guess I just don't get it. Do you have to have 1 character that just does not die the entire playthrough? That aside, I struggled a lot with the attack controls. I thought it might've been like that other steam game with motion controls where your mouse is used, but it wasn't. It felt too complex for me. I wish there was an alternative to use a controller instead because I actually really enjoy gladiatorial games and I've been looking for a 3rd-person one for a while now.

I have been part of closed beta testing for a while now and the game has so far evolved from quite buggy alpha state to completely playable, game although not every planned feature has made it in yet. The developer has been super great at listening to feedback and implementing features and fixes that have come up in closed beta testing at admirable rate.

The game itself has great mechanics and you truly feel like its skill that matters above all. The game is brutal, you aren't supposed to win easily and the enemies scale up well and at a good pace with you. There are also several types of matches some easier and some harder with great balance on risk vs reward. The maps are varied and beautiful and feature rich, not just empty sandpits.

Fighting mechanics are based on physics and how much velocity you can get behind your weapon which feels great, if you are just flopping about you get nowhere and throwing weapons feels super great when you get the timing of release down.

Huge recommend for anyone who isn't expecting a fighting game where you are a god and others are just pawns for you to stomp on, each enemy has potential to end your career and with permadeath you have to fight smart but I can assure that it is entirely possible to survive and thrive in this game.

Cant beleeve that this was made by just ONE person, the game have gladiator atmosphere averywhere, and after every battle you just want more!!

Ofcource combat is not of the easiest to master but when you got the hang of it it`s very intuitive and fun.

There is bugs then and there, but EA exists for them to be fixed , and ofcourse when a game is made by just one person it cant be bugless .
So the game is fun, combat is not for everybody but really good, overall game have a good vibe to it, and especially gameruns, its endless (maybe not now ) . for Early release its very good! Recomended indeed!!

So, I really like roguelikes and gladiator games so the premise of the game appealed to me. I'm not really one to purchase Early Access games but I was bored and figured I'd try it.

First the tutorial:

Super difficult to figure out the controls. They are very sensitive and ever movement, button, and click matters. I can barely hold onto my sword as I keep pressing the wrong button. I can only imagine how my Scollo views a new gladiator like me who keeps dropping his sword.

Learn how to swing, how to stab, how to block, dodge, etc.

Learn to throw weapons. Accidentally throw my ax backwards. Hope there isn't friendly fire in this game. (There is, I later learned.)

Practice my first battle. Guy with a big stick keeps bonking me. He backs me into an early tutorial station and keeps bonking me as words appear on the screen. "Hold to increase the power of your attack." I try it and WHACK, a spray of blood from my opponents chest stains the training floor.

Hell yeah.

The game only gets better from here. In my debut match, I was super nervous, like NEO in the matrix attempting his first building jump. I take a few whacks but give as good as I get. Finally I manage to time a side swipe and decapitate my opponent. The crowd roars!

I think I've won, but no, suddenly a squad of enemies charge out of the gate. Death is permanent so I run away. Just in time, my own team arrives behind me to guard my flanks. General melee ensues. I almost dead, my health is so low, but I stay behind my teams shield bearer. While one of the enemies is distracted facing away from me at a team mate, I stab him in the back, and he goes down.

We win! The croad cheers in adulation. Gasping, out of stamina, I kneel in the blood soaked arena, grateful to Zeus and all the gods that I survived my first battle. Later, I learn that my master is so impressed, he gifts me a brand new shield.

I save the game and exit to savor this moment of victory before the next battle, where permanent death may be waiting.

I've only been playing for 25 minutes. I love this game!

Here's my checklist for fun when it comes to gladiator games:
Dismembering? Yes.
Epic Music? Yes.
Atmospheric Environs? Yes.
Gorgeous visuals? Yes.
Excellent Combat System? Yes.

I was lucky enough to be a play tester for around a month before release. Play the demo. It's amazing. Then, buy this game. Ask for help in the discord. Enjoy everything to the fullest. This game is everything you could want in a gladiator game.

I saw the game on 9gag and was sure it will be terrible.
But thanks to the demo I decided to try it before release.
I was pleasantly surprised. It is not an easy game but heck it is a fun game.
Was able to finish the demo after so many dead characters I can't even count it.

Did purchase the game as soon as it was released. Tested a few fights and it is still the same amount of fun.

If you are not sure try the demo. Play it for a while and decided for yourself.

Great game, very well constructed and very addictive.

Amazing work, was part of the playtests and its amazing how much the game has changed over these last few months. When you consider this is just one guy behind it aswell its even more spectacular

Would highly recommend this game.

My first impressions of the game are VERY positive and that's coming from someone who seeks perfection in the games he plays. The game doesn't seem as in-depth at first glance but once you complete training and start a run, you will be
introduced to many new mechanics that you didn't know existed. Basically, if you like action roguelikes and are a fan of
gladiators, you will enjoy this game!

Really fun gladiator game! Worth a purchase. The physics are fun, and the combat is brutal! Chop of heads, arms, and the bodies go flying. Really creative Colosseums and match setups. 1v1, many vs many. Keep the weapons you win with. Start with no weapons and pick them off the ground when the crowd throws them. Really creative. I can't wait to see where this goes, although there's plenty of game here to have fun with.

I like how you can invest in your next character, so they have gold and can start off with a better start than those before them.

Finally a nice gladiator game!

Yes buy it! It's a unique piece of art, made with real passion by the developer. This is rare for a game of this size and makes it worth the price for me.
The controls are different to other games so it takes some getting used to, but that is a positive as it is actually something new and different. Makes me nostalgic to my childhood when every game I played was a totally new experience and learning curve. For me learning and getting better at a game is what makes a game fun.

It's going to get even better as all the final features get implemented according to the roadmap.

Good game is good. The combat system, while challenging at first, is rewarding to learn and master and it will allow you to win any fight with proper technique. The roadmap forward continues to show promise from our one man army of a dev.

It might say "1.5 hours" on record at the time of this review, however, I have also been playtesting the game for the past few months.

This game is amazing and I can't wait to see what insane updates it has. Co-Op would be god tier. I am so happy with this game. I have been waiting forever for a good gladiator fighting and management game just like this one.

First impressions are good. There is an insane amount of polish in this game already. The only issue I have is that combat feels a bit disjointed/loose, I'm sure this will improve as development continues and with player feedback. A lot of times it feels like I'm just jumping from attack animation to animation and it sort of has that feeling of trying to punch in a dream and not being able to.

Literally every other aspect of this game is 10/10, and like I said I think combat will develop as players who are more articulate than me provide helpful feedback to the dev. Really impressive effort for a solo dev, and can't wait to see where this is at the end of Early Access.

Not for me but it's a good game. It's a bit too punishing for me but I can tell it was, indeed made with love. Also the meta progression needs to be expanded on. It'd be cool if I could hire and manage a team of gladiators instead of just having one upgrade at the bottom of the skill tree that does that.

Let me equip them and manage their gear like my own gladiator. That'd be super cool.

As it is for me it got a little stale pretty fast. Maybe it's just my style of playing but my instinct was always to spam left click, and that resulted in me insta-draining my stamina while all my guy did was flail his weapon about uselessly. Supposedly left click is supposed to be stab but the detection on that seems pretty janky.

It'd also be cool if the scollo system was expanded and had more lasting effects on multiple runs. It's frustrating buying an expensive scollo upgrade only to lose it the next match when you die.

I wish there was a "neutral" option in steam reviews. As it is I can't bring myself to give this a negative review, so I'll provide a critical, yet positive review.

I playtested this game(which is why I already have 35 hours), and I had such a blast, I'm still having a blast! The combat is unique and refreshing, there's different playstyles, and so many intricate strategies. I recommend this game to everyone who likes challenging but rewarding combat!

Game looks good on pc but on steam deck, at the moment, I don’t recommend. It freezes in the loading screen. Tried a few different times also tried with various protons still freezes in same spot. Description claims steam deck support but as of now it doesn’t work. Needs an day 1 update.

Great game with alot to of content to dive into. As you will see, this game was developed by 1 person and for what its worth, I think he did a fantastic job. the game also has a thriving discord with lots of people in it, discussing the game etc. Im very excited to see the direction this game goes in the future, and I found this game yesterday! I'd say at the very least try the demo so you know what your getting into

This game genuinely is fantastic. 7 long hard years at work is shown, and is very worth it. The combat is different yet satisfying, and brutal but rewarding. I too have suffered through the drought of a lack of proper gladiator games, but we finally have a very worthy contender to relieve us of the drought. Please buy this game and support Jordy. That man has poured his heart and soul into the project, and I know so.

P.S. I swear I'm not biased because my name is in the game. On god bro.

Impressive! The controls can be 'tricky' and some time is needed to get the hang of them, but once you do, it is actually very fun and rewarding. Couldn't help sitting here with a large smile after I survived that 1VS4 run.
I love how detailed everything is worked out, somewhat overwhelming at first, but again, that just takes some time to get used to.
Would definitely recommend!

This is game is truly one of a kind. I found it on accident a week ago and gave the demo a try...over and over again.

To be honest, I like the challenge this game provides. It DOES take skill to master and the consequence of doing one move wrong can cost you your character. The high stakes makes it that much more enjoyable when you come out on top!

The full game has been a blast. The content already available is great to keep you gripped into each battle and has you striving for the next item or scollo unlock. All in all, for a one may production, Jordy did a fantastic job with this.

If you are looking for a good game to pick up and put down as needed, but also grips you each time you play...this is for you!

Absolute fantastic game from a developer that cares about his product. This game at its core is fun. It is rogue-lite, so you connect to your fighter as you try to win and survive. It is remarkable the journey that this solo developer embarked upon and he deserves due credit for bringing such a unique game to the community. I highly recommend this game for the price, for the fun, and to support an ambitious and talented developer.

This takes some serious getting used to, that being said once I got into it I started enjoying it. I was a huge fan of Rise: Son of Rome and this is the closest I've gotten to that. If there were some auto-quick kills with little cinematics it would make the learning curve for defense and attack more worth it for me personally.

Combat takes some getting used to but with practising it becomes really satisfying. The progression system is impactful and has flavour. Giving some bonussus to your next fighter (after you die) is nice and keeps you playing.

It's extremely fun. The combat in the demo and the released version feels different in a way I can't explain, it's improved with your hits actually feeling like they connect a lot more compared to in the demo which felt like whenever you swung your sword the physics did whatever it could to hit it as blunt as possible making fights go on forever but in the released version it connects incredibly well and having so many moments where you get that nice clean cut that completely decapitates the other dude.

There is still need for improvements, of-course the fighting can always be shined up and the most major problem for me is the payouts or more so the price of a lot of the equipment, it's way too high, combined with how little you make from even a level 10 match being at around 4k-5k max that isn't even enough to buy a single masterwork gear, but that's if you don't spend it on heals, which you most definitely will need to, or in training, and whatever else that's more important to buy first, which leaves you with no money at all, especially if you get the slaver start where half your earnings are cut so a definite need to increase payouts by either 3 times or 2 times to give you the ability in the very least to buy some decent gear since at that level 10 mark you can easily run to those nasty creatures that'll slash you down in a few hits. Or reduce the cost of the gear by the same amount.

Beside that with more additions, updates, and polish it'll only be getting stronger.