Something strange is occurring.
Fairly early on inCaves of Qud, I found myself in the great cave of Golgotha.
The great cave at Golgotha is part of a fairly early quest.
And what’s down there?
Puddles of green goo.
But also conveyor belts, stretched and tangled across the earth.
Sparking machinery that can give you a nasty shock.
Doors that you’ll need to find the right key to unlock.
The past and the future tangled together, and yet somehow it’s all ancient.
Caves of Qud review
I love Golgotha.
That’s probably clear by now.
And then there’s the tale of distinctly personal idiocy that marked my first visit.
Painful, yes, incredibly.
But also hilarious, brilliant,memorable.
All of which is to say: I know how a Caves of Qud review should read.
It should start absolutely in the middle of everything, in bright close-up on one specific glittering detail.
All of this game, and all of these details!
Yes: a Cave of Qud review should overwhelm even as it intoxicates.
Yesterday I cooked an “esteemed chickpea” meal!
I evolved the ability to grow forests to ensnare my foes!
And that was just the first five minutes.
That sounds like a wonderful review.
I would definitely read it.
But I’m not the person to write it, alas.
I’m the guy who took an ancient freight elevator to safety at a hugely inopportune moment.
So I’m going to have to do something else.
The details of the game are still a blur of text at this point.What killed me?
Looked at a certain way, this game is actually pretty straightforward.
And that’s wonderful.
Caves of Qud is a wonderful game.
You should definitely play it.
It’s a roguelike RPG, in essence.
Turns out that’s pretty fantastic.
There’s a tutorial now, for starters, along with a more legible UI and tile-set.
Beyond that, there are different ways to play.
There’s full-on permadeath misery, which is actually brisk and fun and not miserable at all.
It’s perfect for a chaotic twenty minutes, or much longer if you’re more skilful than me.
There’s checkpointing at towns.
Then there’s Daily Mode.
There’s something about playing that game on a whim, just firing it up and seeing what happens.
Bad things, generally, but funny bad things.
That’s Daily Mode!
Unfolding from all that is the game itself.
Whisper it: even here Caves of Qud is kind of accommodating.
All but one of these sultans - I think!
- is procedurally built with each new game.
Last night I came across a remnant of a sultan named Khushid II.
His life had been secretly saved from death by a pact with “highly entropic” beings.
He was thenceforth known as “the Stained Shade.”
I am a sucker for any game that has room for “thenceforth”.
It’s that kind of game.
It’s not just who I should throw in with, because that stuff changes from game to game.
Caves of Qud accessibility options
Players can remap controls and change font sizes.
Learning to be less bad in Caves of Qud is all about slowing down, for me at least.
It’s learning that every item will have something interesting written about it.
It’s learning that the history here mattered - whatever happened will have shaped the world I explore.
That’s still far beyond me, and I don’t really mind.
it’s possible for you to trot along with the beats and the objectives and the power curve.
That’s the best way to play this game.
And maybe it’s the way to truly win.
A copy of Caves of Qud was provided for review by publisher Kitfox Games.
