Developer Impact Gameworks’ first title has you setting out into the unknown in order to escape your dull life underground. Enter the mysterious labyrinth known as Tangledeep, follow great adventurers, and make your way to the surface – all in classic roguelike fashion, but with lovely 16-bit pixel art, an amazing soundtrack, and some quality of life improvements.
At its core, Tangledeep is a fairly traditional roguelike offering: you explore sprawling, procedurally generated dungeons step by step, ascend stairs, fight monsters, pick up loot – you probably know the drill by now. What sets it apart is its wonderful job system.
There are no regular wizards and warriors to be found here. Instead you can play as floramancer, commanding thorny plant-creatures, as graceful sword dancer, or crippling your foes with kicks and punches as the mighty budoka. Each of these classes has a set of talents allowing you to customize your character.
However, you’re not bound to one specific class. For a small fee, you can just swap your jobs in town and then try your luck as another class while keeping all of your learned abilities. This allows for some truly versatile builds, and with 9 classes already in the game and more to come, character customization alone will keep you busy.
As is par for the course, permadeath is the default mode. You die, you stay dead. However, every item you choose to store in town can be used by your next character. If that feels too unforgiving, you can also play on adventure mode, which sends you back to town whenever you die and robs you of some experience and money. Mind you, the game is still challenging enough whichever way you play.
Now, the other reason you should consider Tangledeep is its presentation. Looking and sounding like a 16-bit SNES era title, this journey into the unknown is a pure nostalgia trip. While the game is in early access and some animations haven’t been implemented, it is already gorgeous and the character designs are utterly charming as well.
Impact Gameworks plan to flesh out the in-game lore and also add a little bit of everything until Tangledeep wraps up development at the end of the year. However, the current version feels polished enough, so you shouldn’t let the game’s unfinished state keep you from exploring its many secrets.
You can purchase Tangledeep from GOG or Steam for $ 14.99. For more information, visit the game’s website or give developer Impact Gameworks’ Twitter account a follow.
