I think I’ll have to dedicate an article to first-person dungeon crawlers soon, given the sheer number of exciting projects popping up. Today’s focus is Cyclopean, an RPG in what could be called a post-embryonic stage. What immediately stands out is the monochromatic graphic style that will accompany you through grid-based exploration and turn-based combat.
Cyclopean puts you in the shoes of Randolph Carter, as you venture through the Lovecraftian Vaults of Zinn in search of your beloved cats and a way to escape.
Gameplay is turn-based, with a heavy focus on turn-based combat. It features rogue-like elements such as perma-death and unique playthroughs, with each run offering different enemies and loot. You can collect swords and armor to upgrade your damage and defense, and score points by rescuing cats and gathering treasure.
The dungeon is grid-based, giving it an old-school feel reminiscent of classic RPGs. Although the game started as a game jam project, a full version is in development, and there are plans to expand the content significantly.
The atmosphere is dark and cosmic, staying true to the Lovecraftian horror roots, and the visuals are distinctively monochrome, adding to its eerie vibe. Future updates may introduce more monsters, improved upgrades, and additional mechanics. The game, as I said, is still in an early development phase, with no official release date yet, but you can track it on Steam. Below is an overview, screens, and gameplay trailer.
About This Game
Trapped in the Vaults of Zinn!
You are Randolph Carter, old dreamer and friend of cats. The spiteful and mischievous zoogs, after making an unholy alliance with the ghasts, have imprisoned you and several cats in the haunted, cyclopean Vaults of Zinn. You must find the exit of the vaults and rescue as many cats as you can, or die trying.
Rogue-Like Dungeon Crawler
The game is a grid based dungeon crawler, with a procedurally generated dungeon and rogue-like gameplay. Each play-through is unique, with perma-death, and a summary of your play-through will be presented at the end. The game currently stores your top 10 play-throughs for review.
Turn Based Combat
The gameplay and combat is all turn based, allowing you to make strategic decisions.
Upgrades
The current build of the game has a simple upgrade system. You can gain levels by fighting monsters and thereby gain “life” and “skill”. Life is just health (but it fits into the UI better) and skill effects your ability to hit enemies.
You can also find swords which increase your damage and shields which increase your defense. This feature was very much a product of the limited time of the game jam, and I will be thinking about ways to enhance it.
New Features
I am considering some new features to add to the full release. Among them are a larger dungeon, more monsters, better upgrading system and having the cats join your party in some way. I do hope to do this without diminishing the simplicity and ease of access that the current version has.
