Really a unique game unlike anything else I've played. Cryptmaster mixes a dark and humorous atmosphere with novel combat and resource systems. It has some occasional changeups and new ideas, but generally doesn't reinvent itself that much. The included collectible card game was interesting and well thought out.

I found that the realtime combat system wasn't for me - I simply struggle to remember the words available to me. However, I still enjoyed it enough to not switch over to the "not recommended" turn-based system. I also don't think I care for the black-and-white style-choice in the art. It's been an oddly repeating choice in indie games lately, and I feel it didn't belong here.

A wonderful idea for a game. A dungeon crawler combined with word guessing and riddles. It has a few hiccups or frustrations, but still worth playing.

My main issue with this game was the combat. You type the name of skills to use them, then your characters go on cooldown after using a skill. The game suggests using it's real-time combat mode, in which the enemies are continuously counting down until their next attack. This causes pressure on you as the player to decide what to do and type it in a timely manner.

This real-time mode was fun for awhile. When I had just 3-4 skills per character, I enjoyed the sort of anxiety and pressure to choose what to do under the time crunch. However, after getting 6 or more skills for everyone, it becomes impossible to remember what your options even are, as you are essentially juggling 24 words or more in your head. You can check your list of words but this wastes valuable time. So you are juggling an enormous list of actions, while also keeping track of who is about to be attacked, plus any more special rules determined by the enemy. I began to dread combat about halfway through.

In the last chapter of the game, I decided to switch to the turn-based combat. I found this way more enjoyable. I was able to plan what I wanted to do, and I enjoyed the challenge of figuring out how to sneak in another command with just a few letters before the enemy could take their turn.

I appreciate that the game lets you choose which way to fight, however, the real-time mode is "recommended" by the game. It took me so long to switch it off because I felt as if I wasn't playing the game as intended. My advice to new players is to change from that "recommended" real-time mode once it becomes overwhelming.

The rest of the game is a delight though. The riddles, puzzle solving, and word guessing are very addicting and satisfying. The exploration can get a bit tedious though.

Despite my frustrations, I had a great time with this and I hope the devs further iterate on this word guessing idea in a future title.

Really fun! Strongly recommend this for any fans of grid-based dungeon crawlers, especially if the typing mechanic interests you. I would gladly play another game in this style, and in fact, will probably be playing another dungeon crawler very soon because of Cryptmaster!

That said, I would recommend stopping once you feel like you stop having fun. This game never really evolves as you play, and in fact, I think its best hours are spent beating the first "world" (with the rats and the frogs). The final boss was a fun challenge, but not necessarily one compelling enough to "push through" for, you know?

I, personally, never ran out of fun here! I loved the writing and the art, and it was especially satisfying to unlock new backstory/commands for each of the characters!

A terrific achievement, from such a small team!