Dark Crypt

Full disclosure: I was a playtester for this game. In Dark Crypt you take the role of a monk tasked with the mission of sealing out an ancient evil sleeping deep inside an ancient crypt. To do so, you have to avoid traps and sneak past the undead, among other things. To understand the full story, you can also read through the many journal entries that your character will write during the journey through the crypt. The game is turn-based, so you can spend as much time as you want thinking about your next move. There are infinite undos, so if you make one or a dozen mistakes, you can always rewind back to an earlier turn. In the beginning the levels are quite simple, but as you advance to the later levels in the game, new elements are introduced that add more depth to the puzzles. As far as the graphics go, the game has a clean looking tile-based pixel art style with some minor details thrown in here and there, but it does not go overboard with the detail, so it is easy to follow. Every 10 levels or so, the color theme of levels changes, giving you a clear visual that you've reached another milestone in your crawl through the crypt. The horror theme of the game is mostly in the story and setting, and perhaps one particular action in the game, but aside from that, it's not very prominent in the game. There are no jump scares or gnarly details. The user interface is fairly simple, but functional. Levels can be played with keyboard or controller. Menus can be operated with mouse, keyboard or controller. There are also hotkeys for restarting the level or opening up the journal or tutorial messages. The sound design is solid, the different objects in the game have sound effects associated with them, and there are even some ambient sound effects that play now and then, adding to the mood of the game. The music appears to be largely remixed classical style music, which does seem to fit the theme of the game pretty well. There are separate audio volume sliders for music and sound effects, in case you want to adjust one or the other. I would recommend this game for anyone that enjoys a good turn-based puzzle game. If you are unsure, you can try out the demo first!

What a fantastic little puzzle game! I really enjoyed the gameplay - It's never stressful because things only move when you move, but it still manages to build up a lot of tension with the dark and eerie overall atmosphere.

This game is [i]exceptionally[/i] well designed and implemented. Premise and aesthetic, level design, mechanics, UI, pixel graphics and music/audio: all solid, crisp, [i]clean[/i]. No bugs so far, just fun! Bonus points for... - Providing a free demo - Being non-puzzler-friendly: ability to undo multiple moves, and even skip levels - Using spooky and iconic music (e.g., Moonlight Sonata, Danse Macabre, Lacrimosa) :D - A price that is [i]more[/i] than fair! I prefer Dark Crypt over Dark Sheep (same developer), but you should definitely try Dark Sheep, too -- especially if you like Sokoban, Commodore-64, and/or Satanism.

Polecam

its pretty cool

The game is exactly what was promised: a horror-themed, turn-based 2D puzzler. A lot of effort was put into the graphics and atmosphere of the game, even if they don't really blow you away. The story is minimal but effective. it adds a lot of personality to the game, and I ended up caring a lot more about the main character than I expected to by the end. The puzzles themselves become more and more complex as you progress through the game, but the 'undo' feature makes things manageable, and the game does a good job of forcing the player to learn newly introduced mechanics before using them in later, more complex puzzles. In terms of options and accessibility, Dark Crypt is very good. It has seperate sound options, a custom fps limit, multiple display options, mouse-navigable menus, and configurable controls for both keyboard and controller. In my (albeit limited) experience, most game at this price point ($4.99 at time of writing) don't even come close to this level of customization. Of course, Dark Crypt isn't perfect. The music, while thematically appropriate, is forgettable, and can even become grating during some of the more cognitively-demanding puzzles. But, what was easily the worst part of the game for me was its "par" system. In order to finish a level under par, simply finishing the puzzle isn't enough. You have to complete it within the smallest number of moves possible, and going through the same puzzle over and over again to optimize the 2-4 moves that are keeping you above par (in what were often 60+ move puzzles) was the most frustrating part of the game for me. If you're planning on playing the game, I'd recommend that you completely ignore the par system for your first playthrough. Puzzles that you complete over-par can be revisited after the game, and they'll be much less frustrating (and probably easier!) on your second time through. All-in-all, Dark Crypt is a very competently made puzzler with decent graphics, good atmosphere, a minimal but effective story, and a uniquely complete suit of customization options. If you're into 2D puzzlers and the game's theme appeals to you, give the game a try. I didn't enjoy the game as much as I could have due to some late-game frustrations with the par system, but I still had a good time.

git!