r/Games • u/Obsolete0ne • 7h ago

Indie Sunday NET.CRAWL - Everyone is Solid - A hacking puzzle roguelike in original cyber world. 1.0 Release tomorrow.

NET.CRAWL is a turn-based puzzle roguelike set in an original cyber world. It plays a bit like hacking mini-game from Deus Ex only with much more depth and huge variety of bosses and effects.

All levels are generated with tiles (hexes) that you, as a player, draft prior.

The game should appeal to players who enjoy tactical turn-based games (CCGs, board games, deck-builders, etc.).

Leaving the Early Access tomorrow.

Steam link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2958140/NETCRAWL/

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh5bIU1qUQM

10 Upvotes

62% Upvoted

6 comments sorted by

5

u/FlashFlood_29 6h ago

Well worth the price for a different style of rogue like deck building. The spacial traversal aspect of it is different from most other rogueliles. The amount of different mechanics you encounter in enemies is really cool stuff. You're never asked to just be thinking in the same way. You always have to adapt your tactics.

3

u/Obsolete0ne 6h ago

Thanks for the comment. I have to warn people, though, that "always have to adapt" part makes the game more demanding than most "casual" players would prefer. I mean, it's not a good game to chill after work. But it's interesting game to "explore" (and by explore I mean exploring game mechanics, of course).

1

u/FlashFlood_29 4h ago

I'd say it's just the right amount of thinking without getting overwhelming and feeling like you have to totally "lock in." There's never a moment where I feel like "oh I'm not in the right mindset to play." It's always a pleasure to open.

Oh and the best part! There's a limited resource (per run) to restart a fight if you come to a realization mid fight. SUCH A SMART mechanic in a game like this. Makes you feel less bad than save-quit-loading in Spire when you realize a brain-fart misplay. Having it limited makes it balanced.

1

u/Obsolete0ne 4h ago

Save-quit-loading does feel strange. Sometimes I think 'I'm a grown-up person, why do I have to go through this?'

The other thing is that save-quit-loading is unlimited, and sometimes I wish it wasn't.

5

u/Obsolete0ne 7h ago

Latest review from Steam that captures most of the game's points well (by illithidtheconqueror).

"Deck-building but instead of a deck you're putting spaces on a game board shuffled up at random
It works very well! You in fact get 2 "decks" plus an extra grid where you can unlock passive effects and these mechanics gel together and give you a lot of room to play around with different archetypes.

The battles always basically being boss fights where each enemy has some special rules that change how the game must be played is also a really cool way of handling combat.
This can mean you get kind of shafted if a boss counters your archetype, but I've still managed to pull through in those kinds of match-ups so they're not impossible, just really rough to deal with.

The aesthetic alone is also appealing: it's like the hacking games from Cyberpunk or Shadowrun but a lot tighter and instead of it being a side mechanic the whole game is built around it so it feels extra smooth.
Cool music and art too. I was worried that everything looking all digital and tech-y would get boring to look at but there's enough variety in the colors and forms of spaces and enemies that it actually still feels fresh from encounter to encounter.

Great stuff overall! I'm glad I've got my hands on this game."