Developed by Singapore-based Starstruck Games, Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion is a turn-based dungeon crawling roguelite with match-3 mechanics. Even introducing the game is a mouthful and a half, but its daring fusion of unlikely genres makes for a surprisingly fun gameplay experience.
In the game, you play as a band of heroes braving through an ancient castle to find the Nekonomicon. However, each room of the castle is filled with raw magic and dangerous extradimensional creatures. Defeat a wide variety of enemies, deactivate alarm systems, and blast crystals to clear each room, collecting magical artefacts and EXP that will help you survive the next surprise.
You start your adventure as Feya, a speedy Bungeoneer who is adept at dodging attacks and repositioning herself into advantageous positions. As you progress through the game, you eventually unlock more members of the party, each with their own unique skills, strengths, and play styles.
Such as Sonya the Nekomancer, who summons Kurokos to distract enemies; Biscuit the Paladinu, who has a free attack per turn; Butaryo the Boarlock, who can swap two pieces of mana from anywhere in the room; Pearl the Sowceress, who is adept at attacking with mana; and Bob the Birbarian, who hits hard with high melee and HP.
Despite the game containing familiar elements from standard match-3 games, Roguematch quickly proves that it is more than what it says on the cover. Every single decision counts in battle, as enemies move and environments change at every turn. Attack head on with a physical strike, or from a distance by fusing mana gems next to enemies. But don’t take too many turns, because more foes threaten to appear from strange portals in the walls as the clock ticks down.
And that’s only the tip of the iceberg. As you progress through randomly generated levels, Roguematch introduces even more mechanics that add power and variety to each run. For example, each enemy comes with unique weaknesses and strengths, and fusing certain types of mana might heal them instead of hurt them. Each character also comes with their own elemental affinities, allowing them to fill in the missing slots of certain mana and create a successful match.
Not only that, there are over 100 spells and items that change the way you handle challenges in the game, from boosting your base stats to dealing elemental damage. If you don’t have enough inventory space, you can discard the item, memorise the spells, and even fuse the spells with other items down the line. When you’re ready, you can face over 20 bosses from the elemental realms, each with their own attack patterns and weaknesses.
The sheer number of mechanics and items in the game can get pretty overwhelming at first, and the tutorialisation of the game could use more show and less tell. But once you get past the initial learning curve, the strategic possibilities will delight fans of both dungeon crawlers and turn-based games. Or even if you only have a few short hours to spare, the game makes for a fun afternoon.
A review key was provided by Starstruck Games.
