PEGBRJE: The Death of the Corpse Wizard and Rogue Rocks
Rogueing out a Friday.
The Death of the Corpse Wizard is a never-ending survival game crafted by FeatureCreeps, the indie name for data scientist Vincent Toups of the United States. Players will be controlling the titular Corpse Wizard as they are bombarded for infinity by enemies with only a singular objective; survive for as long as possible.
Players are stuck in an arena, where they can move to any square they choose in order to survive. It is a pseudo-turn based system, so each move the player performs allows for all enemies to move as well (with a slight delay). The wizard can perform melee attacks on the enemy if they desire, getting hit back in the process, but each enemy felled will give back a single heart. Dead enemies can drop one of five items that can help with the playthrough, with the skull (1) acting as a potion or the dust (2) giving players a teleport back to a specific location they set earlier.
The big draw is hinted at in the name; the Corpse Wizard. Players have two abilities that require no consumables, but instead use the player’s life force in order to cast effectively. The pillars allow for enemies to be siphoned in to a specific location for the wizard to hit, and the lightning is the big line attack that heals on hit. The catch is that the lightning uses two hearts to cast due to its range, so hitting only a single enemy will not recoup the losses. This is where those pillars come in to funnel enemies, for the more that can be hit the more sustain a player can get in order to survive as long as possible. This gives a fantastic sense of urgency and preparation, needing to ensure that each lightning strike can hit as many people as possible to avoid getting low enough that a single hit could end the entire run. Consumables are great for offsetting this fear, and there are even health upgrades to find as the game goes on, but enemies will start to upgrade as well. There is never enough safety, especially when they start busting through the pillars.
It’s a simple yet effective game that lives up to its ‘coffee break’ style — it can be dropped at any time, returned to after hours and nothing will be missed or lacking in understanding. You don’t need much preparation to play, only the will to see how far you can go with our little corpse wizard. If you need something to do during a break, try this out and see how far you can get.
Rogue Rocks is a spacefaring survival roguelike by AUX-IN Games, an indie developer. Players will be spending their time in space with a ship of their choosing, hoping to jump through six regions and make it to the end before getting caught.
Given only a limited starting arsenal, players will be attempting to collect enough currency in order to use the warp gates and make it to each level. Those familiar with the arcade game Asteroid will recognize the aesthetic of the past and the objective of just surviving while shooting asteroids. Each destroyed space rock will reveal currency to pick up, counted on the top right so that one does not lose track. Where the variations begin is in the upgrade system, which is found in nodes throughout each map. These will give an opportunity to spend the currency early on one of two upgrades, making any number of facets better on the ship. Players can focus on damage, hull strength, and even speed — but the other upgrade will be destroyed in the process of picking one, so making sure that the appropriate upgrade is grabbed is crucial to surviving throughout the levels. There is the option to completely forgo any upgrades however, if players are wanting to speed towards the end — after all, the currency spent must be recuperated, meaning more chances for an asteroid to accidentally collide with the ship.
It’s a simple game, taking inspiration from its arcade roots to update some of the older aspects and bring it up to speed with design principles and mechanics that we’ve learned over the years. Each level is procedurally generated, and the order in which you’ll find your ship in won’t always be the same, so keep on your toes and you’ll see it to the end. If you loved Asteroid, or were looking for a space roguelike that just lets you shoot asteroids and not having to worry about actual people getting involved, your wish has been granted.
