Desktop Dungeons: Rewind Review (Steam)

by Jim Smale · Published May 3, 2023 · Updated May 2, 2023

For this Desktop Dungeons: Rewind Review, where we get bites of tactical roguelike action, which will quickly fester into a deep, lingering, and strategic obsession. Bargain with gods, equip your spoon, and pick your battles, before retreating into the healing darkness. But beware… there are still many monsters to face!

Desktop Dungeons: Rewind Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
690.87MB download size.
Steam achievements.
Desktop Dungeon cloud sync. Setup an account or sign in to retrieve saves.
Graphics settings – mode, resolution, limit fps, v-sync, and Kingdom camera sway.
Name your Kingdom.
Opening optional tutorial designed for new players. Returning players can skip it.
Dungeon crawler gameplay.
Right-click an enemy to show all stats and attacks.
Earn EXP and level up to fully heal and get a stats increase.
Click a square on the map to move and then reveal another group of squares.
Slowly heal and gain mana over time as you move into new squares.
Combat is a case of just clicking to attack.
Enemy markers will show where enemies are and the number on them is their level.
The clear Hud shows your health, mana, exp bar, damage number plus any bonuses, name, and avatar.
Enemy health bar shows when in combat.
Upon death, you get to see the whole map uncovered.
Find attack power-ups to increase your attack number.
Camps found within a dungeon allow you to leave early.
When recruiting a hero you choose Kin and class.
Quick snappy controls.
Very addictive.
The goal of the game is to build a new civilization.
Multiple choice encounters.
Casting magic is as simple as clicking the spell and then clicking on your target.
Convert unwanted spells/glyphs/items to turn them into state points.
Seven kins, and sixteen classes to unlock and use when creating a new hero.
The whole game can be played with just the mouse.
You can convert items straight away, no need to pick them up first.
A lot of humor throughout the game.
Main and side quests.
All dungeons have a difficulty rating.
Upgrade and expand the town to unlock new features, classes, and kins.
Earn gold from adventuring.
The game moves at a rapid pace, as soon as you’ve clicked to move the next load of squares is up on the map.
You see your inventory along the bottom making it quick and easy to use items or convert.
The end of a dungeon clearly shows who you killed, the loot gained, and stats like exp, regeneration, and encounters.
Each dungeon has a boss and a trophy.
Boss trophies are sold automatically.
Every class gets a bonus added after 100 conversion points.
Slow mo deaths.
Play how you want.
Slight puzzle elements.
Unlock preparations so you can pay to start with certain items.
World map level select.
You can fight and win against higher-level enemies if you plan correctly.
Puzzle dungeons have limited potions and require more thought.
Rewind feature is basically a try that again button.
Dungeons randomize every run/life.
Two views – isometric and an almost top-down.
Class challenges are for bonus rewards.

Desktop Dungeons: Rewind Review Cons:

No controller support.
Having to pick up the items is clunky.
You get a lot of dupes in a dungeon.
Possible to make a dungeon unwinnable.
It’s so easy to make a mistake.
Feels more like a puzzle game as you have to do things in a particular order so you can win.
Takes a while to get used to all the glyphs and how they work.
Let’s you use the potions even if you don’t need them.
Never sure when it was saved.