Bravery and Greed - fun alone and in local 4-player

I came for the local 4-player support, but stayed to play it alone. This is one of the relatively few games that is fun with friends and also great fun alone. It is also really good looking - perfect pixel art. At least for an old guy that grew up with the Commodore C-64 and Amiga machines.

My first test was alone, I enjoyed it a lot. In the evening my wife joined me, it was chaotic and also fun. On the weekend two of my kids joined us - oh my god, what chaotic fun! One caveat, though - the main game mode - Adventure - is not a casual party game with 3 minute round duration. This is a full-blown roguelite hack and slash game, which needs to be played over a longer time and with (more or less) experienced and dedicated players. For casuals, there is a platform brawler mode (either FFA or team based) and there is a simple horde defense mode. The adventure mode, though, needs a bit more dedication to play. You have to find four runes to unlock the portal to the Dwarfen Fortress... rumored to be full of gold to loot.

There are four unique characters to choose from (warrior, thief, mage, and a girl with a large sword), and they all play differently. It is possible to play with as many heroes from the same class as you want, so you can try to play with four mages for example. There is no bot support, but you can free animals or prisoners in the dungeons that will follow you until they die. The main gameplay mechanic is to explore different procedureal dungeons in 2D, reaching one room after the other and killing all spawning foes to open the doors and continue to the next room. On the way, you loot gold, lots of gold. You also collect equipment and improve your character. You either die or clear a dungeon (which unlocks the next). Due to the 2D visual presentation and the fast movement of your hero, it is easy to lose track where your character is when the room is full of enemies and bullets... but it is nearly impossible to keep the overview when playing with 4 players. You really need to learn how to coordinate your heroes to be successful. Just bashing enemies is chaotic, fun, but will not lead to long term success. When you melee attack, you do not stand still but move forward - you have to get used to this constant movement, or you will soon find yourself in the middle of a crowd of foes.

In the dungeons you will find altars, magic statues, teleportation portals, merchants, chests full of loot, a boss... the usual stuff. You can always open a map, drink potions, drop stuff. Your inventory is limited to a few items only. Your heroes all have a (charged) ranged attack, magic, can dash, duck and double jump, further moves can be learned. Your runs unlock new items, and you can get cards to modify the risk/reward mechanics of your runs. Nothing too complicated, but nothing you can play with a few casual party guests, either. Gamepad support works fine, you can play in local mode and there is an online mode. I didn't find an online server, and since my friends don't own the game I only played in local mode. Cloud saves are supported, which is extremely handy for a game with so many unlockables. If you look for similar games to play with friends, Skeleton Crew or Unruly Heroes come to my mind. Most other (multiplayer) hack and slash games are not 2D, but isometric.

Conclusion:

Fun pixel art roguelite action dungeon crawler for up to 4 players, also fun alone. And with simple brawler and horde defense modes.