Welcome to puzzle game Dungeons & Bombs by Sometimes You and PigeonDev that tasks you with finding a princess… with a beard! Check our Dungeons & Bombs review!
In Dungeons & Bombs from Sometimes You, the game is about a kingdom where the Unholy Union, a group of the undead, monsters, and apostate knights, kidnap what is considered the beacon of the kingdom: a beautiful bearded princess. They put her in the catacombs under the castle, and the one knight the King decided to send underneath to find her is a kleptomaniac and pyromaniac that has some kind of passion for explosions.
When you start the game, you’re not given a tutorial or any explanation, so you have to learn the gameplay mechanics by yourself. You move your character with the D-Pad D-Pad or the left analog stick, and you can place bombs with the X X button. Once you place them, bombs will explode after a few subsequent moves, and they have a blast radius over some of the horizontal and vertical tiles surrounding them, so you will have to plan your moves carefully.
When starting a level, you also have a limited number of moves you can make, which includes moving and placing bombs, so you have to plan things just right to reach the princess on that level. You will also quickly encounter levels with spike traps that toggle with each move you make, as well as enemies that you have to avoid. Should you end up on a trap or on the same tile as an enemy, an extra move will be taken from you, which might make it impossible to reach the princess.
Visually, all the game’s levels are presented with the type of castle walls, with a pixel look and a CRT effect that is applied by default but that you can turn off in the game’s settings. On the PlayStation 5 version I played, the developers also added some added DualSense features, with the music coming out of the controller when you complete a level and also the haptic feedback when you step on spikes or try to move into a wall.
When I started playing the first few levels of the game, I thought it would be a fun ride with a vibe that reminded me of games such as Bomberman. But as soon as the fifth level, I started to notice a rather steep difficulty curve, especially considering I was so early in the game. The difficulty will only increase after that. There is no way to set up waypoints to start back from there if you fail. If you make a mistake, you’ll have to repeat the whole level. Because of this, you will need to find the perfect pattern to success for each level.
In terms of trophies, the list is rather straightforward since all you have to do is complete the 50 levels the game has to offer. Considering there are already some trophy guides out there, doing this should only take trophy hunters an evening at most to add a new Platinum to their collection. The game is not a cross-buy title, but it’s available on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.
Dungeons & Bombs has an interesting and fun concept, but it does have a steep difficulty curve that can makes it a challenging experience for those who are less experienced with puzzle games, so it won’t be to everyone’s taste. Dungeons & Bombs
Disclaimer
This Dungeons and Bombs review is based on a PlayStation 4 copy provided by Sometimes You.
