Dungeons of Dreadrock from indie Christoph Minnameier is a charming puzzle adventure on Nintendo Switch. Check our Dungeons of Dreadrock review!
Dungeons of Dreadrock from indie Christoph Minnameier is a charming puzzle adventure on Nintendo Switch. After being selected to defeat the King of the Mountain, your brother goes into the dungeon to try and slay the evil Dead King… but he does not return. Knowing that something must have gone terribly wrong, you go after him, starting a quest that will have you explore 100 handcrafted rooms full of puzzles and danger. I quickly noticed that the character moves around each level by jumping from square to square, which reminded me of Crypt of the Necrodancer and Cadence of Hyrule. And yes, from the trailer and the screens, it’s easy to see how this one draws inspiration here and there from the beloved The Legend of Zelda series. On top of this, it’s also been inspired by releases such as Legend of Grimrock, Inside, and Sokoban-style games.
Once you gain control of your character, you’ll move around each room with the left or right analog stick or the D-Pad. You can press the A and B buttons as needed to use the items equipped on each button. If you have a difficult time solving a room, you can press the L button to get a hint – that is, if you’ve activated this feature on the options menu. And if you think you’ve made a mistake, you can press the X button to reset the room and give it another go. There’s also the option of enjoying Dungeons of Dreadrock with the console’s touchscreen when playing in Portable or Tabletop Mode or if you play the game on a Nintendo Switch Lite.
In the first room of the dungeon, you’ll find your brother’s sword inside of a pile of dirt. You’ll first have to avoid a zombie to get to it, but once you pull it out of the dirt and equip it, you’ll be able to defend yourself. Just press the left analog stick, the right one, or the D-Pad towards one of the enemies near you, and you’ll slash away with ease. New elements are added at a steady pace. You’ll soon run into a room with pressure plates that activate traps that shoot out fireballs, a switch to open a closed gate, and a golden key that can open the door that leads to the stairs that will take you to the next room.
While zombies are easy to predict and battle, giant spiders will prove to be a bit trickier. You’ll have to plan your moves to stay one step ahead of them since they will require more than one hit to be defeated, and they will also shoot deadly webs from a distance! Goblins will dash towards you with their blade ready to slice you in half. And once you find a huge ogre, you’ll need to find a way to get past it without ending up squished into a pulp by his club. What other creatures will you find deep inside the mountain?
I greatly enjoyed listening to the narrator as the story progressed. Along with hearing the narrator as new information is shared about the overall story, you’ll also get to hear its voice when you interact with some elements, such as a prison bench, an empty shelf, a tiny stream of lava flowing down a wall, an old fireplace, a cupboard that has certainly seen better days, a creepy pile of bones, a fountain full of delicious, ice-cold mountain water, or a wall from which you can pull out a loose brick that could be useful for solving a puzzle or two.
Dungeons of Dreadrock is a charming puzzle adventure on Nintendo Switch with an excellent look, easy-to-understand gameplay mechanics, and a very addictive gameplay loop that will keep you coming back for more as you take on the 100 handcrafted rooms with puzzles for you to solve. Dungeons of Dreadrock is out today on Nintendo’s console with a $10.00 asking price.
Disclaimer
This Dungeons of Dreadrock review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Christoph Minnameier.
