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Website: https://www.cavesofqud.com/ Price: $26 USD GOG/Itch/Steam Blurb: “Caves of Qud is a science fantasy RPG & roguelike epic. It’s set in a far future that’s deeply simulated, richly cultured, and rife with sentient plants. Come inhabit an exotic world and chisel through a layer cake of thousand-year-old civilizations.“ So Caves of Qud (CoQ) finally released in the final form, after being in alpha for a very long time. Let me start off by saying that this game did not intrigue me at all. (look at the cover art for one) I have a love/hate relationship with roguelikes. When you keep having to do the same thing over and over and over and over and over … see you already got bored, just reading that. When it is new and shiny, sure, I’ll take a gander. I don’t want to see how I got fifty steps further this time compared to the last time. Thus it was with a polite thank you, that I accepted the game as a gift. Playing it, well, I was not planning to, unless I was really, really bored. It was only with my friend’s constant pestering that I loaded the game. Boy, am I glad I did!
This is one of those “traditional” roguelikes, in RPG form, turn based, top down, with side-on graphics. Instead of ASCII characters, an effort was made to bring more modern graphics into the game. (Now, I can look past these types of graphics, I just feel there was an opportunity here, I mean, we are in 2025!) Lets face it, the first thing that you interact with in a video game is the graphics. While it may be primitive by any standard after the year 2000, it has its charm, though it suffers from the same issue as many games, when it comes to scale. Every sprite is “one” block, is say, four 8×8 pixels in size. (I didn’t check the precise pixels, but everything is one of your characters, in size) Even with that, it looks amazing on my friend’s Steam Deck. However the font sucks like an electrolux! (I’ll include a screen-shot) My first impressions were that this game oozes potential. My imagination ran wild! But let's get back to the game… You get to create a character as a pure human or a mutant. You get to “create” your class, rather than choose it. There are more than seventy! (70) mutations to choose from. This allows for *very different runs every time you play, as the map is semi-static. Also it frustrated the heebie-jeebies out of me, the first five times that I played!
Once you have your character, you are booted from the nest with the message, “fly”! Since this is a sandbox, you can do whatever you like, you can take quests and carve out your story. You can be friends with anyone, but not with everyone. There are ruins to explore, creatures to battle, (or share your water with!) lore to collect and treasures to uncover. Put it this way, all the effort of the game went into world building. When I said the map was semi-static, I mean that the overworld stays the same, but the terrain and encounters are randomized. (Each overworld block consists of 3×3 screens, iirc) That holds true for the histories you find as well, as they will shape your game. This is the important part, the glue, if you will. Though it is random, there is a method to the madness. The first time I fired up the game, I was… and still am, boggled by the controls. There are a lot of keys used here! You literally have two pages worth of keys!! https://wiki.cavesofqud.com/wiki/Controls I think I have a better chance of mastering Vim, than mastering Caves of Qud, but my friend, who has been playing from the start, will play a game in two or three evenings.
Let’s go dungeoneering! CoQ is the story of a world in a post-apocalyptic state. Eaters have ruined it beyond recognition and to the point where water is the only currency worth a dram. (not a spelling mistake) Yep, they were marvelous and terrible at the same time. When they said “layer cake” in the blurb, they were not kidding, the story is layered, the world is layered, the dungeons are layered, you name it! Story-wise as you start out, it makes no sense, you find a statue telling you about some or other Sultan that did x or y and you may pay no heed, as it is disjointed, but it actually becomes important, allowing you to be immersed in the world of Qud. I suppose that is what I like most about this game, enough to overlook the weird controls. (They work well on a 102 full sized keyboard, btw.) If you choose to start with the main quest, you will go on a journey, suited for anyone with ADHD, befriending talking crocodiles and buying books from Albino apes. If you have an over-active imagination, I cannot recommend this game enough. Potential, potential everywhere. Making friends is harder than it seems, as the goats may not like the Kobolds and will not be your friends if you are friends with the Kobolds. Kind of high school, all over. I suggest you stay in the good graces of the dragonflies, while your character is weak… This faction system can lead to hilarious encounters and dialogue options. You will get riddles to solve and murals to admire and it all is delivered in a unique way. Stop and smell the flowers, read the signs and figure out what it all means.
If you choose the pureblood route, you will be able to use technology, pew-pew laser guns, that are very strong, but require batteries. If you choose the mudbloods, you may grow extra arms and hit others with every arm in your arsenal before they even get a turn, for instance. Yes, it gets weird, but nowhere near as weird as the music. I’m afraid to classify the soundtrack as music. It is an eerie cacophony that puts you on edge, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL9wHhEoRcg ) and emphasizes the weirdness of Qud. It is what I imagine will be playing when I go to a rainforest to take Ayahuasca… hahahaha The little touches also make for a more immersive game. If you walk through water, you will leave a wet trail, and should you step in fresh water, you will contaminate it. Because everything is covered in salt water, anything metal will rust like crazy, unless it is Roberto, from Futurama, that wants to stab you! (watch out for robots!) If you are new to this type of game, the controls may be frustrating as well as the randomness of the story itself. The game is about learning and you need to learn the mechanics to survive and thrive. Be prepared to fail, a lot… and even if you play the same character again, the run will be completely different, with a hint of familiarity, due to a static overworld map. That said, there is a story to enjoy, so build the castles in your mind. While it is not as in-depth as Dwarf Fortress, it is just as much fun!
Imagine rating this game for one of the early 2000’s gaming magazines, it may have gone something like this: graphics – could be better, music – what the hell? … gameplay 8/10… hahaha. I’ll be honest, 500 bucks is a bit steep. Considering that it will not sell millions of copies, as it has a niche (and cover art that does not grab the attention), it may go on sale sooner than you think. Honestly, if it had better graphics (I don’t mean the sprites, the ugly font, the horrible colours and so fourth, though the sprites could be better too) and I had the money, I’d fork over the dosh.