Secrets of Grindea

Not a fan of bullet hell fights
And annoying fights during puzzle solving

This game is cute, great to co op. works amazing on the steam deck also.

Super cosy game.

One of the best games I've played.
If you like to fight never-ending rounds of monsters and pick up their parts and treasures, this is your game. I spend hours happily fighting in one room and then go find another area and repeat. If I didn't have pain in my wrists and fingers, I'd probably never stop.
I love the collecting. I love the puzzles--yes, even the math ones! I love the nods and homages to other games. The whole package is incredibly satisfying.
Did I tear up at one point in the story. Yep! Did I shout with shock at the plot twist? Heck yeah.
I can easily see how people play this game over and over, trying different builds and variations or difficulty settings.
Highly Recommend.

Whatever you could possibly expect from an isometric action rpg, this game has it

Love the game, but it was messing up my PC graphics and had sound glitches. Uninstalling to reinstall.

absurdly good rpg
love the combat, love the music, love the writing, all i wish is that there was even more to do.

great game, specially for dungeon runz

This game is what happens when a developer doesn't rush because of pressure from the community. It is fine tuned and sharpened to perfection. The humor is actually funny, which is rare, for me atleast, theres so much charm, great combat, charming slice of life, all around probably one of the best games i've played, thank you Pixel Ferrets for making this charming game! I'm not even halfway done yet with the story, and that makes me glad, it's only been uphill so far :)

Surprisingly solid game. But if you play melee, make sure to stack def, or otherwise it'll be utterly frustrating.

Undeniably a good game. Story is alright, could've been way better if it committed to either taking itself seriously or taking its sarcastic comedy all the way, but the ending was actually quite nice; which I feel is actually really rare these days, it's usually the ending that gets shafted after a long and great run towards it, but this story kind of felt the other way around. The music of the whole game is actually surprisingly pretty good, too; games like these I tend to lower the volume and listen to podcasts in the background, but the music fit the vibe of the game so well that I couldn't bring myself to do it.

I ended up being surprised by how in-depth the game's arcade mode is because I didn't even read the store page's description of it, but it is actually pretty well made. Though do note that, as it suggests even in the game itself, you really should play the story mode through before you play arcade mode. Things'll be confusing if you don't. And try to remember what enemies drop what items.

I have some issues with how restricted you are with your ability to flesh out your skill pool, and with how limiting the game is with skills. Not being able to get more level 10 skills is just a buzzkill. Sometimes it's safer to give people more freedom of choice than to put them in a small box and see how cleverly they can use the tools as their disposal, because if one tool is objectively better than the rest - even if by the tiniest margin - everyone'll swarm to it; but I digress. It's overall a pretty negligible gripe that I think is a consequence of the game being made with multiplayer in mind, and it's not such a big deal either way, would've just made it a bit more fun.

I love lore! I love the dialog! I love the art and music! I HATE THE DIFFICULTY!!!!! TO DAMN HARD!!!! Hey, cna you make Luke any faster???? The Devs but so much into this I was going to recommend this, but this is what I hated and still hate about the new zelda like games. COME ON! How fast do you think we can move our fingers??? I wonder to myself did I choose the wrong upgrades. As I move on in the game, some of the boss fights become frustrating hard. There is much of the game that is great, but I have come to a point where I see it getting too hard and I don't want to keep dying over 30x to get it. I tagged this game ad difficult. THis game would have replay value, but the fighting and the puzzles are just too much for me. What a disappointment, so close but................... uninstalling.......................NOW!

I've followed this game since 2014ish. We shall see

I tihnk I will update this comment once I am done with the game, but so far it is marvellous. The story and characters are fun, the art is beutiful, i really enyoy the puzzles (very easy but fun) , the combat is very fun to me, you canb grind or play on pure skill or both, there are tons of secrets. Did I say the art is beutiful? well, I will say that again here. Highly reccomend this labour of love of a game. Very glad pieces like this one still are made amongst the crappy generic AAA titles that are so bland that I cannot help but wonder why some games are even made in the first place.

Secrets of Grindea is a delightful action RPG that masterfully captures the essence of classic titles like Secret of Mana and The Legend of Zelda. Its charming pixel art style and witty dialogue create an engaging experience that stands out in the indie game landscape.

The game’s visuals are a treat, with vibrant environments and meticulously designed characters and monsters. Each NPC feels unique, contributing to a world that’s both immersive and full of personality. Your companion, a sentient bag, adds a humorous touch with its sarcastic remarks, enhancing the game’s lighthearted tone.

Combat in Secrets of Grindea is both challenging and rewarding. Players can choose from various playstyles, including sword and shield, two-handed weapons, bows, or magic. The flexibility to respec your character allows for experimentation, ensuring you can tailor your approach to suit your preferences. Collecting monster cards, which provide permanent passive boosts, adds an extra layer of depth and encourages thorough exploration.

The game acknowledges its grind-centric nature with a tongue-in-cheek approach, making the process feel less tedious. Side activities like fishing and housing customization offer enjoyable distractions, allowing players to decorate their in-game homes with a variety of items found, crafted, or purchased throughout their journey.

My play through was at around 60 hours for a completionist run, Secrets of Grindea offers substantial content. The game provides clear indicators of progress in each area, making it easy to track completed and remaining tasks. This feature, combined with the game’s humor and engaging mechanics, ensures that the grinding feels purposeful and satisfying.

In conclusion, Secrets of Grindea is a lovingly crafted homage to classic action RPGs, offering a rich and rewarding experience. Its blend of challenging combat, charming storytelling, and a plethora of side activities makes it a must-play for fans of the genre. Kudos to Pixel Ferrets for delivering such an enjoyable title from start to finish.

it reminds me of the old rpgs i used to play on gameboy/ds

Steam version has window / graphic settings issues. If I put it in fullscreen it'll start in the upper right corner of the screen and be unplayable until I manually edit the settings file.
The window zoom also doesn't work right... But the GOG version works just fine? Normally I'd blame my 4k monitor but given that the GOG version works fine and the steam version has issues it's clearly either an issue with steam injecting something, or the game build on steam having unique bugs.

So at the moment I'd say go GOG, or better yet go directly to the devs website and buy it there, then you get both the steam and DRM free version for the same price.

เกมสวะ จะทำให้น่ารำคาญทำไม

My siblings and I like to play games on the weekend. This one only lasted two days.

The game needs polishing, and while I can admire the hard work that went into making such a pretty game, I can also mourn the time spent playing it.

This game has a lot of soul. Everything in it feels thoughtful, like I can just feel how much love went into crafting every object in every town and dungeon. Also, for a game that starts off with a pretty carefree attitude, it gets pretty serious toward the middle and end, which was a nice surprise. Overall, 4/5 stars.

Pretty standard faire for a light old school RPG.
The skill and talent pools seem a bit lack luster, but you don't need much for a Normal playthrough.

pixel art, story, characters, humor, music, game play, all great

Not quite perfect but surprisingly fun. The tropeish jokes and character names everywhere probably hold it back from what it could be if it played it straight, but then it puts you off guard for when it actually is serious and emotional. The lost city quest line was fantastic, like a different game within the game.

I was pretty torn on whether to give this game a yes or no for recommendation.

On first blush, there's a lot of game here, and as you enter into its charming, lovingly-crafted world, there's a buffet of choices and things to do. There are dozens of skills you can pick from, each promising differing playstyles and effects, each able to be up-cast by charging to have sometimes dramatically different effects. There's dozens of sidequests, and rewards with interesting little perks attached to many pieces of gear, inviting you to further specialize your character -- to say nothing of the grind for cards, each of which is a small passive perk that can be extremely novel and helpful.

But play longer and the veneer starts to wear thin. Upgrade after upgrade reveal themselves to be some variety of "does 2% more damage." That huge spread of skills quickly becomes locked to you; for reasons I can't comprehend, the level scaling in the game is such that very rapidly, I maxed out my first skill, and then only at the very end of the game, doing literally every quest and grinding for every drop and card, had I recently maxed out my second. The perks on items and cards wind up being mostly vapor, full of potential to be meaningful, but almost all of them wind up being more of the insignificant passive bonuses.

That's the crux of my first major complaint: The game invites you to grind, but ultimately, doesn't have much worth grinding for. More skill points in skills you can't use, while the ones you desperately want to level remain at half-rank, more items temptingly silhouetted on the crafting or drops page, which wind up being just another stat upgrade, more cards which could do literally anything, but instead do literally nothing. If you DO grind for everything, you let yourself into the final, final secret boss, which is awesome...but it's literally the one thing they do not tell you that you can unlock.

My second criticism is a lot more damning. Almost at all times, I felt like the game didn't give me the tools to succeed. You get, early on, a potion that increases drop chance by 20% while it's up, and as far as getting drops, that's it. There aren't even rooms that are better for grinding specific enemies, really -- just mosh pits where every mob in the zone spawns relentlessly. Build diversity is pick a skill you like and maybe a couple of buffs. And some of the bosses and attack patterns are HARD, unreasonably so in the last couple of fights, weaving through literal bullet hells with a character that's got a fat, inobvious hitbox, and no good precision movement options.

It felt so often that they had taken systems from other, better games, and implemented them without knowing what made them work. Over and over again as I plumbed these systems, I found myself battling against them and not being the tools I wanted to engage with offered challenges. Ultimately, my experience was one of frustration rather than joy.

Now. That all said, I still think there's a lot of excellent game here. It's well-polished, well-written, and engaging. It has a surprising amount to say about the grind and chase of perfection, and it does so well. It's got characters and a world I love, and it lets me engage with them enough to see their stories through in a satisfying way. It's a game that serves you a dream, and so when you find yourself disillusioned as you pull back the layers, there's still a solid game underneath.

It just hurt a little because I just wanted it to be a little bit better.

Thank you so much for Pixel Ferret for making this game.

No worry bro, I already bought it. And I enjoy it a lot. currently still doing main quest at the ancient temple.

this game is mild and pretty simple but fun! and I love your trivial humours!

recommended, buy this game guys.

Feels good to play, excellent tribute to and parody of old SNES RPGs that only gets funnier as it goes on. Also great for co-op play. Hard to find anything to complain about, it's just really great.

tl;dr good, BUT.

In many ways, this is a game I was looking for for a long time - a single-player loot fest that works well on steam deck (so not diablo 3), is 2D (so not borderlands), and I can pause (so not diablo 4). HOWEVER. This game's dev seems to have a _real_ hardon for puzzles with _very_ tight timing requirements that are complex. Every time I encounter one, I prepare myself to stop having fun for a while. They're absolutely jarring for a game that's otherwise a reasonable balance between difficulty and casuality.

Outlandishly good. Excellent. Secrets of Grindea stands as a titan of indie design alongside such titles as Terraria and Stardew Valley, and shares with them the quality of being outrageously underpriced.

You can expect a good combat and character development system. Genuinely good, but not great. And that system will carry you into a world of divinity. Everything else is a masterwork.
The art - models, animations, portraits - is fantastic and utterly baffling in its quantity.
The programming - no holds are barred. If the designers had a fun idea, they did it. And they clearly had fun ideas *constantly*. It's a wonder this was ever completed.
You get what you expect from the title with a world of collecting that is extensive, enjoyable, and grueling, yet fair.
The boss fights are nigh uncountable and marvelously creative. The mimic in particular has ousted the last boss of Elden Ring as my favorite boss fight.

And the writing. My god, the writing. How can such perfection exist? How can a world with SO MANY storylines, so many characters and conversations, not seem to have a single hole, a single disappointing moment, a single thread out of place? Every time I've been this invested in characters before, I've been left wanting in some way, because when I'm that invested and there are issues with the story, I'm looking for them, and I see them. But this time, I'm walking away utterly satisfied. Elated, even - I can't believe how many times I *screeched* with joy at new developments.

I was open-mouthed when I first realized what the premise of the story was turning out to be, how clever and unique it is. And as it expanded upon itself, fitting in countless extra pieces to weave depth into the moral and create a truly masterful story, I swear that my mind, too, expanded. I have a lot to think about.

I'd like to personally congratulate PIxel Ferrets on their mastery of grammar; my personal specialty; and thank them for what they've done here.

Not a bad game. Despite the name the grinds are not too bad.

One of the best games I've played.

Fun.

I meant to write a review a while ago after I had 100%ed the game but never got around to it. So you get this excellent review. I finished the main story twice. It's great.

think of cuphead, mixed with undertale- with a rpg combat system, which is a dream come true

A very pleasant surprise. I didn't really have high expectations for it when I got it, but the variety of builds and the boss fights are awesome, plus the pixel art is fantastic. The dialogue portraits look a little rough though.

Terrible controls, bad character customisation just not a fun experience even within the first part of the game.

It's fun except the bullet hell. Too much thing on the screen at the same time for my old mans eyes.
If you can stand that it's good. But I can't stand it so its a down vote.

Still fairly new to the game, but since it's on sale now and spring sale is coming up, I figured I would put out my initial thoughts. I'm playing single player, so no idea how the multiplayer works nor am I super interested. I got this partly because it looks like a good game that I can play at home on my PC or while I travel on my steam deck. The controls are very well done for gamepad, everything is laid out with that in mind. You basically get 12 quick use slots, 4 for each button and then 4 more for holding RT and LT respectively. The menu layout is really straightforward for gamepad as well.

This is actually quite well done. The action is responsive, and this is definitely an action rpg. The only thing missing is a dodge roll, but you have other abilities that take its place. There's a ton of character customization... you basically start out as a blank slate and can put points into anything you like, from melee skills to magic or some combination. You can specialize in either direction, or you can do the whole spellsword thing.

The world is very vibrant, colorful, and cartoonish. It almost has a cozy vibe. I haven't really met any super memorable characters, or really not more than one or two, but I'm so early in the game that I really don't know what comes up. The story is very "coming of age" style, very jrpg in nature. Lots of doing errands for the village people, finding lost rings, delivering letters, etc. Monsters are in each map area and do respawn, so if you want to grind you absolutely can. The difficulty of this game does ramp up, so you have to make sure you are keeping your gear up to date and applying you ability points.

I've had two boss fights so far and the second one took me a few tries to get. Partly that's because I'm so used to games with dodge roll, but in this game you have to plan movement a bit because you cannot dodge out of the way of an attack. Perfect block is a thing though, if you use a shield (you can use 2H swords or mage staffs as well).

There are a bunch of items you collect from enemies and in the world, and I have no idea what they are for yet... I think there is some type of crafting in this game? I guess we'll find out.

Also, you do get cosmetic slots, so if you want to equip one hat but show your character with another one, you can do that. You can also just hide your hat if you like. You can use cosmetic armor as well and weapon, so that way you have some control over how your character looks without sacrificing the stats you want.

Overall I think this is a really neat little game, and I'm looking forward to playing more of it.

Honestly, the combat is pretty basic and a little clunky. Can't attack diagonally and there is no dodgeroll? Minor gripe but the UI for skill upgrades, equipment, etc is busy and could use some cleaning up - but given the large amount of upgrade options it's kind of understandable.

I can see why people like this but it's not for me.

Quite fun, but my god are some of the bosses an absolute trainwreck

So got the game. Got to the first island. Mobs kept spawning non stop. Story mode. We hit lvl 20 before getting off the first island like only fought slimes and dogs. lvl 20. Kept spawning. IDK not really fun there.

pretty and immersive, absolutely recommend if you want to zone out from the reality for some time :)

Good

nice

2 hour bean

Fun game

I initially picked up Secret of Grindea because of the obvious references to Secret of Mana and Zelda, thinking I'd primarily be enjoying a nostalgia trip with a heavy dose of RPG cliches. I was surprised when the game subverted those expectations and turned out to be incredibly fleshed out in all aspects. It has a well thought out combat system allowing for multiple character builds, numerous unique characters that grow with you, challenging and fun puzzles, and a very engaging story. The developers understand the cliches and, in every case, sidestepped or intentionally poked fun at them. This culminates in a new classic that pays homage, but does not ride the success, of it's predecessors. I highly recommend this game for anyone who loved the old SNES ARPGs but would still recommend even if you have no idea what came before.

Greatest game that I played this year. I need a STL of bag so put on my desk. Get this game.

I disliked the need for arrows to shoot things and that the endless dungeon is so different from the story. I feel like incorporating the two would have ha a good feel to "dungeons" if they didn't just unlock things but also built things up. I am re-installing it even though I've already beaten it. Because it's good.

I love this game to bits. So charming, so fun, so grindy. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with it!

ENGLISH🎮 Secret of Grindea - A Nostalgic Journey!
I had an amazing experience playing Secret of Grindea with my brother! This indie gem combines nostalgic pixel art with a modern twist, delivering an action-packed RPG adventure.

Highlights:
✅ Challenging gameplay: The difficulty is HIGH, perfect for those who love a tough challenge (and we made it worse by playing on hard mode).
✅ Impeccable pixel art: Every detail feels like a tribute to classic RPGs.
✅ Co-op fun: Playing with my brother made the experience even better, and we got to share the grind-induced stress.

If you’re not into GRINDING, this one might not be for you! 😅

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PORTUGUÊS BRASILEIRO 🎮 Secret of Grindea - Uma Jornada Nostálgica!
Tive uma experiência incrível jogando Secret of Grindea com meu irmão! Esse indie combina uma pixel art nostálgica com um toque moderno, entregando uma aventura RPG cheia de ação.

Principais destaques:
✅ Jogabilidade desafiadora: Dificuldade ALTA para quem ama um bom desafio (além disso, jogamos no hard para piorar).
✅ Pixel art impecável: Cada detalhe é uma homenagem aos clássicos dos RPGs.
✅ Diversão em co-op: Jogar com meu irmão tornou a experiência ainda melhor e o estresse do GRIND foi compartilhado.

Se você não curte GRINDAR, pula fora!

It took me awhile to come to the conclusion that I generally don't recommend this game to others because the name has GRIND in it.. That being said, the only real things you'll spend time grinding for is cash. There's a pet system in the game you could potentially grind out to make yourself more formidable, but honestly it doesn't even seem worth it overall.

The story is fine, and you do not need to grind much of anything to get through it, though some of the bosses will make you wonder if maybe the dev has inhuman reaction times based on how the block mechanic works. The puzzles are interesting and some can be tricky, the characters are memorable but somehow the story just feels rushed for some reason.

Well this left a bad taste in my mouth. I won't say that I didn't find any enjoyment in it the whole time, because in theory this game has solid mechanics, and the characters and story had just enough lighthearted charm to maintain my interest in between the fights... to a fault.
The perfect guard and instant charged counter attacks had to have been some of my favorite abilities, and the flexibility of the respec system made it fun to explore different builds. Of course, this flexibility starts to disappear once patience and cleverness cease to be viable and high DPS is your only hope for keeping the INSANE clutter on the screen under control, especially when bosses start spawning unlimited numbers of enemies who toss out huge, unmanageable groups of projectiles themselves.
I wish I knew going into this that I had chosen what would end up being the worst possible way to experience the game by the time the endgame rears its ugly head. If you want to avoid tainting the experience for yourself, DO NOT play on expert mode. Your power will scale so slowly relative to the enemies that you will be forced to grind for far longer than the devs clearly intended, because by the time you reach the endgame, you will likely already have reached the softcap for experience gain and will still be far too weak.
I won't say that none of the bosses were any fun on Expert. Some actually felt deeply satisfying to best. But, on that note, the cherry on top of the horrendous Expert difficulty option is one unadvertised feature (disabled healing) that turns the true final boss into an idiotic Sisyphean task that only a savant could pull off without practicing for weeks or months on end that normal people do not have at their disposal.
It only added insult to injury that a more reasonably balanced "Hard" mode was released after I had already ruined the game for myself, and the challenge level of the final boss changed from an impasse to a stiff breeze, and the whole ending sequence felt weirdly hollow afterward.

Perhaps if you play on Hard, you can enjoy that game as it was meant to be, but for me, its already too late, the good moments I had with Secrets of Grindea are already tarnished.