Caves of Qud

Ridiculously good RL, best RL I've played so far. It's extremely addicting.
Very unique with tons of interactions, abilities, quests and loot like you've never seen in games before.

caves of qud is a deeply complex, and unfair game which from the surface the game looks like a puddle but way deeper, you are MEANT to break the sandbox and you are MEANT to lose, if you don’t exploit everything you die

HOWEVER the devs seem to be deeply afraid of bad things in fiction and are unable to seperate fiction from reality. thus, you are NOT allowed to talk about the putus templar in the discord and its full of censorship in there. literally 1984

Like Skyrim in tile form! Well worth the full price, just do be sure to follow the tutorial and the pinned "getting started" guide (which doesn't have spoilers) at the top of the Steam Discussions for this game.

Live and Drink.
I always come back to this game, the unique builds and applications of them are really fun.

It's wonderfully complex and full of fun mechanics to explore. there is only the issue of ugly graphics and obscure gameplay, but that's part of the charm for me personally and i am really not shallow at all.;A prime specimen if you will. thanks for reading

I’ve been completely and unexpectedly drawn into the Caves of Qud universe. At first, I thought I needed to fully understand everything before diving in, but that’s not the case—just start playing. The game gradually forms around you, and you pick up what you need to get the hang of it. Before I knew it, I was completely hooked. The included guides and help, along with community guides on the workshop, are more than enough to get you going and enjoying the experience. I never expected to get so invested in a game like this, but here I am.

Caves of Qud. Play it. Immerse yourself.

This is my desert island game. If you are at all a fan of traditional roguelikes, or Gamma-World-esque darkly humorous future-past settings, this is a beautiful, deep, and compelling experience full of emergent narrative, a great sense of danger and discovery, risk and reward, and wildly diverse character building.
I don't play it all the time, but I come back to it consistently. It's regularly updated, and the patch notes are poetry. Go ahead and browse through the patch notes, and if they don't make you want to try this, then it's probably not for you. I only ever play traditional roguelike mode. I haven't even explored past the halfway point of the map, but I have a thousand stories of a thousand weird and wonderful characters who lived in this bizarre and colorful world. Some grew fungal body parts after inhaling spores in dank caves, some possessed goats and had adventures in the salty deserts, some blasted waves of mutants with dual pistols in sweltering jungles grown over ancient skyscrapers. Some built their own gadgets from scrap scavenged in trash piles. Some fell in holes and died, some froze to death, some had their heads blown up by psychic cultists. Some injected chems and fell in love.
The graphics are minimalist and might put some off, and you'll know if that's the case for you or not if you look at the screenshots. They are beautiful though and serve the experience and atmosphere perfectly. The game underneath though.. it's beautiful, it's an endless well of fun and discovery. Easily in my all-time top five, and the others on that list are not ones I still actively play. Looking forward to the 1.0 release and beyond. My thanks to this team for being so dedicated and hardworking on this weird wonderful gem of a game.

I was following the river, on the trail of the Goatfolk Shaman, Mamon Souldrinker. He had left a trail of devastation in his wake - flayed corpses and burned buildings. Having had some close calls in encounters with goatfolk warbands other than his - some including shamans of their own - I was naturally cautious, especially once I found his lair - seemingly a village like any other, apart from the smell of charred flesh and the lack of occupants. Living ones, anyways. I kept my battleaxe in hand, ready for combat at any moment. I could take no risks against a fellow psychic, especially not one who wields the Amaranthine Prism and of whom I knew so little. I would have to be ready for anything.

I found one of his minions first - a goatfolk warrior enthralled by his psionic powers. Alone. I cut him down and braced myself for further attackers - but none came from behind the trees, as had always happened when I battled goatfolk. Mamon was nowhere to be seen.

Searching the village, I discovered naught but the shaman's flayed kinsmen and empty huts. This was not the doing of anyone else - the Naphtali lacked the strength to overcome a village of goatfolk, and the robots of the ruins were far away. This act of violence could have been perpetrated by none other than Mamon himself. But where had he gone? My heart raced with every corner I turned, every tree I walked past, every step I took. He was here! He had to be! I had not cut my way through the jungle for nothing!

Then, I saw him. Mamon Souldrinker, eyes red with bloodlust, that baleful prism floating by his head, ready to meet me with his own battleaxe in hand, painted with scenes of Sultanic history and blood alike.

I could wait for this battle no longer! I charged into battle, cleaving through his armor with my axe, to which he responded in kind, dealing me a wound in turn. My second blow chopped his arm off below the shoulder, causing his weapon to fall to the ground, but the battle was not over - in his fury the shaman would battle through any injury short of a lethal one, and his brother had warned me of his power - if he could lay his remaining hand on me, he could drain the life out of me. I retreated, summoning a forcefield around myself with my mental energies, and then shifted my presence through time, drawing versions of myself from other timelines to distract him. I ran around the side of a hut, taking cover from him as my time-clones summoned deadly flora from the ground.

There was a crash, followed by an anguished and increasingly distant bleating, and in that moment I knew Mamon to be dead. Halfway to the grave myself, I crept back towards the other side of the hut to survey the carnage. My time-clones had vanished, the only evidence of their presence the plants they had summoned to aid them. Among them was an Irritable Palm - a tree I knew to be capable of launching its targets several meters through the air with its blows. All that remained of Mamon was his severed arm and his axe, which I collected - a fine replacement for my own.

But wait - the prism! I had to find it! My search for Mamon began once again, this time searching for his mangled corpse. I ranged far and wide, but came up short in all places I thought it conceivable he might have been thrown. It defied belief! These huts weren't as sturdy as fullcrete, sure, but they were solid objects, and all undamaged. If Mamon had been thrown through them, I would have noticed the damaged walls. It was only when I thought to search in inconceivable places that I found him - Mamon had been thrown over the roof of one of the huts, landing behind it. The prism was there, and I dared not attune to it - its dread powers were tempting, but I knew that using it could only lead to ruin.

I then began my trek back through the jungle, towards the safety of Kyakukya. It had been a harrowing journey, one I would not soon repeat.

For a classical roguelike enthusiast like me, Caves of Qud is the one of the modern crop which absolutely nails the feel, tone, and gameplay hooks of the titans of the genre. The world of Qud is a compelling and evocative setting, and the writing strikes that feeling of otherworldly normality, where a mutant with a third arm with an eye in the palm can be completely normal, yet a folding chair is a fascinating relic of a bygone world. Nothing short of The Next Great Roguelike.

This is pretty close to the pinnacle of old school rogue likes, massive world, creative silly story and a compelling game world, countless items, and the right balance of brutal difficulty with powerful abilities. If you like exploring a world one tile at a time i can't think of a better way to do it than QUD.

I've owned this game for several years, but only recently have I really given it a fair shot. Bounced off of me after purchase, and I put it down for a while. Came back about two weeks ago, and I can't get enough. Such a cool game...

While it may be early access, there's no Question Under Discussion that this is the best thing Kitfox ever published. Play as a True Kin or a cybernetic-ally altered mutant, carving your way through this strange land from the starting town of Joppa. With deeply simulated political systems that refresh each new session, it truly does feel like a living breathing world (even the plants have their own societies) and immerses you ashtray from the reminder it's all procedurally generated.

10/10 would be stoned to death by baboons again. My major gripe is that you will die a lot when learning to play and in doing so you will be forced to do the same starting loop over and over again. If you can get over that initial roadblock, by being less dumb than me preferably, there is a lot of variety and random events that make each run special.

learning the shortcuts on controller is a steep learning curve but once it clicks it's very well optimized. I also spent 13 hours trying to cure a fungal infection

Currently my most played game of all time. Seemed like I had to post a positive review. This game is not made to be a popular game. It is made to be a GOOD game. If you can find a foothold in the interface, it will be extremely rewarding. Other things I haven't seen mentioned yet, this game runs very well on anything, but you will dearly miss the mouse and number-pad of a full desktop. Also, the setting is pulling from some genuinely niche and under-explored resources. If you like D&D Dark Sun or the Gene Wolfe Solar Cycle, look into this game for sure, nothing is like it.

One of my favorite games. Great writing, interesting world and deep systems. If you like creating unique characters in RPGs, there's tons of opportunity for that. Not necessarily infinitely relatable, but I find myself coming back to create a new character once every few months. If any of this appeals to you, I strongly recommend Caves of Qud.

Still getting into this game, but it feels like a really unique rougelike. I've already played a turtle man who emits corrosive gas in one play and a psionic porcupine man in another. I'm just scratching the surface, but the world seems to be filled with wonders and histories waiting to be uncovered.

Took about 30 minutes to work everything out and then I'm having a blast. It's a great idea that you can choose to turn off permadeath if you want.

I must say I went into this with scepticism. People describing it as the "best RPG yet", I didn't find much appeal at the beginning. Just a constant grind of going the same path, dying at the same place, from the same creature, making a new character, and doing that several times.
I even almost got bored.
Then I tried once more. And boy... did everything change from then onward.
Soon I encountered a canyon literally packed with hostile baboons, warrior baboons, hulking baboons and what seems to have been their 12 leaders, each with different number of rings (1-12) on their tails. It was a bloody battle, with me slashing through baboons and trying to cut the limbs of their leaders, until I reached the 12th ringed baboon who ripped through me and I bled out.
All the runs after that were completely unique, with so much flavour.

As for the graphics, at first glance it's "simple, bad graphic" but it absolutely serves its purpose. The graphics couldn't have been better for this type of game.
It gives you the feeling of retro futurism by playing a graphically simplistic but modern game in era of realism in gaming.
But what it manages to do the best, and I can't highlight how good this is for this game - it gives you some sillhouettes, but leaves everything else to your imagination.
With the amazing soundtrack, it is easy to immerse yourself not going around on 8x8 screen with some pixels, but wandering the salty deserts, finding abandoned ruins of long forgotten civilizations, exploring the caves and finding lost surviving nations, who twisted and mutated their flesh into whatever amalgations in order to survive the harsh and incredibly cruel waterless world.
And then you reflect on your character, initially a regular knight, now with two hearts, scorpion tail, with a set of robotic arms on your back and another arm that suddenly started growing out from your right elbow.

This game doesn't have "good" graphics, it has perfect graphics that best suits it. It will not take from your experience, it will enrich it.
While quite difficult to learn the game, I however can't recommend it enough.
Go and play Qud.

was exploring a cave, fell 12 levels deeper down a hole, got extremely lost, found a tattoo gun, tattooed "EAT LEAD" across my knuckles as a show of dominance to all the cave spiders i was killing, immediately got a fungal infection on my hands right after, mushrooms took over my hands and i lost my tattoos, finally got out of the cave with only mushroom hands to show for it and it was genuinely one of the best gaming experiences ever

this game is so fucking cool dawg; i cant even put it into words how much i like it. it took a LONG time to understand how to play it properly but watching a few of rogue rat's qud playthroughs on youtube helped a LOT. thank you for your service rogue rat o7

This is one of the greatest games of all time. Do yourself a favor and ignore everything the dev says online. He's made some really dumb statements in the past and it almost made me never want to support this game, but I'm happy to report that despite this, the game is very good.

How do I have nearly 40 hours in this game already? I don't even know how I now instinctively know all of the controller/Steam Deck controls, either.

Great game, lots of customizability and randomness that make every run unique. They have added so much over time. If you enjoy more traditional roguelikes, caves of Cud is one of the best

An otherworldly experience that is far too worldly to be ignored.
If you like roguelikes, you should play this.
If you enjoy reading, you should play this.
if you enjoy doing things you feel like you probably shouldn't do for the safety of reality, but hey it'll be cool? You should probably play this.
A golden tome of a videogame.
I can not stop thinking about this.

I have played this game for 20+ hours so I am still a noob, but have seen plenty of the game's locations and mechanics.

I must start by saying that this game is certainly not for everyone. If you have played Hades, Cult of the Lamb and Binding of Isaac and you think that you love and you know roguelikes, you are probably going to be disappointed. If, on the other hand, have played TOME and Nethack, you most likely are going to love this game.

Please give this game respect, love and time and it's going to reward you a lot. The mechanics, visual and story are just one of the best out there.

Takes some time to learn the game but once you understand it , its gonna be the greatest fun you ever have.

I'm a huge roguelike fan, but this game is boring. I tried my best to like it but it's just plain boring. I didn't get addicted at all. Too much visual noise and I prefer much simpler interface. it sucks that I couldn't pick up items selectively at once.

Qud is one of those games that gives you back what you put into it. It may be confusing at first to understand how to even move and interact with the world, but behind that first hurdle is a vast experience to be had. Amazingly, this keeps happening the longer you play. The next hurdle starts to be more about how the systems of the game work and interact.

This is all neglecting to mention the mind boggling lore and setting, which give the world a feel that is both ancient and futuristic. The writing has a language of its own, it will give you just barely enough to let your mind kind of wander and fill in the rest.

This is a technique of the visual style as well. I salute the artist(s) who had to come up with clever ways to depict the absolute gorillions of things there are in Qud, in only a few pixels each. This does cause some items, characters, or things in the world to tend toward abstraction. Then you open their description and get another cryptic sliver of information. The game is incredibly immersive because information is delivered to the player in this way. The imagination is able to run wild, but in a specific direction.

The music is what truly helps the player be transported to Qud, and I would say it's vital to the experience. This is one of the few games where I often forget to put something on my second monitor or on the TV while I'm playing it because I get completely sucked in, and I think the music plays a huge role in that.

There is a great lesson this game about the many ways of being. This is a little hard to explain but it's kind of my lasting impression from this game. The game shows you a TON of different ways to Be a Thing in the World, and they all contend for their little slot in the big picture.

Anyways, great game.

It's hard to describe the itch that this game scratches. I feel like I'm playing a floppy-disk game in my hometown library's basement, but with incredible depth and color graphics. Love the sci-fi themes. In comparison, I found dwarf fortress too overwhelming, but I loved the approach to complexity with simple graphics. I liked Shattered Pixel Dungeon for years on mobile, but it lacked the RPG depth that COQ has. I'm only 10 hours in, but after getting used the UI I'm wholeheartedly impressed and grateful I found it in early access. Excited to see where this game goes.

I already loved this game.

And then I got to Bethesda Susa.

It was the greatest experience I've ever had in any video game. It's not even close. And there have been some real highlights over the last 30 years of gaming. The vastness, the sense of mystery, the way an already massive world became so much more.

I don't know what else can be said about Caves of Qud that hasn't been said already. I genuinely can't believe this thing exists.

Picked all the options they recommend for new players and still died right away. I can only hope the dev makes a bunch of people mad for some reason so they buy a bunch of copies to leave bad reviews and that makes the dev rich so they can keep adding to this game.

Endlessly fun literary rougelike. Experience the world of Qud in new and exciting ways with every run, or wear your favourite build like a comfy blanket and mutate from there. Never had any issues running across numerous OS. Strong recommend and looking forward to full release!

It's been a long time since a game has captured me like this one has. I can go on forever about how much I love this game and why I hope everyone gets to experience and enjoy it. It was mentioned before in a review that I read here, and that is the deaths are sometimes as rewarding as triumphs.

Asaira- Blademaster- (2 Handed Long Blades, Paralyzing Stinger, Regeneration, high survival/mobility build). Checking her navigation scanner, she locates the ancient ruins that possibly contain an artifact, that will grant the ability to bend space and time giving her the power to collect copies of herself in various dimensions, bringing them into a single battle. The problem was finding it. The ruins were infested with a colony of giant mutated Fire Ants. After a few days clearing the surface of the ruins, she descended into the depths, further into this colony. Never found the artifact. Instead she perished, dissolved in a pool of acid created by the Fire Ant Queen and some sort of Fly Leper Abomination (don't know how to describe it, it was creepy).

Esora- Thorny Rose Vine that can summon plants (plants that can grapple, explode, electrocute).
Alita- I made Alita Battle Angel.
Abyssai- Spider Queen, trapping enemies in webs while I blast them down with modified Rifles, Grenades, and mines from Tinkering. Good luck catching her as she skitters away with multiple legs and the phasing mutation.

If you love building RPG characters and exploring a vast random sandbox open world, this is the game for you. If you love building RPG characters in a crazy post x12 apocalyptic vast random sandbox world with mutations and cybernetics, this is definitely the game for you.

Endless replay value.

I love this game, I hope you will also. Try it out!

Every time I play this game with a new run I am constantly bombarded with something that I have never experienced. It's a refreshing experience every time. For an example: I made a new run and I decided to start in Joppa. The moment my game loaded the warden was instantly confused and was killing everyone in the village. THE STARTING VILLAGE! Like WTF just happened?! So just off of something like that i will say that this game is peak and I love it very much and I highly recommend anyone that is reading this message to please give it a try.

I almost missed out on this. I found out about this game through seeing some YT videos and in those, I heard people describe it as "one of the best RPGs ever". The amount of freedom that was described, along with details on the skills you could get, the story etc caught my intention.

So I bought it, yet I guess I was not in the right mindset, as the steep learning curve, the very... basic graphics (reminding me of old 8bit games) and the amount of key bindings simply didn't click with me right then. Guess it was not the right time.

I am so glad I tried again. This game is SO much fun, starting with creating your char. You can choose between a mutant (you can pick mutations with different pros and cons, and you can also create a char which will get random ones) or a truekin (which can be enhanced by implants). I did some research and heard both "mutants start slow but get incredibly strong" and "forget mutants, truekin with lots of implants is amazing"... I can't judge yet where I stand on this.

There is a new tutorial in the beta version, which will teach you the first few commands. After about an hour, I was familiar with controlling my char, shooting, using abilities, navigating the maps etc.

And whoa, I am hooked! There is so much to explore, so much to find out. I started out with a template, yet created two chars I keep switching to... a gunslinger (Roland) who has a tortoise carparace and can emit corroding fog plus spit slime while sometimes hitting enemies with his beak, and a mutant who has claws (so he can't wear shoes), can mind control enemies and has some other abilities.

There is SO much variety, and exploring the world is FUN. It's up to you whether you wanna play rogue style (you WILL die several times before you get the hang of the game) or RPG style, where you can reload check points if you get killed.

The basic graphics don't bother me at all anymore. I have been gaming ever since the days of the C64, so I am fine with this, I just wasn't up for it when I first tried the game unfortunately. Unless you really can't get over the artstyle, UI and layout, give this one a try!

It's a wonderful little game with tons of build variety, high replay value (like in Dwarf Fortress etc, the game is created on each new game start, apart from a few set points that are always there for you to follow the story/questline), and a mysterious world that invites you to explore and find out more.

LOVE IT!

It's a fantastic and absolutely brilliantly creative game. It has many ways to try and tackle the wildlife of Qud so you shouldn't get bored quickly.

High learning curve, even if you're familiar with games like this. However it is well worth it.

Live and drink.

I never really saw the point to any of this, the learning curve/mechanical gap is just way too steep for me personally. I'm all about support indie games and giving things a chance, but for once, i genuinely feel like I've wasted my money. There's no aid or tutorial to help you understand even the basics, which would be fine if the player wasn't constantly annihilated for seemingly no reason every couple minutes.

This game is addicting to say the least. love to beguile a guy then walk him into my fart cloud of rip. Call that the Welcome Mat Bomb. character builds are so fun grinding is fun I really would say get this if you like games like rogue

I made a clone army and some of them rebelled
I have contracted several diseases and had to both find and make the cures from random ingredients
I gained the ability to open a spacetime vortex and as a result of two of them clashing, I was crushed under the weight of a thousand stars
I peered into the future, giving me the knowledge I needed to avoid my head being exploded by an interdimensional traveller hunting me down

oh the games cool too

Very fun (and fairly tough) rogue-like with lots of freedom and quirky world setting. The writing in Caves of Qud is quite sophisticated but interesting to read. Qud is almost fully randomly generated except some fixed things, but enough to be somewhat balanced* in terms of gameplay. I haven't reached even the half of the main quest line and that's considering careful play in one of the attempts.

* - includes tons of instant deaths as seen in the trailer

astounding video game. ptoh doesn't want you to know this but the ego on the seekers of the sightless way is free you can graft it to your own psyche. i have 458 ego.

Caves of Qud is delightful. The world is very fleshed for you to explore. Each playthough is fun presenting something different to discover. The writing for descriptions is good and gets the imagination flowing. Combat can be simple starting out and turn intricate as you learn new strategies and understand your tool set better. All the random abilities and skill trees to speck into make for a fun variety.

This kind of game isn't for everyone. Its a very tough rougelike that doesn't hold your hand at all. You will die a lot. Its art style is pixely and basic with some good visual animation flares here and there. If thats not deal breakers for you then try it out.

It was just another expedition into the lower tunnels of the Grit Gate, I had taken my companions with me: Elder Irudad of Joppa and Harambe the albino gorilla. We were about 8 floors deep and descending into another shaft when out of the blue an esper-hunter that had been tracking me down appeared in front of us, in a moment of surprise Elder Irudad threw a grenade at his feet, but too late had he seen Harambe charging through to the front. In an instant a flash of drowning light and fire engulfed the cavern too late for me to react, And in the silence that followed, gone was my loyal follower. I named my shield after his boldness and continued to adventure on knowing he'll always be in our hearts (Elder Irudad was never given any explosives after that day).
[hr][/hr]
Just like Rimworld, Caves of Qud (CoQ) is a story-generator; You will make a character and die several times before you realise that in this world you start out as just another inhabitant trying to survive, You will likely make companions who too may die or grow with you as characters, You will build reputation with all sorts of factions from the civilised nations like the Templars or the less civilised such as Apes, Fishes or even Birds.

There is an overarching story to follow in CoQ but none of that is mandatory as you make your way to becoming whatever you strive for in this world, All sorts of mysteries litter every nook and cranny of the world of Qud and the only road you have to follow is one that you make for yourself.

as of posting this review the game is far from perfect, but since it seems to be the best actual roguelike that wasnt forgotten by its developers ill give it a positive one
the main problem i have is the late game. while qud does have a great build variety with its options combining so cool and organically, at some point you just understand that most of the "cool" ways to play this game simply dont work as good as you expected them. once developers are done with the main quest i hope they will go through the builds one more time and give them some rebalancing and provide players more accessible workarounds for the weaknesses they might end up having (like more consistent crafting recipes/consumables sources). while this will definitely make the whole game easier and that kinda goes against the spirit of the genre, i think qud is one of those cases where it will greatly benefit from making you feel cool and powerful regardless of what way you approach it: whether its going akimbo with your 4 arms, smashing robots with a giant hammer or casting some weird psychic spells.

I will withhold total judgement on the writing until the main quest is finished, but so far, it's just been a wacky purple prose fest. I can't say I'm not having fun with the game part of the game, but I'm worried that the non-game part of the game will ruin the game part of the game.

If you like roguelite/roguelikes and don't mind spending a few minutes reading up on how to play, its an excellent, excellent game. One of my favorites. Learn the keymap, it will make it way easier. You don't need a mouse to play, which makes it great for laptop gaming as well (also, limit your FPS in-game settings, you won't need >120 FPS).

Honestly one of the coolest games I've ever played. Something you can sink hours and hours into and feel like you've just scratched the surface. Can't wait for 1.0

I have been frustrated by this game, but I have never been bored with it, and I think that's the hallmark of an excellent experience. There are dozens of other reviews that explain what the game is like, but I think if you buy it and play it for a few minutes, you'll very quickly know whether it's for you or not. I would absolutely recommend at least trying it; I've definitely gotten my money's worth.

Caves of Qud, a game that i would consider to be the single greatest game i have ever played. You are given an extensive toolset, with a vast world to explore, as details are hidden into every action you take with nuance i would not see in many other experiences. The dependency on text-based gameplay and a lack of reliance for visuals grants the game extreme mechanic complexity as well as makes it extremely light, allowing most machines to run it extremely well. The main drawback however, is the fact that the game has a cliff for a learning curve; which leaves most players discouraged from continuing. That, coupled with its rather simple and large UI makes many leave the game behind.

However, I advise you refrain from doing so and give this game a proper go. The depth is unparalleled and the passion that the creators had for this game is overflowing with every turn. The game is brimming with content, simply lacking tiny bits in a few areas which will hopefully be patched up when 1.0 releases.

This, coupled with the brilliant sparks of writing scattered throughout the world of Qud, makes it a truly immersive experience.

TL;DR: It's a must play.

OVERVIEW:

- In-depth mechanics. (++)
- Extremely light on machines, allowing for most people to play. (+++)
- Great story writing. (+)
- Game is brimming with content. (++)
- The open world feels like a world. (+)
- The setting is brilliant. (+)
- Poor accessibility, and a steep learning curve. (----)
- Unintuitive UI (--)

10 pluses vs 6 minuses. Worth your time, unless you don't wish to commit a good chunk to it.

And remember; Live and drink.