Caves of Qud

Jesus Christ. I held off on buying this because I thought it looked a bit too complicated. It is, but it enhances everything about this game.

I struggle to verbalize why this game is genuinely brilliant. Few games respect the player as much this one does- irl knowledge is almost a meta-currency in this game because once you figure out how to break it in a few ways there is no going back. Unfortunately you can no longer freeze dry magma (RIP lava economy you are sorely missed) but the physics/liquid engine allows for all kinds of similar shenanigans. I can rave about everything in this game- from the insanely atmospheric soundtrack, to the incredible writing and lore but what makes Qud truly special are those "HOLY FKING SHT YOU CAN DO THAT??" moments that ensue once you start putting the puzzle pieces together.

Caves of Qud isn't just about playing a character; it's about becoming a part of a living, breathing world that reacts to your actions in profound and often unpredictable ways. It explores the delicate balance between individual agency and the forces of fate, and the realization that even seemingly small choices can have far-reaching consequences. Caves of Qud represents the power of player choice in a truly dynamic environment. And for a game that initially looked like a messed up Excel spreadsheet, it's astonishingly immersive and draws you in like no other.

Beautifully crafted game... not for everyone

• Simple Artstyle
  
• Some of the joy of the game is the reading
  
• You will die and lose a lot of progress
  
[*] You kind of just have to try things without being told about it

Kinda surprised I haven't made a review of this game yet, but it's as good a time as any to share this story with 1.0 releasing last week.

In my most recent game, I started as a Truekin and went about things as normal. On my travels, I found a strange, ancient, metal bug-creature that was randomly walking around cloning whoever it bumped into. Using my skills as a Truekin, I talked to the creature and convinced it to follow me. Sensing an opportunity, I took it down a series of staircases I had created earlier in the run using an ancient drilling device that led ~40 floors beneath the surface to meet a merchant I had found there.

Now in this game, as you go deeper beneath the surface you encounter stronger enemies and better loot, and the same logic is carried over to merchants. The traders you find 30+ floors down have some of the best equipment in the game for sale, but getting there can obviously be difficult and they have a fairly low chance of carrying the really choice items, like polygel. You can check back every now and then when they restock their inventory, but even if you save their location to a personal teleporter to cut down on the trip, it can be pretty tedious and is still a rather slow way of gathering the items you might want.

However, traders don't restock their inventory in some kind of simulated way, after a certain amount of time every merchant npc just automatically receives new inventory items that materialize from the void. Therefore, there can be as many merchants in an area as the area can fit, and they would still all independently restock their full inventory every few days. Now, any Joe-Shmoe who's seen the Sseth review (which is probably most of you) can likely see where this is going. By using cloning drought (or in this case, letting the metal bug do its thing) on the merchants you find underground, you can create a clone of the merchant, giving you another chance of someone stocking the good stuff.

However, what you wouldn't know from watching the video is that Sseth's method was disgustingly inefficient. Cloning drought isn't particularly easy to come by (unless you use the polygel/waterskin trick, but that requires a few drams of polygel, which is also rare and has a bunch of other more immediately useful applications) and is very valuable regardless, so just using it to clone one merchant at a time is a pretty resource-intensive and slow way of building up your merchant harem. If you truly want industrial quantities of high-level merchant items without investing too much, that's where the metal bugs (which are actually called Clonelings, which I'll be calling them from now on) come in!

You see, while Clonelings technically also need cloning drought to clone people, they only need to be supplied with a single dram (the same amount that can be used to make one clone manually) to make 40 clones. Heck, they usually even come with a good ~20 charges of the ability for free when you recruit them! Though to maximize this you should recruit them as soon as you find them and hurry to the location of whoever you want to clone, as they tend to wander around wasting their charges on random npcs, even after they join your party.

Because of this, it's also best to get rid of anyone else in the same area as the cloning target, (such as the guards most merchants have) as the Cloneling will chose them for meaty 3D-printing just as much as your intended npc. Given the most obvious way to accomplish this removal, I would also like to mention that npcs who's faction doesn't hate you (and factions usually don't care about murder unless it's someone famous) will forget about being in a fight with the player if you move to a different area a few times. Be careful using this pacification method though, the target will still chase you and could end up in a different area with other potential cloning targets if you're not careful. If you have the drilling device I mentioned earlier, a good tactic is simply to use it to create staircases beneath you, then take out the merchant's guards and quickly descend 3-5 floors. When you come back up, the merchant will have likely only moved a few feet and have forgotten all about the earlier tomfoolery.

Using this method, I created 200+ clones of the high-level merchant using a mere 5 drams of cloning drought, completely filling the center of the cave we were in with merchants lined shoulder-to-shoulder. The rest of that run was mostly spent screwing around on the surface and teleporting down every now and then to my personal mall, where I traded the junk I scrounged up top for about 5-6 drams of polygel (which, since I haven't actually explained yet, allows you to copy any item in your inventory) that I then used to copy and shoot up eater's nectar, an incredibly rare drug that permanently increases one of your stats every time it's used. I could definitely have been getting even more polygel per trip if I tried, but honestly 200 clones was kind of overkill as keeping track of which identical merchant you've already checked the inventory of is basically impossible and checking 200 inventories per trip is a pain regardless.

Anyway, the fact that the game even allows you to do stuff like this sort of speaks for itself. I would highly recommend it to people who like games that encourage exploration and experimentation to understand their mechanics, while giving players the freedom to use and abuse said knowledge as they see fit. For people new to the traditional-rougelike genre, (like I was when I started) I should also say that the game's controls and UI are at least relatively comprehensible for a newcomer. They're by no means straightforward, but compared to some of the calculator-tier control schemes the genre is home to, they're not too intimidating. Heck, I haven't actually played the game since they updated the UI a while back, so it might even be somewhat approachable now!

Every now and then, i have moments where i question if my interest in the potential and power of video games has really ended. It might sound silly, but as every year passes by and video games keep getting commercialized into ridiculous levels of monetization stupidity, the budgets keep ballooning non stop while many studios close down and as a result many publishers stop taking any kind of risk to do anything interesting and just release slop until the whole industry collapses (which to be frank we are almost there, at least with AAA games).

But then you get games like Caves of Qud out of the blue, which in theory aren't supposed to exist but there are still enough people out there who have this unique timely, human spirit of persistence, ambition and desire to reach and connect with everyone, to share something special and inspire others. I got Caves of Qud during it's early access phase, and while i'm wary of those titles, this is one of those games that neatly fit the whole format, the amount of equal dedication given by both the devs and fans is astounding really!

Imagine this wieldy mix of a universe ripped straight out of old 70's pulp Sci/fi and sword and sorcery novels mixed with Dungeons and Dragons all the while offering the witty, dark sense of humor of The Hitchhiker's Guide to Galaxy. It's one of those games that while i don't always play, i regularly go back to just tinker around with even if it's for a couple of minutes. It's the kind of game that fills you with so much inspiration and joy because i think it benefits from having such a simple but unique graphical style that they're able to pour over all of their work into making a game so flexible, filled with vast amount of different play styles that it feels so overwhelming sometimes, but it's still worth because it's one of those few games that even if you're not playing it, will already have left an long last imprinting on your subconscious and soul.

The perfect game for a hungry mind. Live and drink.

I spent 4 hours just trying to get a handle on things, and failed miserably. The UX/UI is beyond overwhelming (especially if you do not have experience with the types of notation used in tabletop D&D games, which I do not), and I found myself haphazardly switching between keyboard and mouse controls, with neither feeling comfortable or intuitive. I made it years as a designer using fiddly graphic design programs before I had to learn as many keyboard shortcuts as this game wanted me to learn in the first hour.

Determined to get the hang of things, I doubled down and decided to read some guides in the hopes that I could pick up some tips, but just as many players seemed confused and offered information that may be outdated as it applied to versions before 1.0, or represented a very niche strategy that was more for entertainment value. As it was, I just kept dying over and over and over--and not in a fun way where I felt motivated to try again. I'm very comfortable with permadeath in roguelikes such as Hades, Dead Cells, and Rogue Legacy 2, but the Classic mode of Caves of Qud is so unforgiving it felt more like playing a Dark Souls game. Even in the Roleplay mode where I would respawn in town, the repeated dying was more tedious than fun.

Before Caves of Qud, I had never attempted to return a game in my many years of being on Steam, so I wasn't aware that 2 hours of playtime is the limit for a refund. So if you find yourself struggling and aren't enjoying it, you may consider noping out earlier than I did at 4 hours. My two requests for a refund have been rejected, and this whole incident has eroded my trust with using Steam as a platform in the future.

That said, I really applaud the developers for creating an extremely large and complicated game. It's actually breathtaking how vast the gameplay possibilities are, especially when considering that they explicitly support the modding community. I really hope this game finds its community, and I have no doubt it will be loved for years to come. It just isn't for me.

A beautiful, strange, wonderful world to explore. Amazing music, superb writing. Caves of Qud is the greatest traditional roguelike ever made, IMO.

When you tell someone the story of how you died in Caves of Qud, you are still playing Caves of Qud.

Trained a sentient sludge to follow me

Grew the sludge until it became powerful enough to inflict random status effects to anything it would attack

Sludge attacks a legendary enemy, randomly procs the "In Love" status effect causing him to fall in love with me

The sludge, jealous of our newfound love, proceeds to murder us both

10/10 would do the sludge love triangle again

I'm sorry but these kind of games (also Dwarf Fortress and Rimworld) "create stories" like mid-2000's web based plot generators. "A [pack of rats] entered [your bathroom] and [ate] all your [toilet paper], so now your [adopted] [daughter] is [afraid of rodents] and [wont] [eat cheese]". Haha so rnadom, so unique - I mean, sure... but that level of storytelling is juvenile at best and AI-generated slop at worst.

"A [diabetic] [troll] attacked [you] so [you lost an arm]" is not character development; it's just word salad.

The game's systems might be interesting but the way some people sell it as a "a story / world / histories generator" falls really, really short.

Caves of Qud represents the pinnacle of roguelike game design, offering unprecedented freedom through its deep mutation and cybernetics systems. Unlike other games with limited character options, every choice in Qud meaningfully impacts how you'll interact with its rich, dynamic world.

The game's unparalleled simulation depth creates an interconnected ecosystem where every object, creature, and faction reacts naturally to your actions. Your choices ripple through the world in fascinating ways, creating emergent narratives that feel organic rather than scripted.

What truly sets Qud apart is its reward for creativity. Other roguelikes might let you fight a monster or run away—Qud lets you clone it, trade with it, learn its secrets, or even convince it to join your cause. This depth, combined with its brilliant post-apocalyptic setting, ensures every discovery feels meaningful and surprising.

I honestly don't have enough time in this game to give it a fair review. I'm putting one out now on its release day to help the algorithm. Nonetheless, I do want to say that it is to hardcore "anything can happen" roguelikes like Nethack what Rimworld is to Dwarf Fortress. That is to say an *extremely* dense game of myriad possibilities that can look daunting, but does a surprisingly good job of tutorializing and introducing you to how it plays. Also unlike a lot of the hardest hardcore roguelikes, it has a Roleplay mode which creates checkpoints when you arrive in towns. This is as approachable as something this dense can be. This game has been at least 15 years in the making, the least I can do is support it on its first day out of the womb.

I've never reviewed a game on Steam, but I feel compelled because the developers asked. They deserve it.
Qud stands on its own as a roguelike, RPG, and video game.
Qud stands on its own as a work of fantasy and science fiction.
Qud stands alone as a work of art. You can't play the Mona Lisa, but you can play Qud.

Brian and Jason, thank you. Your game is a major achievement of the human imagination. My life is better for it. Live and drink, water-sibs.

O game of dream, of endless deep.

A world as ancient as the stars, where the sands of eternity stretch ever onward. Qud is a place where existence itself hums in every crack and crevice, where each moment is a fleeting glimpse into the unknown. It is a journey that winds through cities of chrome, deserts of salt, jungles of rot and caverns deep with secrets.

The game world breathes with sentience, its every ruin and creature a reflection of the forgotten past. Here, the fabric of time is thin, and every step is a dance between memory and possibility. The mysteries of Qud unfold like a dream that never ends, inviting the player to explore, to fight, to question and to discover, never quite knowing what lies around the next corner.

O Glorious Shekhinah! Praise be upon your symmetrical perfection. Father among Fathers, bringer of chrome, may your light shine like the ageless stars!

To traverse the endless stratas and ever-expanding parasangs of Qud is to experience existence itself—bizarre, beautiful, chaotic and endlessly surprising. A game unlike any other, where the journey itself is the reward.

Live and drink, water-sib. You are becoming.

Simply the best roguelike rpg I’ve ever touched. Procedural generation can be a double-edged sword: too much and it makes a game feel soulless and arbitrary. Where Qud massively succeeds is perfectly balancing proc genned elements with handcrafted content to create a stupendous and dangerous world.

I have to single out the unwaveringly distinct voice of the writing as a high point - every single enemy description, item description, heck even descriptions of usually mundane objects like rock walls and plants fairly drip with atmosphere. Qud is an ancient place and you are a tiny creature rattling around inside of it.

For a game with such depth and complexity I found the new tutorial extremely helpful for getting into the fun of the game.

The prominence of permadeath in a game that supports such long playthroughs (40+ hours) does give me pause - it’s very bold, and I’ve found myself unable to resist savescumming at a few (ok fine, many) moments. But that’s ok!

This is a once in every 10 years sort of game, one I’ve found myself unable to put down, thinking of as I fall asleep at night, cooking up strategies and priorities. The price may seem high at first glance, but I assure you it’s worth every penny. I can only hope we see more of Qud past the 1.0 - I would like to live here a long, long time.

Pretty cool game, so much depth, and confusing as heck. Perfunctory review, though it's been kind of cool seeing it evolve over the years. Definitely worth picking up if you have the hundreds of hours to spare to fully see what it's about.

An incredible masterpiece of a true roguelike. A very unique alien world that is filled with excitement and exploration. It's a ruthless violent world, but if you persist, learn, live, and drink, it will reward you in ways very very few games can. I've played the gamut, Rogue, Nethack, Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, and so forth. Nothing has felt more like a true labor of love than this game.

Be a cybernetic cyber samurai, a 10 limb monstrosity, your favorite X-Men, or more. I haven't ran into a game that does open world truly right like this. It's also one of the few roguelikes where permadeath doesn't bother me. And if it does bother you they put in multiple types of modes so you can get the full experience tailored to your tolerances.

Normally I could write up details on each aspect of a game and why I love it, but unlike other reviews I've given I just want to keep playing more instead.

I really like Caves of Qud so far, it trutly is a love letter to old-school text-based games, packed with so much detail and depth that it feels like you can get lost in it forever—if you’re up for the challenge. The game throws you into this strange, post-apocalyptic world full of mutants, robots, and bizarre factions, where every choice you make shapes your story in unexpected ways.

One of the best rpgs i've ever played, endlessly detailed, with absolutely wonderful world building and writing. I keep wanting to make new characters to try out different combinations of abilities. And for once, an rpg with no useless stats, all are incredibly good to have.

And all of my 330 hours of playtime has been on my first proper character, and i'm still not done with that playthrough. It's just endlessly fun to explore this world, and be a part of it.

Caves of Qud is a roguelike that I have followed for more than 10 years at this point. It ticks all the right boxes for me, indepth systems that you learn more and more as you play the game. Graphics and Music that set a mood that not often is found in roguelikes or most other games.

The complexity can be a bit overwhelming for newcomers, I would recommend anyone starting out to try out the Roleplaying mode as it will alleviate some frustration. Classic Mode is my persoanl preference however.

I spent an hour creating a character, thinking about interactions between mutations. Spawned in, moved one screen over -- evil twin spawns and instantly slays me.

Game of the year.

I absolutely adore this game, a wonderfully deep true rougelike experience! Plays surprisingly well on the steamdeck, after a few extra keybinds and I honestly prefer the experience to keyboard. I strongly urge all my friends to give this gem a go. Live and drink.

Game is very fun with only a bit of clunky-ness here and there with things like looting or heightened hearing stopping the auto explore because you detected a enemy through several walls.

Walked into some lava deep underground, lost my only light source. Wandered into a glass wall and broke it, walked in and started freezing to death because they built a room just to keep a clone of some guy permanently frozen and now i can't move as i slowly die. Detonated 2 thermal grenades on myself to get unfrozen but i also free the clone, who is hostile and my chances to beat him are rated "impossible". Escape him because for all that power he can't see in the dark either, and i have good hearing so i can detect nearby enemies even if i can't see. Its a unique game.

Hard to describe it as anything other than "Best of its kind."
Any of its few problems can be modded out, and the game sees consistent support.

The community seems to suffer from PTSD but that aside this game is brilliant, well worth your time and money.

Amazing open-world roguelike. Allows for a large amount of freedom in character creation, gameplay, story and quest decisions, and overall approach. Really great.

My only complaint is that it's totally viable to make a character build centered around growing a party of strong companions- it's a super fun way to play but also incredibly tedious. It currently functions basically the same as companions in Fallout 3/NV, except there isn't a real companion cap. So you can have as many companions as you want but you have to manage them individually through dialogue-esque menus. You also do not have fine control over their equipment or stat progression. You can only give them items to hold and they will equip what they think is best.

This is honestly holding the game back a lot in my opinion. Hopefully it can be adressed with some kind of centralized party management UI in the future. There is not really even a good mod solution.

Live and drink!

Tried to get into the game but I felt clueless after getting lost in the first dungeon and the devs don't seem to nice. Might be worth it if I put more time into it but it just doesn't seem like the game for me.

I have tried on multiple occasions to get into this game, but I just haven't ever enjoyed it. I typically enjoy roguelikes a great deal and bought this based on how highly praised it is, but I just don't see the appeal.

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.

The best compliment I can give a game is that I am certain I will destroy my own life if I do not force myself to uninstall it. Qud is that, and there are so many individual things that make it a perfect game for me. Its mechanics and lore are top notch, and it's an amazing entry point for anyone interested in traditional roguelikes. If you're indecisive about it but it seems cool, just go for it. You could do worse with your money, and the developers truly deserve it for putting together such an incredible project

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