Castle Explorer

Simple but fun game that's easy to learn, especially for those familiar with the old Dungeon Quest board game, or any of the more recent versions (which this is essentially an exact copy of, just with names changed and a few tweaks). Despite needing a bit of polish, it's addictive fun, but be prepared to die... a LOT! Like the board game it's difficult to survive. The longer you spend in the dungeon the greater the probability of dying, adding to it's addictive quality.

Well, other people weren't kidding about this board game simulation - of a game I only vaguely remember playing when I was a wee squirt, with a somewhat different title (Dungeonquest)! - being highly "RNG"-oriented...

      My first game: I reached an impasse less than halfway through my twenty allocated turns...because a room I entered rotated, spat me out at an entrance other than the one I came in by...then proceeded to give me a dead-end shortly thereafter. So literally, I could only wander between three tiles, back and forth, and never progress further toward the centre of the board/castle that was my goal.

      No dragon's treasure for me!

      Next game: I chose a slightly different character - more of a super-strong, less-agile barbarian, as opposed to the more balanced warrior I chose the first time - and got a good bit further...before progressing so far in the "wrong" direction, through absolutely no fault of my own, that there was no chance I would reach the middle in time. Also: my health was so darned low by then that I could die from the tiniest trap or weakest enemy...and sure enough, I did die at the hands of a sneak-attacking troll, but...the dragon had awakened already anyway, so the best I could hope for was escaping the castle with my measly life intact, so again...

      No dragon's treasure for me!

      Third game: I chose an archer/ranger type character...and not only did the tiles turn in my favour, granting me the smoothest of routes to the dragon's lair...but almost every room along the way was empty or with a my-fault-if-it-frigs-up choice to be freely made (e.g. do I wish to search the crypt, or simply leave it be? I think I'll err on the safe side just so I can see if I reach the middle, thanks)! Even the infrequent traps weren't getting to have their ways with me. Sure enough, I finally made it to the dragon's lair...and escaped with 6700 points in gold before being slaughtered on the way out by a skeleton (but the mere fact I made it to the middle sounds like a victory to me, so...that'll do, pig...that'll do)!

      It's a very, very easy game to learn, and there are a fair few characters and three difficulty/mission modes with the basic game...so it's not too shabby in that regard (if a tad overpriced)! But do keep in mind it's a game only bested by Snakes and Ladders in the "almost complete lack of strategy" department. Chess this assuredly ain't...

      That said: you can of course "play the odds" and not push your luck too often, if you've been having good luck so far...and also, the random "rolls" - really wheel spins - are somewhat timeable to go in your favour...though luck still plays a definite part! Oh, and it also does a slightly cool thing where it "replays" the game you've just enacted, in case you wish to have your nose rubbed in your failure even further...

      An alright little time-passer, but it's hard to rant and rave about unless you enjoy having relatively little agency over the fate of your character. The three abovementioned games - each of them well under thirty minutes! - were quite enough for me for the time being, but perhaps I'll return in time, should I crave an especially "casual" game with minimal demands on my brainpower, reflexes and hand-eye coordination! (And there's always "card-farming"! Oh, and I probably forgot to mention that it's mostly intended for multiplayer gaming, even though I only did the single-player thing. Clearly, there may be a bit more longevity if you play this with friends, and the whole "gathering as much treasure as possible" goal takes on a bit more meaning as well; hence why I merely tried to make it to the middle, grab a bit of loot, and hightail it outta there!)

Verdict: 6.5/10.

(PS I guess there might also be some longevity in trying to 100% the Achievements...of which I only garnered a lucky 13%! And all you have to do to get them seems to be...to experience every tiny bit of misfortune the game can conceivably throw at you! Sounds like fun, eh?)

(PPS If you enjoyed this review, feel free to check out my two Curator pages: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/9284586-ReviewsJustfortheHELLofit/
http://store.steampowered.com/curator/10868048-Truly-Horrible-Horror-Games/?appid=398210
Cheers!)

I actually have a lot more hours played on a different account. The game is a fantastic good time and very exciting on each new play-through. I can't recommend it enough even if you only have 1 other player and everyone plays 4 chars each. Even alone it's a really fun time.

Also, the dev is very active and is willing to try and fix any bugs mentioned.

The game is a 10/10.

THIS game is the BEST!!!!!
If you and your friends are the kind of people who LOVE to laugh at each others suffering you will love it!
and will love it even more if they manage to live.

if your looking for laugh and have 2 to 20 mins to waste its a blast

This is based on the board game Dungeon Quest. If RNG is not something you like then this may not be for you. The random tile flipping can bite you, but this is part of the game, and some characters have abilities to mitigate this and other random elements of the game. Just seeing how far you can get into (and hopefully out of) the dungeon makes it interesting. Different end states (which you can choose at the start) also makes each play different.
The DLC's add more rings, more characters, more cards, more events, monster bounties, more loot, more NPC - more of everything - to make each run through a fun time.

It's unfortunate that I have to give this game a thumbs down. I love Dungeon Quest. This is very similar however with the victory conditions it makes it very difficult to win. So if you do not like rogue like games that are about a 10% chance to win, you will not like this one. I found buying the expansions made it more difficult. There are some events that will wipe you out unfairly in one turn like a pit, a creature you have to fight with your fists with unfair odds to hit etc. However after saying all this the game can still be fun just trying to see if you can actually make it. Have not done it yet though. I'll likely pop in here and there to see if I can give it a shot, but this game does not have my full attention in any way.
Update- I finally got the key and got to the escape castle point. It asked me if I was sure I wanted to escape castle. I said yes and I died. ???? Was that not what I was supposed to do? I'm sorry but that's enough for me lol.

It's not Dungeonquest. Not even slightly. It's completely different to Dungeonquest. Comparing this game to Dugeonquest is simply futile, as they are nothing alike in anyway.

10/10, would fall down a bottomless pit again.

Fun little game!

I am speaking as someone with little table top experience.

Tons of RNG and little room for strats which many would probably consider a downside, but it's super easy to pick up (Learned in 5 mins), and you can play local with up to 8 players. You can easily play this solo if you wish.

A real treat for fans of board games! Even more of a treat if one of those board games that you're a fan of, is DungeonQuest.

/wink

"Hidden cards to draw and create your own maze...to find your way to a dragon/key/treasures (and other stuff with DLC)"

so so clone of dungeon quest board game, but somehow sucks the fun out of it, the random number gen seems appalling , had a torch blow out and in 12 turns it didnt roll for me to relight it, now i understand its luck, but that just seems broken, especially when cpu players 9 times out of 10 were getting good rolls, refunded for now, may buy again if cheaper or given more polish

I bought this game a while ago and I refunded it. (Maybe I wasn't ready for it, maybe I thought the RNG was "unfair".) I bought it today (28th of December) and I REALLY like it.I have been looking for other "dungeon delving board games" for the PC, since I am living away from my group of friends. I like to play board games, so I thought "why the hell not".

It's a PC version of a board game and has to be seen as such. And for that I like it very much. It's reminding me of the good old days and games like DungeonQuest (and a little bit of HeroQuest too). I really like, that it stays true to the nature of a board game as such and has not been made into a roguelite.

It's brutal, it's unfair, but I would like to play round after round after round.

It's good and the Dev actually listens to the people in the forums. Which is really a nice thing.

Stretches the word "game" to breaking point

The fun is in the dying. Die you will. With thousands in gold and a mere step away from the exit or done in by the vampire chasing you-you will die. From dragonfire or traps or even slipping off a plank over a chasm:you will die.Rotating rooms,traps,pits.locked doors,trapped doors and even clear corridors await you. Venture forth and die in the dungeon. A few lucky ones will escape with treasures-a very few. Could you be one? Will you be a legend in the beerhalls or the butt of jokes-did you hear about Dragonspoor with his arms full of treasure trapped in the rotating room against the castle wall helpless while the dragonfie came for him? Yes,the fun is in the dying-unless you don't. then the fun is in the retelling of your adventures.
A dlc has arrived. More adventurers to train. More rings to use and creatures to battle. Once more into the castle to test your luck and challenge the dragon. The game is definitely rng focus but strategy options exists. Try it and risk getting hooked. Plus it now has trading cards. Thank you Ice Dragon. Time to go chase down those new achievements.

Did one game, 8 players, 7 of which were AI. Fell into a ditch on my first turn and stayed there for 8/20 turns. Then torch blew out and lost 2 more turns. Meanwhile the AI kept dying. By the end, I did manage to get a key and wander back to the exit, fire at my heels. I and one other AI survived. I lost by $50. There was no skill. All random and a little repetitive and boring Refunded.

Just fired this up and BAM, highly recommended. This is a digital version (more or less) of Dungeon Quest.

WARNING! If you do not like insta death games that are reliant on RNG, then stay away. If you are okay with that and love games like the old Rogue, then you will most likely love this game. I'd recommend playing it with friends as it's great to laugh when the dice don't go their way. :D

Great adaptation of a board game that my family loves.

Fun little Virtual Board game. Got it to play with my cousins when I watch them, and they had a lot of fun!

P.S. Just realized that sounded like this is a kids game, it's not. 23 and like it a lot :D

You have no non-trivial choices to make as a player, other than your choice of character. There's nothing here but watching what the RNG does to you. Also, no progression of any kind, unlike many similar boardgames. Great sound and the controls are obvious, but they forgot the gameplay. There are many better choices on Steam.

A cute little digital board game that pays tribute to some of the forgotten classics of yesteryear.

If you like board games where you get to choose from a cast of heroes with different strengths and weaknesses, but you want the added feature of brutal difficulty that makes every turn tense and potentially lethal, well... it's that.

The rules are simple enough that the game practically teaches itself, the basics can be easily mastered in the first 20 minutes of play. You enter a room, draw a card, pray it's not a big stabby ogre that wants to hurt you, and spin some wheels against your stats when the situation calls for it. Turns rarely last more than 2 minutes and are often just around 15 seconds, so the pacing is good.

Production value is middling, it certainly lacks polish in places but succeeds in setting the mood and conveys gameplay information fairly well. It's about right for it's price tag imho, although that is of course highly subjective. No bugs or glitches from what I've seen so far.

I like the game very much. its a really cool concept and has very good mechanics, But needs to be improved a bit!
that said the future of this game looks really good. its a solid experience so far.

the sounds are good, (dragon)(was)(Awesome)!
the variety of cards are good, (fingers crossed for more)
the artwork amazing.

if you like boardgames/turnbased games you should like this! just like i did.

#Update# Hotseat mode now avalible!