Indie games are currently taking the world by storm and within this revolution, roguelikes are one of the most notable genres out there.
So that brings us on to Crown Trick. Developed by NEXT Studios Crown Trick was released in October of 2020 for PC and Switch, and has since managed to stand out in the tsunami of roguelikes being released lately.
The first thing that stands out is the beautiful design of the world, the colours used aren’t too bright, keeping with the dungeon aesthetic, but they are colourful enough to make the game feel cartoony and exciting.
I don’t usually enjoy top-down games like Crown Trick, I much prefer 3D action, but I have to admit there is something about this game that kept me hooked. I fully expected to go into my playthrough having to push myself to play more but I actually had to push myself to stop playing. There’s just something captivating about this world.
So the story of Crown Trick follows Elle as she journeys into the Realm of Nightmares. On arrival she meets a sentient omniscient crown who chooses to help Elle to save the world, becoming your sarcastic companion for the journey. The story is told in little sections so isn’t always clear but if you’re committed you can uncover all of it.
Crown Trick works on a turn-based combat system so you’re basically moving on a giant grid. This feature means that enemies won’t attack until you move (think the likes of Superhot) so you have to plan your movements and try to be three steps ahead of any enemies and also watch that you don’t get surrounded. I loved this way of battling because most roguelikes will have you running around a big room avoiding projectiles with enemies constantly running at you so it was a nice change of pace.
Speaking of the combat you’re not alone out there. The game gives you familiars to help you fight. Ok so I say it gives you them but really you have to defeat elite enemies (basically mini-bosses) and when you do you unlock them as a familiar. You can equip two familiars at a time and each has two unique skills to use that can help attack or defend from your enemies. However, each skill requires mana to use so you need to make sure you manage how much you’re using.
As you explore the dungeons you have a chance of coming across some NPCs and if you choose to save them from capture by defeating their guards they will show up in your throne room and you can use them to buy upgrades for Elle. You’ll want to do this as quickly as possible to make the game easier for yourself.
Now every game has its faults it’s just a natural part of life at this point but it took me a while to figure out what it was with Crown Trick. Around hour five of my playthrough though it hit me, the game is repetitive. Obviously being procedurally generated means the levels are never the same but you can get to a point where you just keep doing the same moves over and over and it loses its original kick. This applies for boss battles too, once you figure out their attack patterns it’s just a case of doing the same things to avoid them whilst you slowly whittle down their health.
So you might be asking, what happens if you die? Well, it might as well be permadeath. You get transported back to your throne safe room but you lose all your items, relics, and whatever weapon you were using so you have to start the whole level from scratch again which some people might enjoy but others are sure to find very annoying.
Overall Crown Trick has a lot of things going for it that help it to stick out in the crowd and I would highly recommend playing it as it has just been released on Xbox Gamepass so what are you waiting for? Go play it!