This ♥♥♥♥ is sick and it reminds me of playing slots because you just press one button and an incomprehensible mess happens on the screen and you either win or bust. 10/10 would play on mobile with steam link

SUMMARY: A moody, strange, deep rougelike/puzzle/minimalist game based on synergies that may not be for everyone, but is for audiences into both simplicity and depth. Wander a dying world in ever-repeating cycles, battle enemies, create strange combinations of powers, and maybe save it all? Path of Achra blazes its own trail.

Path of Achra is hard to describe because though the elements are familiar, the combination is powerful. It is, among other things:
* A deliberately simple roguelike.
* A game of extremely complex synergies.
* A moody tale of repeating cycles and strange gods.
* A semi auto-battler.
* Lore-drenched strangeness.

This is a game that deserves to be looked at for anyone that likes roguelikes, synergies, and straregizing. It may not be for everyone - so try the demo - but if you're the right person it'll be something you want. You might not know you wanted it all along, but such is the Path of Achra.

You start by picking a background, a class, and a god. These provide various starter abilities and "prayers" to help you. Then you pick from a dizzying set of skills that can interact with those abilities, and each other, and equipment you have or find. Simple choices, great complexity.

From there you wander forth in a flooding world, chosing where to go as floodwaters drive you towards a mysterious obelisk at the end of the world - and beyond. Each path gives you a few arena-like battles, many of which can be fought by just using the tab key or movement keys. However the controls are simple, but the way things work are not.

Everything in the game interacts. One ability may trigger the healing ability of another. Equipment may grant new abilities or enhance them. Enemy actions can trigger various actions. Your characters abilities may trigger depending on various situations. Attributes interact. Equipment you find interacts. Its a game of huge synergies that asks "how much damage can I do - and survive - with a single keystroke."

As you wander the world you will find equipment, gain experience and points to buy powers, further letting you unlock options. There are new weapons, new classes to become, and more. Yet it's all so simple and straightforward it seems easy - nothing is partiuarly complex, its just it all ties together and there is a LOT.

All of this is presented with simple graphics and displays, but a lot of weird and wild lore. There's an entire RPG's worth of setting here, all in a simple linear-path area battler. And the more you play, the more options you get! Soon you'll have so many people and classes and gods you have hundreds of starting choices.

I heartily reccommend the game but again, it has to be if you like what you hear (and see in the demo). It is not for everyone, and took me a few hours to get into it - but it was compelling enough I put in those hours.

Beyond being challenging and interesting, I feel there's lessons in design here as well. Who knows where this Path will lead . . .

path of crackrock