Otherwise they are constantly blocking, which forces the player to time their attacks meticulously, preventing the Diablo-like hack-n slash engagements that can lead to tedium. It can give a false sense of security while the player manages to mow down several guards only to be confronted by a mass of shambling undead.Ĭombat in TinyKeep is a carefully timed affair, with enemies only exposing themselves to attack once they are in mid-swing. This places the player in even greater peril and demonstrates how time does impact on the play of TinyKeep. At this point the guards switch their attention from the prisoners, and therefore the player, to take out the invading animated skeletons. The player is tasked with escaping the titular keep in which they have been imprisoned by exploring procedurally-generated dungeons and fighting various monsters as they progress. This can lead to fighting amongst the prisoners and guards, which the player can use to their advantage to cause disruption or to slip past a guard unnoticed.Īs subsequent attempts at completing the level continued the dynamic of the environment changed thanks to the arrival of a horde of undead appearing, seemingly from nowhere. TinyKeep is an indie 3D Action RPG title, drawing inspiration from both roguelikes and dungeon-crawler RPGs such as Ultima IV. The player is not the only prisoner in the keep and while some fellow inmates will aid them others are even more crazed than the guards. TinyKeep is a top-down dungeon exploration game that places the player in the precarious situation of being imprisoned, from which they must escape using their wits and sword-swinging ability. It is then that the chaos ensues and the true measure of the difficulty that infests TinyKeep is made apparent.įor this rogue-like dungeon explorer is very light on information to the player, which demands a great deal of careful thought and observation in order for the player to be within any chance of making it out alive.

I do notice the open door to my cell and proceed to dash through it, only to be met with a wall of guards all brandishing clubs, which they want to test out on me over and over again. I start out as a lowly prisoner in a dungeon (for what, I do not know). 'Run! Run like hell!' Those are the words that entered my head as I stumbled about the dungeon of TinyKeep during EGX-Rezzed 2014.

Tinykeep review