The Steam Next Fest currently lets you try out more than 1,000 upcoming titles for free. The demo for the co-op roguelite Rotwood reminded MeinMMO editor Lydia of Cult of the Lamb at first glance. Reason enough to take a look at it.
What kind of game is this? Rotwood is an upcoming hack’n’slay from Klei Entertainment, the makers of the indie gem Don’t Starve. Together with up to 3 friends you can jump into the fray in local or online co-op.
With its cartoonish art style and pretty cute character design, it’s reminiscent of Cult of the Lamb, the wild mix of roguelite and farming sim. And the 2.5D perspective as well as the layout of the rooms and the enemies also brought back memories of my favorite demonic sheep.
However, Rotwood has what Cult of the Lamb has been missing so far: co-op. So I grabbed MeinMMO editor Dariusz, who also has the game on his list, and tested the demo in detail for the current Steam Next Fest.
Rotwood: Trailer for the dungeon crawler with co-op
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Numerous builds and abilities make each run unique
How does the game play? Even if the corresponding tag is still missing on Rotwood’s Steam page, the brightly colored hack and slash is a roguelite: At the start of a run you can choose from different skills, then you fight your way from room to room gradually introduce additional skills to you.
After a few rooms you will encounter a mini-boss that is bigger and nastier than the cannon fodder you usually slash your way through. The run ends when you defeat the powerful boss that awaits you at the end of a dungeon – or die trying.
At the end of a run, the skills you have put together also disappear. However, you can gradually purchase, craft or scrounge up permanent upgrades for your character: This way you get armor, weapons and skills that you can use to adapt your character to your playing style.
Combined with the temporary abilities, this results in a variety of possible builds, which requires a lot of coordination in co-op.
Is your co-op partner as allergic to dodging as mine and prefers to take the damage straight in the face? Then use abilities where you benefit from taking damage: For example, there is an ability where you deal more damage if you are below 50% health.
In addition, you can grab abilities that make you stronger or deal damage to your opponents every time you revive a fallen comrade.
Just one more run, okay?
Rotwood always knows how to entice you to descend into the dungeons again and again: On our first run we were so close to defeating the first boss that after our death we naturally had to run back into the corrupt forest again.
On the second attempt we processed the evil tree into green waste without any major difficulties – honor restored and finally able to put our feet up? Good thing, because back at camp we received a new weapon, which of course had to be tested promptly.
A few hours can quickly go by in Rotwood. We’ll probably have to wait a while until the full release, as a date hasn’t been set yet. Until then, it’s definitely worth taking a look at the demo.
What’s in the demo? In the demo version of Rotwood you can go hunting with up to 3 friends. So far you can unlock 4 weapons and kill at least 2 bosses – we didn’t get any further than that, but the 2nd boss will also be killed tonight, for sure.
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