Blood Dungeon

Blood Dungeon sees a distinctive indie studio apply its design smarts to an exhausted modern genre, with surprisingly conservative but enjoyable results.

I keep going back and forth with how I feel about Blood Dungeon in its entirety. It’s fun to play, has a cool aesthetic, and its emphasis on score-chasing feels distinct in this genre. But its lack of interest in expression and build-crafting really hurts that momentum, and makes playing long-term feel more and more like a chore.

We’ve had experience with the genre before, but it hasn’t captured our attention — until Blood Dungeon, that is.

2D platforming Survivors-like experience with trippy visuals and fast-paced gameplay

As with these Survivors-likes, there is the typical meta-progression chasing so you slowly feel more powerful and able to take on the harder dungeons. In the hub area you trade off bones for permanent ability increases like more health, damage and so on, and the Bunker holds the unlockable cast of characters. Despite the low detail, Newgrounds-esque, somewhat globular art style, the characters are all distinctive. The default Gunman wears a permanently worried look. The Barbarian is determined, and naked. The Baby has a massive face, crawls on all fours, and goos during action. Bit weird that one.Blood Dungeon is absurd both in it’s presentation, and in its addictiveness. Although it might not be everyone’s style, I could say the same for Vampire Survivors. I didn’t ‘get’ it until I played it for five minutes and then another 30 hours after that. It’s fast, has a dangerously addictive gameplay loop, and is bloody fun.

Even though Blood Dungeon occasionally stumbles when it comes to its platforming or its hub world, it’s hard to deny just how effectively it sinks its teeth into you, convincing you to do “just one more run,” even though that’s the exact same thing you said to yourself over an hour ago. The slow drip feed of new unlocks, completed quests, and bosses to conquer is more than worth the price of admission, and I don’t see myself uninstalling this one any time soon.

The audaciousness of Blood Dungeon makes it unique whilst feeling much like a fever dream. It is to the game's benefit, since it stands out well above the pack of other Survivors-likes. It adds its own distinct spin on the formula by blending the Survivors gameplay with that of a fast-paced 2D Platformer.

An often frantic and challenging mix of platforming and roguelike sensibilities similar to Vampire Survivors with plenty of weirdness to make it more entertaining

Blood Dungeon asks the player for a little more patience then I expected. Its biggest weakness is the slow speed at which runs can build towards that wonderful bullet-heaven feeling of becoming hilariously overpowered. With some genuinely great platforming, and a decent number of unlocks, it eventually delivers a decent amount of fun. I just wish it got there a little quicker.

Blood Dungeon is a rewarding gameplay experience that adds a fun yet gruelling twist on a very crowded genre. By adding intense and acrobatic platforming to the mix, it demands your full attention and rewards actual skill a lot more than similar Survivor-likes do. Whilst the RNG can be a little bit unfair at times and the difficulty curve can be tough, the core loop of jumping, shooting, and upgrading is addictively fun, ensuring you’ll keep coming back for ‘one more run’ over and over again.