Snake, but also an auto-battler. So much better than it has any right to be, especially for $2. I think they might have broken the game by adding so many extra classes, but it’s a super super legit game. The sole dev needs to slap this on iOS and make a jillion dollars before somebody knocks it off.

2021-08-01 - Addendum⌗

In July, I said:

The sole dev needs to slap this on iOS and make a jillion dollars before somebody knocks it off.

Yeah, so they did that. They also supported the hell out of the game after hitting “certified indie break-out hit” status. They didn’t go overboard, either. Since I originally very simply said the game absolutely owned the game has gone through a couple key evolutions. Four or five major reworks / rebalances. Complete rework of how Psykers (they now have rotating orbs as their primary feature), Complete rework of how healers (they now generator healing orbs rather than just “happening”), Complete new class (Mercenaries, do Stuff with gold), and a massive rework of skills (whole mess of new skills, skills can be upgraded, skills can be sold, etc). Plus native iOS and Android versions. All for $3.

The updates have somewhat petered out, and I’m reporting back because tonight I finished the last achievement I needed on iOS: Complete New Game +5. I steadily did gimmick runs on NG+1 to get all the “complete a run with full [x] class” achievements, and then ramped up to +5 and started slamming. I finished with a rogue / crit all-in build. Had most rogues, increased chains on rogues, increased damage, decreased mob health, increased crits on rogues, increased crits in general, and seeking dagger on kill. It was nuts near the end. I’d slide by one group of mobs, explode them, and then just death everywhere.

The iOS port was a little shaky at first, it took a few revisions for the guy handling the port to figure out how to make it touch friendly, the buy/sell ui took some improving to make it work well on iOS, but now it’s great. Great jump-in game, bangin soundtrack, great diversity in runs, great viability across basically everything, usually requires some decent driving skills (so there’s skill involved, not just good RNG). Absolute masterclass in game mechanic / interaction design.

2021 has been a pretty solid year for indie games so far with Death’s Door, Loop Hero, Narita Boy, and Cyber Shadow, but even though I’ve loved all those games listed, SNKRX is the best Indie I’ve played from 2021, and arguably the best 2021 release I’ve played.

So incredibly highly recommended. This will likely never leave my iPad.