There must be a reason why Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale looks familiar, and no, that’s not because the gameplay is so run-of-the-mill, but because the artwork is straight outta Ooo – I mean Adventure Time. Surprisingly, this isn’t an expansion of Jake and the other one, but the wonderful illustrations by Evgeny Viitman. There’s your shout-out, Evgeny.
In actual fact, this has nothing to do with the animation; it just so happens to look absolutely spiffing. The game is a rogue-like deck-building game where you trundle through dungeons and battle all sorts of nasties in a somewhat quirky, turn-based manner.
The Meteorfall element relates to a series of mobile games that I never heard of, nor ever played. However, as Indienova is on publishing duties, this unique game reached my PS5 (and tablet for remote play), and I quite liked it. Quite stems more from the gameplay than the visuals. I love those. Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale, as a game, is quite a difficult one, and not because of the learning curve, but the difficulty level.
Forget Krumit for a moment, as aside from a tutorial and interjection here and there, the focal point is on completing dungeons and maximising the available items. The dungeons take place over a 3×3 tileset and are affected by gravity. Like Tetris. Tiles can be tackled in any order and even temporarily abandoned during battles, though items can only be obtained through coins. Let’s get to that in a second and instead talk about the core gameplay: turn-based battles.
Selecting one of the enemies that appear on a tile will initiate a battle, which is relatively short as items are limited, as is your health. Standard styles apply like melee, range, and magic, though beginners will benefit from the starting character, who can adopt a more defensive approach, a.k.a., keep you alive for a tad longer. What’s initially frustrating about Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale is that it’s consistently difficult, as after each run, you have to start at the beginning again, albeit in a new starting dungeon.
However, as this is a rogue-like, progress will be rewarded with new items and perks. Again, these are randomly placed, though they can significantly turn things around. Take, for example, a new weapon that can be played without entering a battle, and it’ll damage all enemies on the bottom line of the grid. So, strategy is key as you can effectively crowd control before going into direct battle. Though that depends on the hand you’re given.
These items aren’t automatically awarded and have to be paid for with coins. Coins are earned through battles and can also be given if you select an item tile and discard it. Fun fact: as your health depletes, discarding an item will also replenish health, the caveat being you are most likely going to need that item to survive – be it a health potion, or a modifier that improves attacks. Outside of the items, completing a dungeon will also grant a perk until death. These vary greatly from defensive techniques, or having a potion duplicate each time you earn it.
As we’ve clearly identified, Meteorfall: Krumit’s Tale is a massive standout due to the art style first, and then the gameplay. As a rogue-like/deck-building convert, I do find this type of game very enjoyable and worse, addictive. While there’s that rogue-like gameplay loop of rinse and repeat, the game does feel a little overly harsh at times, and I do wonder if the same difficulty exists with the mobile version?
Regardless, there are additional modes besides the standard one, and these include mutations that alter gameplay (with an easier option, too). Whether that’s enough to appeal to a broader audience is debatable, but for those who fancy a simple, on the surface, thinking-person’s rogue-like, put your phone away and get out your DualSense.
