Death of a Lich

Ludum Dare 33’s theme is ‘You are the monster’, and it’s easy to see that this will be a great edition. Right off the bat, we’ve found one excellent entry. Death of a Lich is a jam build that features you as a lich who has to make its way to the bottom of a tower, one floor at a time to retrieve its crown.

It’s great for numerous reasons. For one, it has the Daniel Linssen touch which means that it looks and plays excellently. Simplified, in the game you play as the lich and you have to drop down floor after floor within a fictitious tower. Each level is randomly created and populated by various types of enemies that can easily kill you if they get the chance.

Ranged or melee, you need to watch out for them. You can fight back, but your rate of success depends on your stats and how well you can think a battle through. The lich is quite fragile, but you can pick up extra life and damage points and put them to good use.

Combat is another key aspect of Death of a Lich and one of the most enjoyable features. The enemies move and attack with a certain delay that’s very similar to that which you can find in turn-based combat games. Some enemies move right away and are animated, others take a bit of time to wake up and are stationary. Either way, you will have your work cut out for you when there are several of them on one level and only one escape route that’s hard to access.

No two games are the same in Death of a Lich, which is exactly what you would expect from a roguelike. The gameplay is very easy to pick up and fairly tough to master but combining these two only means that you have a casually challenging game that’s enjoyable.

Another nice touch to Death of a Lich’s gameplay is that you can drop down on enemies and kill them regardless of their HP. Collecting their souls has its use too because it dictates your stats or when you come back into the land of the living.

To end, Death of a lich is a fun little game that’s worth playing if you’re into indies or game jam builds. The best part about it is that it can offer you a lot of enjoyment for a long period of time. If you like it, show your support by visiting the Death of a Lich Ludum Dare 33 page.