Below the Stone is an indie roguelite that’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. The game is completely unlike any other roguelite I’ve ever seen before, which is what makes it so interesting to me, and I hope everyone else as well. Check out the trailer for the game below and read on for more details.
Officially Below the Stone is slated as a roguelite that’s all about the cost of progress. Players take on the role of dwarves who are working for something much greater than their own riches, the riches of their entire people. Players will dig underground in order to find as many riches as possible, though they’re just as likely to find a horde of enemies, including Kobalds, Skeletons, Goblins, and Cave Trolls, who have an appetite for dwarven flesh. Players will take on missions from their kin, and then delve into the depths in search of gems or precious ores. Once these have been collected, players can return to the quest giver and claim their reward, or they can choose to keep digging for precious materials of their own.
Any additional materials that players acquire as they dig can be used to craft hundreds of items, ranging from swords and shields to shotguns and other similar firearms, or even armour. These items make the next run underground a little bit easier, but the deeper players go, the harder the enemies become. As you’d expect in a roguelite, dying means that you drop all of your items. When players start again they can dig to the same spot that they perished in previously in order to collect their gear, but it may not be worth it if a huge enemy or dangerous terrain were the cause of their death.
The initial layers of underground in Below the Stone will be easier for players to dig through, and only contain weaker enemies. However, these layers also only provide tin, copper, and iron, which are the most common materials. Digging into deeper layers will award silver, gold, and platinum, which net better gear and rewards on a successful run. Players are able to store anything they don’t want to lose in the Royal Dwarven Bank, so each run isn’t as fresh as the last, as long as players are careful.
Why Kickstarter?
Below the Stone is on Kickstarter for the same reason many games are, the community. Much like with Everspace 2, the developers have an early-access build of the game that’s ready to go, and they want to build upon this alpha with feedback from the community. There are also a number of planned stretch goals that look as though they’ll add some incredible systems to the game, including companions, a hell dimension endgame area, multiplayer, and even a Nintendo Switch release.
Personally I would love to see the game come to Nintendo Switch, but at the time of writing the campaign has 14 days to go, and about £5,000 as well, just to meet the goal. I’d recommend checking out the campaign if the game sounds like it would interest you, it’s certainly a roguelite that would fill a gap in the industry that nothing else currently fits into.
Let us know if you like the look of the game in the comments.