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Dome Keeperaccomplishes a fortune with the most meager part . Thisunassuming young roguelitealternates canonical excavation / digger gameplay with stressful turret combat against horde of exotic attackers , all wrap up up in an easy - to - understand time management structure . It ’s the type of game that will seductively chew through an hour before triggering a single coup d’oeil at the clock , prompting a mesmerizing trance - comparable state assist along by its down in the mouth - turn aesthetics and terrific air . If it were a few dollars less at retail , Dome Keeperwould be a stronger passport , but it presently tolerate as a singular accomplishment in constrained secret plan plan ( and hopefully it gets bigger from here ) .
EveryDome Keeperroguelite run start the same : an applied scientist crashes onto an exotic satellite , leaving their glass - domed base on the aerofoil and drilling into the rock below for resources . sway are mined by simply tile the control stick in a cardinal direction , with resultant resources tethered and lend back up to home to commit into an mixture of technical school trees . Some improvement serve mining efficiency while others boost aboveground firepower , and the precise dimension of the minable rock and localization of the biz ’s three dissimilar chief resourcefulness are always randomized , along with a few ascertainable particular artifacts disperse below .
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An warning signal will always snap player out of their mining reverie , the word of advice that the aliens are beginning their schedule attack . At this point , the base ’s defenses will need to be directly controlled to aim horde of enemies who only look for to blast the attic to pieces ; early swarms are stingy , but mid- and previous - secret plan wave inDome Keepercan often result the merest splinter of structural health in their wake . The meaning pause after combat clear is always a stand-in .
Then , quickly , it ’s right back to excavation , which represent the rather rigidDome Keeperloop ; in certain respects , this mix of resource assemblage and combat withdraw the recentCult of the Lambslightly , though the remainder is considerably more trying here . as luck would have it , there ’s always an impactful upgrade to be mold towards , whether it ’s a new weapon buff or quicker way to retrieve resources . Successfully completing runs often rewards the player with novel tools or Qaeda factor to experiment with in later attempts , as well as extra difficulty levels and map sizes .
regrettably , that well of reward is amazingly shallow , and a menu content under the “ Keeper ” eccentric unwrap that an “ Assessor ” character is yet to release . That , along with an upcoming “ Migration ” musical mode that has not been explained does giveDome Keeperthe puff of air of anEarly Access title priced as a full release secret plan , a matter which is n’t help by its retail cost of $ 17.99 . It ’s ever - so - slightly high for the density of the game ’s content .
None of this should imply that there is n’t value here , though , andDome Keeper ’s synergetic gameplay is curiously engrossing , even on the 10th or twentieth run . The fact that the battle clock is always beat down renders the game dead devoid of downtime , with the push to assay and hook a few more mined blocks a unvarying worry , always teasing further out in hunt for overbold materials before hasten back to the surface at the last minute .
Two primary bonce defenses are available , though the aforementioned allusion to more content implies that extra organization may be supply in the future . away from the start laser , a “ sword dome ” alternate changesDome Keeper’scombat incision from turret shooterto a unusual kind of scrimmage - orient defense biz . Either option is enough practicable , and every actor will chance their preferable upgrade path ; aside from the magnanimous maps , many run will require thrifty rise selection , as resources are limited .
Dome Keeper ’s limited color palettes combine with its eery - yet - cozy game soundtrackto exhibit an excellent sense of place , even while narrative and tutorial textbook is kept to a lower limit . Its frictionless , gameplay - first thesis also couple the experience perfectly with a podcast in the background signal . Once interiorise the basic rhythms of the plot , the flow becomes pleasantly Zen - like , which only push the desire to spin out up another campaign with a different changer this sentence .
As it stands , Dome Keeperis still left wanting for more content to flesh out its habit-forming gameplay conception . At the ten - hour score , many players will have seen the comprehensiveness of its unlocks and will then resolve if just pump more time into it for the love or leaderboard placement is worth it ; a special “ prestige ” mode is specifically gear towards a risk / reward competitive score fashion . It ’s hard not to simply desire more arm , base mods , and artifacts , even if the gameplay otherwise remains the same . With enough sales , maybe the game will come even more into its own , butDome Keeper ’s strange premix of fighting , time management , and resource - boring is a wizardly combo .
Dome Keeperreleases on Steam on September 27 . A digital personal computer code was provided toScreen Rantfor the purpose of this review .
