Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee (2021) [+]
Mar 31 2025
Dungeon of the Endless: Apogee is the same version that Amplitude Studios released in 2014 and I even did a follow-up review because I loved the game. The version you get now from the App Store includes all five DLCs for $8 (sometimes on sale for $2 which I waited for and bought).
Essentially a turn-based + real-time science fiction rogue-like. Lead a party of four escaped convicts up 20+ levels from where your escape pod crashed to the surface of the planet. It's turn-based in that nothing happens until you open a door which reveals a room and possibly generates monsters in all discovered but unpowered rooms. It's real-time in that once monsters appear it's real-time (you can pause) until they die and then it goes back to turn-based.
8-bit retro graphics. Pretty cool sounds and sufficiently anxiety inducing when monsters appear.
Set characters (though a lot as you keep unlocking more) each with their own special abilities and backstory/behavior (some characters don't like each other and eventually one kills the other, or two characters may be friends and there is a synergy).
A little bit of base building. Rooms often have spots where you can build a major artifact (max one per room) or minor artifacts (zero to seven per room). Major artifacts produce resources (parts to build things, science for tech upgrades, food to heal and level up characters) while minor ones are weapons and defenses to fight monsters. Since you can't light up all the rooms having end rooms with lots of defenses is vital.
Anyways, the old game stopped working (I'm guessing 32-bit only game) so it's nice having a version that runs on current iOS devices even though you do have to pay for it again but $2 is very cheap.
Essentially a turn-based + real-time science fiction rogue-like. Lead a party of four escaped convicts up 20+ levels from where your escape pod crashed to the surface of the planet. It's turn-based in that nothing happens until you open a door which reveals a room and possibly generates monsters in all discovered but unpowered rooms. It's real-time in that once monsters appear it's real-time (you can pause) until they die and then it goes back to turn-based.
8-bit retro graphics. Pretty cool sounds and sufficiently anxiety inducing when monsters appear.
Set characters (though a lot as you keep unlocking more) each with their own special abilities and backstory/behavior (some characters don't like each other and eventually one kills the other, or two characters may be friends and there is a synergy).
A little bit of base building. Rooms often have spots where you can build a major artifact (max one per room) or minor artifacts (zero to seven per room). Major artifacts produce resources (parts to build things, science for tech upgrades, food to heal and level up characters) while minor ones are weapons and defenses to fight monsters. Since you can't light up all the rooms having end rooms with lots of defenses is vital.
Anyways, the old game stopped working (I'm guessing 32-bit only game) so it's nice having a version that runs on current iOS devices even though you do have to pay for it again but $2 is very cheap.