Backspace Bouken

About

"Backspace Bouken" is a randomly generated action-adventure game where players explore procedurally generated dungeons, battle enemies, and collect items. The game features a unique mechanic of editing the game's text to affect the environment and gameplay. With permadeath, roguelike elements, and a variety of items and abilities, each playthrough offers a distinct experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

95%

Audience ScoreBased on 116 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

replayability2 negative mentions

The game cleverly integrates typing mechanics with dungeon crawling, making it engaging and fun.
It features charming dialogue, humor, and a nostalgic old-school aesthetic that many players appreciate.
The adaptive difficulty based on typing speed adds a unique challenge, making it suitable for both beginners and more experienced typists.

The game is quite short, with many players finishing it in just a couple of hours, leading to questions about its value.
Navigation can be frustrating due to the lack of a full map, making it easy to get lost in the maze-like levels.
The initial difficulty setting based on typing speed can be unbalanced, potentially making the game too challenging for faster typists.

gameplay
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
75%
8%
The gameplay of "Backspace Bouken" combines fast-paced typing with dungeon crawler elements, featuring a unique dodge mechanic that some players find awkward and unnecessary. While the core experience revolves around typing quickly and accurately, the game introduces thoughtful mechanics and challenges, including case sensitivity and survival elements, which add depth and encourage exploration. Overall, players appreciate the clever design and fun gameplay, despite some frustrations with certain mechanics.
- “Backspace Bouken combines the experience of a classic dungeon crawler with the mechanics of a casual typing tutor game.”
- “I love dungeon crawlers like this, and the typing gameplay is very fun.”
- “It's funny, clever, got great mechanics, and is just different enough to be satisfying without reinventing the wheel.”
- “The introduction of the 'dodge' mechanic is easy to miss.”
- “Why introduce a more or less necessary mechanic that requires you to regularly remove a hand from your keyboard's home row, and that you then reset your fingers in the heat of the moment?”
- “Could have done without that mechanic at all.”
humor
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its clever and engaging humor, featuring a mix of witty dialogue, nostalgic references, and light-hearted jokes, including dad-jokes. Players find the humor enhances the overall experience, making it enjoyable and memorable, while also complementing the game's mechanics and atmosphere. Overall, it stands out as a fun typing game that keeps players laughing throughout.
- “It's funny, clever, got great mechanics, and is just different enough to be satisfying without reinventing the wheel.”
- “Genuinely cool and funny dialogue, creative combat and storytelling system, and it really pushes you to improve!”
- “This game is the first one where I have been constantly laughing to myself as I type along.”
story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
33%
The game's story is engaging and charming, featuring a simple yet fun narrative complemented by humor and creative dialogue. Players appreciate the balance of challenge and enjoyment throughout the main quest, which is well-paced and avoids becoming tiresome. The combination of cute art style, great music, and inventive storytelling keeps players invested and eager to discover new mechanics and story developments.
- “The game's story and humor are on point as well.”
- “It's got a cute pixely art style, great music, a charming story, and it's better than I ever imagined a dungeon-crawling typing RPG could be.”
- “The story is endearing, and it has a decent challenge towards the end.”
graphics
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
31%
19%
The graphics of the game are praised for their charming old-school aesthetic, reminiscent of classic dungeon crawlers, featuring a cute pixel art style and effective presentation. While some players find the visuals simple, they contribute positively to the overall experience, enhancing the game's nostalgic feel and engaging gameplay.
- “The artwork and overall presentation is very good and reminds me of old-school dungeon crawlers like Dungeon Master and SMT.”
- “It's got a cute pixely art style, great music, a charming story, and it's better than I ever imagined a dungeon-crawling typing RPG could be.”
- “Trained typists need not apply, as there's little of interest to the game outside of a lot of groan-inducing puns and simple yet highly effective graphics.”
- “The old-style graphics and dungeon crawling are charming.”
- “+ old school graphics and sound.”
music
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
43%
The music in the game is widely praised for its nostalgic, old-school feel, with many describing it as soothing and atmospheric. Reviewers appreciate the quirky and humorous writing that complements the charming soundtrack, which enhances the overall experience of the dungeon-crawling typing RPG. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a standout feature, contributing significantly to the game's appeal.
- “I enjoyed the quirky writing, pun-filled sentences, and I found the soundtrack pretty soothing.”
- “It's got some great humor and some really cool and relaxing music!”
- “It's got a cute pixely art style, great music, a charming story, and it's better than I ever imagined a dungeon-crawling typing RPG could be.”
atmosphere
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere of the game is highly praised for its nostalgic elements reminiscent of classic titles like Wolfenstein 3D and Dungeon Master, complemented by a blend of humor, engaging enemy and level design, and atmospheric music. Players appreciate the enjoyable dialogue and clever puns that enhance the overall experience.
- “Loved the overall atmosphere and the puns.”
- “Enjoyable enemy and level art, funny dialogue, atmospheric music.”
- “Finished in one go, enjoyed the Wolf-3D/Dungeon Master nostalgia and the nice atmosphere and kind humor.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game offers limited replayability due to its lack of procedural generation, but players can engage with optional collectibles for achievements and utilize a built-in speedrun timer to enhance their experience. Overall, while it may not have extensive replay value, many feel it is still worth the price.
- “It doesn't have much replayability, since it isn't procedurally generated or anything.”
- “As for replayability, there are optional collectibles (for achievements) and a built-in speedrun timer.”