Below the Stone

About

Below the Stone is a single player action adventure game. It was developed by Strollart and was released on November 17, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

"Below the Stone" is a challenging pixel art roguelike where dwarves embark on a quest to reach the deepest depths of the earth. Each descent reveals new adventures and biomes, with greater rewards and risks the deeper you go. Prepare for your expedition in the Dwarven kingdom, where you can craft, store loot, and manage resources, but beware - death means permanent loss of your dwarf's items.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

83%

Audience ScoreBased on 597 reviews

gameplay39 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The core mechanics of the game are very fun, with engaging gameplay loops and a charming art style.
The developers are actively adding new content and responding to player feedback, showing commitment to improving the game.
The game has a solid foundation with potential for future updates, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre.

The game currently lacks content and can feel repetitive, with limited progression and few unique items or mechanics.
Perma-death mechanics can be frustrating, as players lose all items upon death, leading to a grind-heavy experience.
Navigation can be tedious, with difficulty in finding the next level or boss, which can detract from the overall enjoyment.

gameplay
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
54%
4%
The gameplay of the game is generally praised for its fun core mechanics and engaging loop, drawing comparisons to titles like Legend of Zelda and extraction shooters. While many players appreciate the solid foundation and potential for future content, some criticize the current repetitiveness and lack of depth in mechanics, suggesting that improvements are needed to enhance the overall experience. Despite its early access status and existing bugs, the game shows promise with its enjoyable exploration and mining elements, though some players find the gameplay frustrating due to design issues.
- “I absolutely love this game; it's the proper pacing, the gameplay loop is wonderful, the cave/dungeon generation is great, the progression feels good, the devs are actively adding new content and polishing old stuff, perfect balance of risk/reward.”
- “The gameplay loop and its mechanics are solid and very fun, and I'm definitely looking forward to the future of the game and its development.”
- “Gameplay and combat is solid, exploration and mining is fun, climbing the 'tree' of mining tiers to gain access to higher tier ores feels good and has good pacing.”
- “Gameplay loop is extremely boring and repetitive.”
- “I managed to find the dungeon to the second level exactly once in five hours of gameplay, so progress is basically blocked by the bad level design.”
- “I wouldn't recommend it at this time due to the gameplay loop being poorly designed and unfun right now--though it definitely has some really fun elements.”
story
67 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
3%
93%
4%
The game's story is currently minimal and lacks depth, with players expressing a desire for a more engaging narrative and quest structure. While the gameplay loop is enjoyable, many feel that the repetitive fetch quests and limited NPC interactions detract from the overall experience. Overall, there is a consensus that the game has potential but requires significant improvements in its storytelling and quest design to enhance player engagement.
- “What you have here is a fun game that relies on the players to have had some experience in the genre and uses the story and wit to hold it together.”
- “Very fun game, but it could use more of a storyline and a more in-depth guide so people don't get lost or confused about what they are supposed to do.”
- “There is still room for improvement, especially related to quests and a story arc, but that is to be expected from a game in this stage of development.”
- “The quest system is overly simplistic, and some quests may be impossible to complete due to inaccessible items at the time.”
- “I kept opening the journal and talking to the quest giver because I was wondering if I was missing some meta progression or main quest.”
graphics
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
25%
4%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their appealing art style, which is described as easy on the eyes and visually stunning. Reviewers appreciate the clarity of the design, allowing for quick recognition of elements, and note that the polished visuals enhance the overall gameplay experience. While the combat mechanics have some minor issues, the overall aesthetic and graphics contribute positively to the game's charm and potential.
- “The graphics design is great overall; 99% of the time you can tell exactly what you're looking at in a split second.”
- “Visually, the game is stunning with its chunky but smooth art style.”
- “This game is so well polished so far and the graphics are amazing.”
- “Below the stone is what you would get if you took some aspects and aesthetics from Dwarf Fortress, added a small amount of gameplay elements from Deep Rock Galactic, and threw in a splash of isometric roguelites.”
music
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
71%
24%
5%
The music in the game has received high praise for its quality and pleasantness, with many reviewers highlighting the outstanding soundtrack by Aeltherion as a standout feature. It complements the gameplay and art style well, creating an immersive experience that resonates with players, although some have noted occasional issues like music stopping when transitioning between biomes. Overall, the soundtrack is described as enjoyable and fitting, enhancing the game's overall charm.
- “The gameplay, the art, the music, every single little part of the game has soul; you can really see the hard work.”
- “Outstanding music by Aeltherion, who has done a fantastic job.”
- “The soundtrack is really good, fits the game well, and is pleasant.”
- “There are some bugs like getting stuck on wall corners, text not disappearing, the music randomly stopping when you walk between biomes.”
grinding
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, often spending excessive time collecting materials that are quickly outpaced by new tiers. The combat is challenging primarily due to high enemy damage and low player health, leading to frequent loss of gear upon death, which necessitates further grinding. While some appreciate the immersive and addictive nature of the grind, many hope for more engaging mechanics and rewards to enhance the experience.
- “Grinding in the mines for coal to smelt ingots can get tiresome.”
- “A lot of the time spent playing the game is overgrinding for materials you'll use once before you get to the next tier, and the combat is only difficult in that you have 100 health and enemies do a lot of damage.”
- “Hopefully the developers will introduce some interesting items and item mechanics in the future, because at the moment the only motivation to progress is to get +1 damage on your axe and pickaxe, which leads to more repetitive grinding.”
humor
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with players finding it both outrageous and entertaining, particularly due to the presence of cringey puns from dwarf characters. Many reviews highlight the comedic irony of negative feedback being tied to the game's early alpha status, adding to the overall humor of the experience. Overall, the game is characterized as a funny rogue-like that effectively engages players with its comedic elements.
- “I think that the humor in this game is outrageous.”
- “The first bit of humor that really stuck to me was the dwarf who uses these cringey puns.”
- “Game is very good, kind of hilarious how every 'not recommended' review can be explained by the fact it says alpha 0.1 in the lower right corner when the game launches and the fact that the game has only been out for 7 days as of the time of this review.”
stability
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
67%
The game's stability is inconsistent; while some players report smooth performance with no frame drops, others experience significant bugs, including game-breaking issues early in gameplay. Overall, the game is described as fun but plagued by slow performance and frequent glitches.
- “The game runs great with no hitches or frame drops, making it an extremely fun experience.”
- “The game runs great with no hitches or frame drops, making it an extremely fun experience.”
- “The game is very buggy (literally had a game-breaking bug on my first run, and another within two hours of gameplay).”
- “It is still really slow and buggy.”
- “The game is very buggy (literally had a game-breaking bug on my first run, and another within two hours of gameplay).”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
80%
60%
The game offers good replayability due to its randomized cave systems, ensuring that each expedition feels unique. However, some comparisons suggest that while it has replayable elements, it may not provide as much variety in perks and randomness as other titles in the genre, especially considering its higher price point.
- “The caves being randomized gives a nice sense of replayability as no two expeditions are going to be the same.”
- “It sells itself closer to a 2D Deep Rock Galactic or Zero Sievert with extraction parts and various biomes, but it actually feels closer to an autoshooter game like Repetendium and Vampire Survivor with less randomness, perks, and replayability for a higher price (2-3x).”
- “Good replayability.”
- “It sells itself as a 2D Deep Rock Galactic or Zero Sievert with extraction parts and various biomes, but it actually feels closer to an auto-shooter game like Repetendium and Vampire Survivor, with less randomness, perks, and replayability for a higher price (2-3x).”
- “The game lacks the depth and variety needed for true replayability, making each playthrough feel repetitive and uninspired.”
- “After a few runs, the game becomes predictable and fails to offer new experiences, which significantly diminishes its replay value.”