Crown of Pain

About

Crown of Pain is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Jagit Games and was released on April 9, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

Crown of Pain is a challenging 2D pixel art metroidvania game. Assemble and lead a party of up to four characters through treacherous dungeons filled with monsters and traps. Featuring customizable abilities, permadeath, and a dark fantasy setting, each playthrough offers a unique experience. Adapt your strategy to survive and uncover the mysteries of the Crown of Pain.

Genres & Tags

Role Playing

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

73%

Audience ScoreBased on 63 reviews

gameplay6 positive mentions

grinding4 negative mentions

The game features beautiful pixel art and a charming atmosphere that enhances the overall experience.
The blend of tactical gameplay with match-3 mechanics is engaging, providing a fun challenge as players build their teams and strategize.
Despite its simplicity, the game offers enjoyable gameplay with a solid core concept and potential for future updates.

The game suffers from a lack of instruction and responsiveness in controls, making it frustrating for players to execute moves effectively.
There is minimal content and replay value, with repetitive gameplay that can feel grindy and lacking in depth.
Technical issues, such as bugs and a lack of a tutorial, detract from the overall experience and make it feel unfinished.

gameplay
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
26%
61%
13%
The gameplay is characterized by a blend of tactical elements and a simple match-3 mechanic, which some players find engaging but others describe as repetitive and underdeveloped. While the party-building aspect adds depth, many reviewers note a lack of clarity in mechanics and a need for better tutorials, leading to frustration with the gameplay loop. Overall, the game shows potential with its charming aesthetics and enemy variety, but it requires refinement to fully realize its capabilities.
- “A wonderful blend of tactical gameplay and simple match-3 mechanics.”
- “In terms of the gameplay loop, it is super fun to build your team and manage it as best as you can.”
- “The aesthetics and general presentation are beautiful, the gameplay is already interesting with room to grow and evolve into something truly special.”
- “This makes the gameplay a bit repetitive because there are only so many combinations of parties you can build.”
- “It's very underbaked with a repetitive gameplay loop.”
- “No special blocks, the game explains nothing, a lot doesn't work as intended, e.g. tooltips stop showing up, some things like 'closest' target are just dead wrong when it comes to summoned enemies, and the overall gameplay is literally the absolute bare minimum for this kind of game.”
music
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
18%
18%
The music in the game has received positive feedback, with many players praising the soundtrack as enjoyable and well-suited to the gameplay. However, some users noted that the music can be repetitive and expressed a desire for more diverse tracks to enhance the experience. Overall, the soundtrack contributes significantly to the game's appeal, with some players even suggesting it deserves to be purchased separately.
- “The soundtrack is so great it deserves to be bought separately!”
- “Enjoyable short match 3 game with beautiful art and nice casual music.”
- “The music and presentation have kept me playing this game way longer than I otherwise would have.”
- “The game is still in early access, but I do hope that more music tracks get added to better differentiate the different zones and important battles.”
- “Music is a tiny bit repetitive, admittedly, and as some others have said, I'd personally love to see the cursor in a more pixelated format to match the rest of the art style.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game's graphics are praised for their beautiful art style and overall aesthetic, creating a captivating mood. While some users find the visuals to be average, the excellent presentation and sound design contribute positively to the experience, evoking comparisons to other visually striking games.
- “Beautiful art style and mood!”
- “The aesthetics and general presentation is beautiful, the gameplay is already interesting with room to grow and evolve into something truly special.”
- “The graphics are average.”
- “I would personally love to see the cursor in a more pixelated format to match the rest of the art style.”
- “Although totally different genre, the visuals and sound gave me a bit of Darkwood vibes.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60%
60%
The story in the game is considered minimal and underdeveloped, primarily serving to introduce the end goal without much depth. While the atmosphere is praised, many players express a desire for a more engaging narrative to enhance the overall experience.
- “The story may be bare bones, but the atmosphere is great!”
- “I was hoping for a bit more of a story, as there really wasn't any besides exactly what you see in the teaser video on the store page.”
- “Currently, there's not much more to this than the match-3 element (which is well made and balanced), but if they slap a story or something in the future, the game is going to be good.”
- “The story is not much of one.”
- “I was hoping for a bit more of a story as there really wasn't any besides exactly what you see in the teaser video on the store page.”
- “Currently, there's not much more to this than the match-3 element, but if they slap a story or something in the future, the game is going to be good.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be manageable, as initial challenges are quickly overcome once a full team is established. The lack of penalties for failure encourages repeated attempts, allowing players to accumulate resources for upgrades, though some feel the grind can be compounded by the randomness inherent in match-3 mechanics. Overall, while grinding is present, it is seen as a necessary part of progression rather than a major hindrance.
- “Replaying is just for getting the last bit of achievements, which are grindy.”
- “There is no penalty for failure; rather, every time you fail, you get currency to upgrade your heroes and try again. So it's just a matter of grinding until you're strong enough or RNG blesses you with a super turn.”
- “Having to do some grinding and work against the inherent randomness of match-3 games is a little difficult, but that's what most of these games are all about.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its engrossing and charming dark gothic elements, complemented by appealing art and sound effects. While the story may be minimal, the atmosphere effectively enhances the overall experience, particularly in relation to the party-building mechanic and match-3 gameplay.
- “The atmosphere is great, even if the story may be bare bones and just introduces you to the game's end goal.”
- “It's kind of engrossing with its atmosphere, and I enjoyed the party-building mechanic.”
- “It has a very charming, dark, gothic atmosphere that scratches my itch for a match-3.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's replayability is mixed; while it can be completed in just 1-2 hours with no significant penalties for failure, players can experiment with different characters and abilities for a varied experience. However, the lack of meaningful challenges may lead to a grind, diminishing the incentive to replay.
- “There is no punishment for failing a combat encounter, which turns the game into a mindless grind until you pass each hurdle. Even so, the entire game is beatable in 1-2 hours with zero replay value.”
- “At the current state, you can beat the game in a couple of hours, which is totally fine, but it also has replay value as you can try different characters, abilities, and so on.”
optimization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
300%
The optimization of the game has received mixed feedback, with users noting that the sound quality is acceptable, but the technical performance suffers from slow loading times.
- “The technical performance is lacking; the game loads in slowly.”
- “The optimization is poor, leading to frustrating gameplay experiences.”
- “I often encounter lag and stuttering, which severely impacts my enjoyment of the game.”