Crown of Pain

About

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 Play through the game's story or campaign solo

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 120 reviews

gameplay10 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game features a charming pixel art style and a solid match-3 mechanic that adds an interesting layer of strategy.
It offers a unique blend of tactical gameplay with RPG elements, allowing for character synergies and skill combinations.
Despite its simplicity, the game provides an enjoyable experience for casual play, making it a decent time killer.

The game suffers from a lack of content and variety, with only six characters and repetitive gameplay that can become boring.
There are significant issues with difficulty spikes and a frustrating lack of a tutorial or guidance, making it hard for new players to grasp the mechanics.
Technical problems, such as slow loading times and bugs, detract from the overall experience, leading to a feeling of being underbaked.

gameplay
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
70%
9%
The gameplay is a mix of tactical elements and a simple match-3 mechanic, which some players find engaging but also repetitive due to limited party combinations. While the game features charming visuals and a good variety of enemies, many reviewers note that it lacks depth and clarity, with mechanics that can be difficult to grasp and insufficient tutorial guidance. Overall, the gameplay shows potential for growth but currently feels underdeveloped and frustrating at times.
- “A wonderful blend of tactical gameplay and simple match-3 mechanics.”
- “Extracts as much complexity as reasonably can be from a simple mechanic.”
- “The aesthetics and general presentation are beautiful, the gameplay is already interesting with room to grow and evolve into something truly special.”
- “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 e.g. summoned enemies, and the overall gameplay is literally the absolute bare minimum for this kind of game.”
- “There were better flash games that used the 'match 3' mechanics; I can't believe this is a ready and shipped game.”
music
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
22%
11%
The music in the game has received praise for its enjoyable and simple soundtrack, with some players expressing a desire for additional tracks to enhance variety across different zones and battles. While many found the music engaging enough to keep them playing longer, there are comments about its repetitiveness. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a highlight, with some users 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 pixellated format to match the rest of the art style.”
story
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
50%
30%
The game's story 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.
- “Story may be bare bones, just introduces you to the game's end goal, but the atmosphere is great!”
- “Currently not much more to this than the match-3 element (which was well made/balanced), but slap a story or something in the future and the game is gonna be good.”
- “The story is bare bones, just introduces you to the game's end goal.”
- “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 add a story or something in the future, the game could be good.”
graphics
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
30%
30%
The graphics of the game are generally described as average, with some reviewers praising the beautiful aesthetics and excellent sound design. However, there are suggestions for improvement, such as making the cursor more pixelated to align with the art style. Overall, while the visuals are appealing, they leave room for further enhancement.
- “The game's visuals and sound are excellent.”
- “The aesthetics and general presentation are 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.”
grinding
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat challenging at first, particularly until they assemble a full team with diverse abilities. However, the lack of penalties for failure allows for continuous progression, as players earn currency to upgrade their heroes with each attempt. Overall, while grinding is necessary, it is seen as a typical element of the genre, balanced by the fast-paced gameplay and the potential for random luck.
- “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
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for being engrossing and charming, featuring a dark, gothic aesthetic complemented by appealing art and sound effects. While the story is minimal, players find the atmosphere enhances their overall experience, particularly in relation to the party-building mechanics and match-3 gameplay.
- “It's kind of engrossing with its atmosphere, and I enjoyed the party building mechanic.”
- “Cool atmosphere, art, and I dig the sound effects.”
- “Scratches my itch for a match-3, plus has a very charming, dark, gothic atmosphere.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game offers minimal replayability, as it can be completed in just 1-2 hours, leading to a sense of mindless grinding due to the lack of consequences for failure. However, players can experiment with different characters and abilities, providing some incentive for multiple playthroughs.
- “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.”
- “There is no punishment for failing a combat encounter (which turns the game into a mindless grind until you pass each hurdle), and even so, the entire game is beatable in 1-2 hours with zero replay value.”
- “The game can be completed in just a couple of hours, which is fine, but it lacks significant replay value.”
- “The lack of consequences for failing encounters makes the game feel repetitive and grindy, ultimately leading to a lack of incentive to replay.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
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 game loads slowly, which really hampers the overall experience.”
- “Technical performance is lacking, with frequent slow load times.”
- “The optimization is poor, leading to frustrating delays during loading.”