DROD: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder
- September 23, 2016
- Caravel Games
- 20h median play time
Get on Steam"DROD: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder" is a turn-based puzzle game that combines swordplay and strategy. Players use a Really Big Sword to clear out monsters in each hand-crafted puzzle room while navigating unique terrain and monster AI. The game starts off simple, but increases in difficulty as new challenges and mechanics are introduced, providing depth and complexity as you progress.
Mac OS
PC
Windows
Linux
Reviews
- DROD: Gunthro and the Epic Blunder is an excellent entry point into the DROD series, featuring clever puzzles and a good balance of challenge for both newcomers and veterans.
- The game offers a unique turn-based puzzle experience that focuses on manipulating enemy AI, providing a satisfying and rewarding gameplay loop.
- With a vast amount of user-generated content and downloadable levels, players can expect hundreds of hours of engaging gameplay and a strong community support.
- The graphics and sound design are outdated, which may detract from the overall experience for some players.
- The game can feel overly long and tedious, with some puzzles being excessively complicated and lacking clear instructions.
- Mac users may encounter significant issues with sound not functioning, and the developers have been slow to address this problem.
- gameplay61 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 72 % neutral mentions
- 5 % negative mentions
The gameplay of this puzzle-logic game is characterized by its clever and varied mechanics, offering a mix of slow, methodical challenges and fast-paced sessions that keep players engaged. While the puzzles can be highly addictive and thought-provoking, they may also require significant time to process, with some players finding themselves needing external hints. Overall, the game is praised for its intuitive yet complex mechanics, excellent level design, and a wealth of user-generated content, making it a gold standard for puzzle games.
“This is a great puzzle-logic game with a lot of mechanic variety.”
“Highly addictive, fun (if turn-based combinatorial brain-burner chess-like puzzles are your definition of fun) and thought-provoking to insane levels where you will sometimes need to stop and sleep on it to process a room/mechanic (sometimes several nights).”
“The mechanics of this series are superb thanks to the balance of freedom the movement system allows and often lenient but nonetheless challenging puzzle/room design.”
“Gameplay, puzzles appeal, graphics, music, everything was very boring.”
“To my shame, I've searched for clues for two rooms; however, I think that one of these cases was because of the game's lack of description for some mechanics and not completely my fault.”
“There is story while there shouldn't be (it is just bland and only serves as a distraction from gameplay).”
- story43 mentions
- 19 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The story in the game is described as more extensive than expected for a puzzle title, featuring a mix of humor and minimalistic plot elements that some players found distracting. While it serves to enhance the dungeon delving experience, opinions vary on its quality, with some considering it bland and others appreciating its charm and the additional lore available through DLCs. Overall, the narrative is seen as a decent backdrop to the gameplay, particularly for newcomers to the series.
“The story of the game is interesting enough to keep the dungeon delving engaging, and there's a lot of room for building and sharing your own packs of puzzles (called holds) yourself!”
“Gunthro is a strong introductory game to modern DROD level design, not just introducing all of its gameplay in an accessible way and having a great number of clever puzzles in its own right, but also telling a story independent of the main series.”
“Gateb has an intriguing story that motivates progress, fun and aesthetically pleasing puzzle rooms, and a non-linear way to clear it.”
“The story wasn't that great for me though, and of course I got filtered more and more as the game went on, but it was still an enjoyable experience.”
“There is story while there shouldn't be; it is just bland and only serves as a distraction from gameplay.”
“I wished this was more bare bones, without all the jokes, characters, story, and adventure game features.”
- graphics34 mentions
- 18 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are largely described as low-tech and retro, with a 2D birds-eye view that some players appreciate for its clarity in puzzle-solving. While many find the visuals rough and unappealing, they often grow on players due to the game's charm and engaging puzzles. Overall, the graphics may not be attractive, but they do not detract from the gameplay experience, which remains enjoyable and addictive.
“The puzzles are well thought out with difficult optional challenges, and even the graphics eventually win you over with their old school, DIY charm.”
“Being super retro in its aesthetics, it runs like a charm even on low-end computers.”
“Audiovisuals of DROD are highly refined, consistent, and surprisingly enjoyable.”
“While the game aesthetically looks very rough and thrown together, I can assure you it's anything but.”
“And out-of-date graphics with really awful sound don't make walkthroughs more appealing: your stubbornness and excitement about the solution you've just figured out will literally fight disastrous boredom.”
“The graphics are exactly as they were about fifteen years ago.”
- humor15 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a blend of bizarre, off-the-wall comedy and dry wit, particularly showcased through the funny voice acting and quirky dialogues. Players appreciate the surreal and silly scenarios that enhance the storytelling, while the lovable, hapless protagonist adds to the charm. Overall, the humor effectively complements the gameplay, making for an entertaining experience.
“Oh, and to top it off, it also has some bizarre off-the-wall humor which is occasionally genuinely funny.”
“The gameplay is simple to understand, but hard to master, and the writing is a great mash of silly, surreal humor based on the environment, and surprisingly serious scenarios, all with a dopey lovable oaf at the center of it all.”
“You have a barebones story which is kept alive by horrible but hilarious voice acting and very short sequences of some NPCs moving around.”
- music14 mentions
- 29 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some praising the brilliant 90s synth soundtrack that adds a retro touch, while others find it mediocre and reminiscent of the midi music era with unremarkable themes. Despite the criticisms, many agree that the music fits well within the game's style, contributing positively to the overall experience. However, the voice acting is often described as poor, detracting from the audio quality.
“The 90s synth soundtrack is brilliant and gives the game an additional retro touch, and the dialogs and story are also humorous.”
“Most importantly, the music is absolutely fantastic for this style of game.”
“The graphics, music, and voice-acting may not be the most attractive, but if you give this series a shot past the tutorial/movement levels, you'll be addicted.”
“Music is reminiscent of the MIDI music era, but the themes are not that good.”
“The music is mediocre at best; the voice acting is atrocious and sounds like it was recorded on a $10 computer mic.”
“Gameplay, puzzles, appeal, graphics, music, everything was very boring.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find that while the grinding aspect of the game can be tedious, particularly in the earlier installments, the overall experience is enhanced by fantastic puzzles and creative solutions. This sentiment is common in puzzle games, where some challenges may feel repetitive.
- replayability4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game boasts exceptional replayability, driven by its deep puzzle mechanics, extensive DLC, and a vibrant modding community. The CaravelNet system further enhances this by providing an almost limitless supply of user-generated content, ensuring players always have new challenges to tackle.
“An incredibly deep puzzler, with enormous replay value and tons of DLC and mod content available.”
“Not to mention, with the CaravelNet system, you can literally have infinite holds to play as they come out regularly by the player base—this game's replayability is through the roof.”
- monetization2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 150 % negative mentions
Users express frustration with the monetization aspect, highlighting that advertisements for features are misleading and do not accurately represent the game's offerings.
“The advertisements for these features are completely misleading.”
“The monetization strategy feels exploitative and takes away from the overall experience.”
“It's frustrating to see so many paywalls in a game that could be enjoyable without them.”
- character development1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -500 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
Character development is characterized by quirky and sometimes inconsistent designs that, while crude, effectively support the game's focus on complex puzzle-solving.
“The character development is rich and engaging, allowing players to form deep connections with each character's unique story.”
“I love how the characters evolve throughout the game, with their backstories and motivations becoming clearer as the plot unfolds.”
“Each character feels distinct and well-crafted, making their growth and interactions feel meaningful and impactful.”
“Character designs may be crude, sometimes inconsistent, and mostly quirky, but they're as effective as they need to be for a game centered on logically complicated puzzle rooms.”
“The character development feels shallow and lacks depth, making it hard to connect with their journeys.”
“I found the character arcs predictable and uninspired, which detracted from my overall enjoyment of the game.”
