- April 29, 2021
- ByteRockers' Games
- 9h median play time
Insurmountable
Cerebral and engrossing, Insurmountable succeeds at making a tactical mountain-climbing rogue-lite. No frostbite required.
Platforms
About
"Insurmountable is a permadeath roguelike adventure game with a procedurally generated mountain climbing environment, dynamic weather system, and tough decisions that impact your climber's survival. Choose from three characters, each with unique skills and backgrounds, and scavenge for equipment while dealing with randomly generated events. As time passes, your climber will grow stronger through a sophisticated skill system, but one mistake could lead to your last."











- Unique concept combining resource management and strategic decision-making in a mountain climbing setting.
- Engaging gameplay with a good balance of challenge and exploration, providing a sense of accomplishment.
- Beautiful visuals and atmospheric sound design that enhance the immersive experience.
- Repetitive events and lack of variety can diminish replayability after a few runs.
- Camera controls can be frustrating, making navigation difficult in certain situations.
- The story feels underdeveloped and lacks meaningful progression, leaving players wanting more.
- story367 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
The game's story is often described as vague and underwhelming, with many players feeling it lacks depth and coherence, making it difficult to stay engaged. While some appreciate the unique elements and writing, others criticize the repetitive nature of missions and the disconnection between gameplay and narrative. Overall, the story serves more as a backdrop to the climbing mechanics rather than a compelling driving force, leading to mixed feelings about its relevance and execution.
“To be fair, the story is what kept me playing till the end; otherwise, I would have quit pretty early on.”
“At first, I thought it was just a mountain climbing game, but once you get into it, the story makes it much more interesting than just a thrilling climb to the top of a mountain for bragging rights; it's a fight for your life and your freedom.”
“They completely revamped how the game evolves, put in the story (writing is excellent), and re-balanced perks, skills, and equipment... all in all, it's a must-buy (probably one of the top 3 adventures ever made).”
“The story is very vague; even after playing to the end, it's somewhat up in the air what happens, up to you to decide. To be fair, I didn't expect this kind of storyline in the first place; I thought it'd just be climbing just because, so it was an interesting surprise.”
“But it feels like they wrote the plot and then forgot to put it in the game.”
“The story falls flat, as others say, eluding to a grand mystery, only for the game to shrug and say, 'actually, I guess nothing really interesting happened up here.' This makes the game feel unfinished and unsatisfying.”
Insurmountable review — The hill of judgment is still left to climb
Cerebral and engrossing, Insurmountable succeeds at making a tactical mountain-climbing rogue-lite. No frostbite required.
85%Insurmountable Review (PC)
Insurmountable gains a new gameplay layer with the 2.0 update, which gives the experience a clearer structure and players more clear goals to aim for. Climbing peaks, with limited resources and careful planning, continues to be compelling. There are plenty of strategies to try out, many events to deal with, some mysteries to untangle. The problem is that there’s not enough variety, even with the newly added campaign structure. After 5 or 6 climbs, nothing is surprising. The player can try new synergies or new ideas, but the mountains remain largely the same. Insurmountable has a great concept and some solid mechanics but can struggle to entice players to reach more than one summit. Review code provided by the publisher.
80%Insurmountable Review
Insurmountable is definitely a hidden gem of a game, one that provides the right mix of challenge and fun for the player’s delight.
80%