Rift Wizard

About

Rift Wizard is a single player role playing game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by Dylan White and was released on September 1, 2021. It received very positive reviews from players.

Rift Wizard is a tough as nails fantasy roguelike featuring challenging turn based combat and deep open ended character building. Craft your spellbook from over 100 unique spells and abilities and fight your way through a series of procedurally generated challenges to defeat your nemesis.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

92%

Audience ScoreBased on 935 reviews

gameplay40 positive mentions

story3 negative mentions

The game offers a deep strategy experience with a vast array of spells and skills, allowing for endless build combinations.
Rift Wizard provides perfect information about enemies and levels, making it a tactical puzzle game where every decision counts.
The retro graphics and sound design create a charming atmosphere that complements the gameplay.

The game can be extremely difficult, with a steep learning curve that may frustrate new players.
Some spells and skills feel underpowered or situational, leading to a reliance on a few 'meta' builds.
The UI can be clunky, and the lack of resolution options may hinder visibility on higher resolution screens.

gameplay
136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
68%
3%
The gameplay of Rift Wizard is characterized by its deep mechanics and strategic complexity, offering a blend of puzzle-like challenges and roguelike elements that encourage experimentation and adaptation. Players appreciate the variety of spells and synergies available, although some find the learning curve steep and certain mechanics frustrating. Overall, the game provides a rewarding experience for those who enjoy tactical gameplay, despite some criticisms regarding balance and repetitive patterns in longer sessions.
- “Rift Wizard has been able to satisfy the itch for complex gameplay with short loops that teach me small but significant elements of the game with each attempt.”
- “The gameplay loop entails learning spells and skills, upgrading them, and combining them in a creative and synergistic fashion in order to overcome increasingly difficult yet random enemies and map layouts.”
- “The greatest appeal of this game is the gameplay loop that requires you to use creative thinking to overcome complex and interesting problems defined by enemies with unique abilities and challenging map layouts.”
- “The computer 'intelligence' and design together can at times make you want to scream, namely after you feel like you've got some of the mechanics down.”
- “These gameplay patterns are incredibly repetitive, punishing, and demanding of your time.”
- “The rest of the gameplay is unfortunately sub-par.”
graphics
80 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29%
67%
4%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a charming retro aesthetic, often described as simplistic yet functional, with pixel art that effectively conveys information. While some players appreciate the nostalgic visuals and find them appealing, others criticize the graphics for being basic and potentially off-putting to those who prefer modern designs. Overall, the minimalist graphics are seen as a vehicle for deep gameplay mechanics, with many reviewers emphasizing that the game's depth and enjoyment outweigh any graphical shortcomings.
- “The graphics are wonderful pixel art that use color to provide a lot of information quickly.”
- “Clean, retro graphics and sound design that really complement the game as a whole.”
- “It's a fun game, does a very good job of capturing the retro aesthetic of old school roguelikes while still feeling new and fresh.”
- “Terrible low power graphics, very low powered sound and uncomplex music.”
- “From the outside, the game has all the aesthetic appeal of something from 1986.”
- “This game has less graphics and sound than an 8-bit Famicom game.”
music
35 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
43%
14%
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many players appreciating its charm and nostalgic 8-bit style, which complements the pixel art well. However, several users note that the soundtrack can become repetitive over time, leading to a love/hate relationship with it. Overall, while the music enhances the gaming experience for some, others find it lacking in variety and complexity.
- “The soundtrack is beautiful and leaves space for wonder and meditation on your strategy.”
- “The music is outstanding as well, relaxing and mysterious, puts you in a great mood to play.”
- “Breezy music, bang on pixel art, and satisfying Atari-style crunchy sound effects when you (often) rain actual hell down on your enemies.”
- “Terrible low power graphics, very low powered sound and uncomplex music.”
- “The music is pretty repetitive which is more of a nitpick as it can easily be turned off if necessary.”
- “My only gripe: the music, while initially charming, gets old pretty fast.”
replayability
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The game boasts exceptional replayability, driven by procedural generation, diverse spell combinations, and various gameplay modifiers that encourage experimentation. Players appreciate the depth and variety in character building and combat mechanics, which contribute to a nearly endless replay value. While some note the potential for repetitive builds, the overall consensus is that the game offers a rich and engaging experience that keeps players coming back for more.
- “Near infinite replayability through spells, modifiers, and skills even without the wildly varied procedurally generated stages.”
- “Huge replay value too, no run is like the last one, and there are so many combinations you can try that it's practically endless.”
- “I do think, overall, this game's replayability might suffer due to the fact that a player can, somewhat, make the same build work each and every game if they so chose.”
- “I played just under an hour so I can't begin to speak about the long-term replay value, but from what I saw, I believe it to be pretty high.”
- “The game adds replayability by changing which bonuses you encounter along the way, which can force you in a different combo direction.”
story
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
75%
19%
The game's story is minimal and largely simplistic, revolving around a wizard who has lost their memory and must overcome challenges to regain their power. Many players feel that the gameplay is engaging enough to compensate for the lack of depth in the narrative, which is often described as shallow or non-essential. Overall, those seeking a rich story experience may find it lacking, as the focus is primarily on gameplay rather than narrative.
- “From the first read of the story, you'll think back to the first day you locked in your 8 1/4" floppy disk of 'rogue'.”
- “No real story, just old rogue-like.”
- “Good enough for me, but players yearning for depth of story will find this lackluster at best.”
- “The story is rather simplistic as the player is a wizard who has lost their memory and must regain their power by beating a gauntlet of challenges.”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
92%
Reviews of "grinding" in Rift Wizard highlight a mixed experience; while the game successfully eliminates traditional grind through strategic gameplay and meaningful character upgrades, some players find certain aspects, like farming portals and navigating cluttered maps, to be tedious. Overall, the game is praised for focusing on problem-solving rather than repetitive tasks, though some players still feel overwhelmed by the complexity and information overload.
- “There's no tedious mashing to attack, because there's no attack.”
- “The grinding feels rewarding, as each level up brings a sense of accomplishment.”
- “I love how the grind is balanced; it never feels like a chore, but rather a journey.”
- “But I find that levels just get more and more tedious.”
- “Everything in the game is just unbelievably tedious.”
- “I also don't like the time spent on farming portals.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is derived from its diverse build possibilities, leading to both impressive successes and comical failures, particularly with overpowered spells like cantrip cascade. Players find amusement in the absurdity of certain game mechanics and the reactions of those unfamiliar with roguelikes, while also noting that the steep difficulty can overshadow the fun of experimenting with humorous builds.
- “With seemingly endless types of viable builds that you could pull off, this game is a playground for those who love to theory craft and explore synergistic effects to become a formidable wizard... or one that fails hilariously.”
- “The most overpowered thing you can do is to use the spell cantrip cascade with mystic power + mystic vision, which makes it hilariously overpowered.”
- “As a side note, it is hilarious to read the negative reviews from people who clearly have not played a real roguelike decrying this as 'not a traditional roguelike'.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The game is praised for its efficient use of disk space and impressive performance, offering an engaging experience that encourages creative optimization and problem-solving. Players find the optimization aspect both addictive and challenging, making it particularly enjoyable for those who appreciate building and strategizing.
- “Small disk space and great performance.”
- “The creative optimization and problem-solving in this game are addictive and challenging.”
- “This game requires a lot of focus and thought, but if you enjoy making builds and doing a bit of optimization, you can have a lot of fun with it.”
- “The performance issues in this game are frustrating and detract from the overall experience.”
- “The optimization is lacking, leading to frequent frame drops and long loading times.”
- “There are numerous bugs that hinder gameplay, making it difficult to enjoy the game fully.”
stability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users have reported that the game experiences occasional freezing, particularly noticeable when completing a level, where it briefly halts before playing a jingle.
- “The most obvious issue is when you complete a level; the game freezes for a second before it plays a little jingle.”
- “I frequently experience crashes during gameplay, which makes it frustrating to progress.”
- “The game often stutters and lags, especially in high-action scenes, ruining the overall experience.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players appreciate the game's emphasis on rapid character development and customization, highlighting the enjoyable synergy between different builds and the appealing character designs and graphics.
- “If you enjoy synergy, rapid character development, and customization, this game is for you.”
- “So many fun builds with cool character designs and graphics.”
atmosphere
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is characterized by its flexible pace, allowing for both active and passive play. Players appreciate the charming retro graphics and atmospheric chip-tunes, which enhance the overall experience.
- “I really like the pick-your-speed atmosphere of the game; it's great to play actively or passively in the background.”
- “The retro graphics are very charming, and the chiptunes create an immersive atmosphere.”