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Ring of Pain

Ring of Pain Game Cover
88%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
grinding, stability
92% User Score Based on 2,466 reviews
Critic Score 70%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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Ring of Pain Game Cover

About

Ring of Pain is a single player role playing game with a horror theme. It was developed by twicedifferent and was released on October 14, 2021. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Ring of Pain is a strategic roguelike card game where players delve into an ever-changing ring of rooms, confronting nightmarish creatures in tactical turn-based combat. Carefully plan your path to capture powerful items and reach the exit, while managing limited resources and exploring multiple procedurally generated biomes. The game offers numerous character traits, enemies, and cards, ensuring high replayability and a challenge even for seasoned players.

Genres & Tags
Play Modes
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
Ring of Pain screenshot
+11
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92%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,466 reviews
gameplay217 positive mentions
grinding13 negative mentions
  • Unique and addictive gameplay that combines roguelike mechanics with a dark, atmospheric aesthetic.
  • Variety of items and builds keeps each run fresh and engaging, encouraging experimentation.
  • Fast-paced runs allow for quick play sessions, making it easy to jump in and out of the game.
  • Heavy reliance on RNG can lead to frustrating runs where success feels out of the player's control.
  • Some items and mechanics can feel underwhelming or poorly balanced, leading to less viable strategies.
  • The game lacks a strong narrative or depth in lore, which may leave some players wanting more context.
  • gameplay
    594 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Ring of Pain" is characterized by its unique circular card mechanic, which combines elements of roguelikes and deck-building games, offering a fast-paced and addictive experience. Players appreciate the simplicity of the mechanics, which allow for strategic decision-making and experimentation with various item synergies, although some express frustration with the game's reliance on RNG and the lack of clarity in certain mechanics. Overall, the gameplay loop is engaging and rewarding, making it a standout title for fans of the genre, despite some criticisms regarding depth and narrative integration.

    • “The gameplay loop is amazing.”
    • “Its blend of strategic card-based gameplay, atmospheric design, and replayability creates a haunting experience that rewards careful planning and adaptability.”
    • “The gameplay is straightforward enough for a newbie like me to grasp, but there’s a sneaky depth to it once you start messing with builds.”
    • “The gameplay is extremely simple; you can interact with one of the two front cards or move past them.”
    • “The gameplay loop and story are also very grindy and repetitive, leading to a game that you can easily sink hours into without any real progress or reward.”
    • “The mechanics in the game work really well, but the gameplay just fundamentally lacks depth and variety.”
  • graphics
    253 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of "Ring of Pain" are widely praised for their unique, dark, and surreal art style, which effectively creates an eerie atmosphere that complements the game's themes of danger and mystery. Players appreciate the hand-drawn visuals, which feature grotesque monsters and unsettling environments, contributing to a haunting yet captivating experience. While some critiques mention simplicity in the graphics, the overall aesthetic is considered a standout feature that enhances gameplay immersion.

    • “The art style is dark and surreal, with hand-drawn cards that depict grotesque monsters, eerie items, and unsettling environments.”
    • “The muted color palette and shadowy visuals create a sense of foreboding that perfectly matches the game’s themes of danger and mystery.”
    • “The eerie soundtrack matches the visuals of the game and while playing the game you will feel like you are in some nightmarish world which tries to crush you in every possible way.”
    • “While the artwork itself might be considered passable, the visual presentation here is negligible; it might as well be a slideshow or a YouTube video.”
    • “Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and Asteroids had more advanced animation and visuals going on than this game does.”
    • “The downsides are card-like visuals (personal taste) and a dour presentation in general.”
  • story
    143 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story in "Ring of Pain" is often described as vague and cryptic, with many players finding it intriguing yet difficult to fully grasp without extensive theorizing. While some appreciate the atmospheric presentation and the subtle storytelling woven into gameplay, others feel that the narrative lacks depth and clarity, leaving them wanting more substantial content. Overall, the game is seen as more focused on its mechanics and gameplay loop than on delivering a coherent and engaging story.

    • “One of Ring of Pain’s greatest strengths lies in its atmospheric presentation and storytelling through environmental cues.”
    • “The story, while told very minimally, is surprisingly engaging and interesting.”
    • “The game is surprisingly vibrant and unsettling, which adds to the ambiance the story is attempting to set, of an unwilling individual going down a cycle amidst the warring factions of light and darkness.”
    • “It's clear that the developer spent a lot of time and effort on every aspect of the game, except the basic plot to motivate you to complete multiple runs and try new difficulties.”
    • “The story is intentionally vague and confusing, and though that is supposed to create an air of mystery, I just found it to be unappealing.”
    • “The problem is the story, which is so threadbare it might as well not exist.”
  • atmosphere
    138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of "Ring of Pain" is widely praised for its unique blend of eerie visuals, haunting sound design, and immersive storytelling, creating a captivating yet unsettling experience. Players appreciate the game's ability to evoke feelings of dread and mystery while also providing a strangely comforting ambiance, enhanced by its artistic style and atmospheric soundtrack. Overall, the game's atmosphere is considered one of its greatest strengths, drawing players into its dark, immersive world.

    • “I find the overall ambience, art style, and atmosphere does a fantastic job of creating an unsettling but oddly comforting/relaxing feeling and is one of my favorite things the game does well.”
    • “From the moment you step into its eerie world, you're enveloped by an atmosphere of dread and mystery, fueled by haunting visuals and a hauntingly beautiful soundtrack.”
    • “The style is creepy, everything looks awful, and combined with the sound effects and music, creates a dark and heavy atmosphere, which fits with the themes of shadows vs light, ignorance vs realization.”
    • “The creature designs are delightfully unsettling, the music and sound effects create a disquieting atmosphere, and the world caught through glimpses in small conversations is both terrifying and fascinating.”
    • “What the game mechanically lacks is carried by atmosphere and will inevitably catch up to that.”
  • music
    124 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its ability to create a haunting and immersive atmosphere that complements the dark visuals and themes. While some players find the soundtrack to be repetitive or lacking in standout moments, many appreciate its eerie quality and how it enhances the overall experience, making it a memorable aspect of the game. Overall, the combination of music, sound effects, and art style contributes significantly to the game's unsettling and captivating ambiance.

    • “The music creates a good ambiance that I enjoy; I don’t think it ever stood out, which I think works well for the mood, but it also never gave me the impression that the game had amazing music.”
    • “The soundtrack is moody and atmospheric, perfectly complementing the dark visuals.”
    • “The overall feel of this game's tone and art style makes for an incredible experience paired with its brilliantly matching soundtrack.”
    • “The music is a bit boring and repetitive.”
    • “The game doesn’t really have a soundtrack of songs, more ambient sounds that keep you immersed in the dark and broody atmosphere.”
    • “In many ways, the music's depth helps mask the shallowness of Ring of Pain's actual gameplay.”
  • replayability
    107 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game exhibits a strong sense of replayability, with many players praising its variety of unlockable items, strategic depth, and engaging mechanics that encourage multiple playthroughs. While some reviewers noted that it may not reach the replayability heights of top-tier roguelikes, the combination of different challenges, item synergies, and daily runs contributes to a satisfying and addictive experience. Despite a few criticisms regarding balance and content variety, the consensus is that the game offers significant replay value, making it a worthwhile choice for fans of the genre.

    • “Different unlockable starting items provide replayability, impacting the optimal choices when attempting a new run rather than simply tweaking a few health points.”
    • “Its blend of strategic card-based gameplay, atmospheric design, and replayability creates a haunting experience that rewards careful planning and adaptability.”
    • “The game is replayable and provides something new each run.”
    • “It also doesn't have as much variety and replayability as other games.”
    • “This is a great game but I cannot recommend it at full price for 2 reasons: it has little to no replay value; once I completed it I never wanted to see it again.”
    • “Definitely needs more items and/or classes of some sort to maintain the same replayability of similar roguelikes - currently only has about 200 items of varying rarity which you manage between several different possible slots which is also a ton of fun but definitely not as deep out as most 'deckbuilder' roguelikes which is probably the most comparable genre.”
  • grinding
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and frustrating, with many unlocks and achievements requiring excessive effort that detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the encouragement of varied playstyles through achievements, the repetitive gameplay loop and lack of meaningful progress can lead to boredom. Overall, the grind is seen as an artificial difficulty that may alienate more casual players, making it a polarizing feature of the game.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “The only issue I have with it is the fact that the coolest items are locked behind grindy achievements that are there just to torment you rather than testing you as a player.”
    • “The gameplay loop and story are also very grindy and repetitive, leading to a game that you can easily sink hours into without any real progress or reward.”
    • “However, grinding does not significantly reduce difficulty (only widens the pool of loot), and many hours of subsequent play are necessary to unlock the full range of items, roll for particular builds, etc. Nothing new happens on any gameplay or story fronts during this time; runs get extremely predictable, so you get very bored very quickly.”
  • humor
    14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is widely praised, with players finding it both entertaining and cleverly integrated into the gameplay. Many appreciate the developers' sense of humor, noting the presence of darkly playful elements and hidden references that enhance the experience. Overall, the game balances its challenging mechanics with a consistent stream of funny moments and surprises, making it a memorable and enjoyable experience.

    • “The developers clearly had a sense of humor, and I appreciate the addition of what I believe to be a few 'hidden' references to other games.”
    • “In some runs, the game blesses you, and in some, it throws hilariously hideous stuff.”
    • “There’s a darkly playful sense of humor and plenty of unique biomes to explore.”
  • emotional
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players express a strong emotional response to the game, highlighting moments of heartbreak and attachment, particularly when faced with difficult choices like harming innocent characters. The emotional weight of these experiences, including feelings of guilt and sadness, suggests that the game effectively evokes deep feelings, even leading some players to seek therapy for their reactions. Overall, while the game may lack a clear emotional connection to the main character, it successfully creates poignant moments that resonate with players.

    • “I need to go for therapy; the emotional damage from killing a puppy and froggy is just too much.”
    • “I've had a few of my runs end this way, and it's heartbreaking.”
    • “I'm still not sure if it's a metaphor about emotional healing or just an edgy haunted dream world, but it's dripping with style either way.”
  • stability
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Overall, the game demonstrates solid stability, running well on platforms like the Steam Deck with minimal bugs reported. While some users experienced early glitches, subsequent patches have largely resolved these issues, allowing for a smoother gameplay experience. However, players noted some balance concerns, particularly with the freezing mechanic affecting enemy interactions.

    • “Runs great on the Steam Deck too.”
    • “The game runs great and is more than worth your money.”
    • “It isn't exactly buggy, but the balance feels a bit off.”
    • “I did encounter a couple of glitches early on, but a few patches later, they all seemed gone, for better or worse.”
    • “After thinking, I found my winning tactic: only wearing a crown that freezes enemies, but only when you wear fewer items. I skipped a zillion new items that I can't wear because I need the freezing.”
  • optimization
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The optimization in "Ring of Pain" is highly praised, as it enhances gameplay and prevents the experience from becoming slow and repetitive after a single playthrough.

    • “Optimization - great!”
    • “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
    • “I love how the developers focused on optimization; it really enhances the overall experience.”
    • “Without it, Ring of Pain would just be a slow and unexciting exercise in optimization that gets repetitive after one playthrough.”
  • character development
    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Character development in the game showcases remarkable attention to detail, with a cohesive spooky atmosphere reflected in various elements such as design, sound, and UI. However, the character design itself has been criticized as being subpar.

    • “The attention to detail is remarkable, and the spooky environment permeates through every aspect of the game, including character design, item attributes, camera movements, sound effects, music, color choices, and even the UI experience in menu screens.”
    • “The character development is incredibly immersive, allowing players to form deep connections with each character as their stories unfold throughout the game.”
    • “Each character evolves in a way that feels organic and meaningful, making their journeys compelling and relatable.”
    • “And the character design is pretty awful.”
  • monetization
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of "Ring of Pain" has been criticized for its high price of $20 USD, which some users feel is excessive compared to older AAA games. However, players appreciate the absence of in-app purchases, viewing it as a positive aspect of the game's pricing model.

    • “What an amazing developer to put their game in the bundle with no in-app purchases to profit from. That being said, it's about time I 100% this game.”
    • “Ring of Pain has the completely unrealistic cash grab price of $20 USD, for which you could easily get any number of older AAA games.”
    • “What an amazing dev to put their game in the bundle with no in-app purchases to profit from; that being said, it is about time I 100% this game.”
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70%Critics’ scoreBased on 1 critic reviews
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19h Median play time
42h Average play time
7-50h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 28 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Ring of Pain is a role playing game with horror theme.

Ring of Pain is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac OS, Xbox One and others.

On average players spend around 42 hours playing Ring of Pain.

Ring of Pain was released on October 14, 2021.

Ring of Pain was developed by twicedifferent.

Ring of Pain has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Ring of Pain is a single player game.

Similar games include Monster Train, Dicey Dungeons, Loop Hero, Pyrene, Curse of the Dead Gods and others.