The Enchanted Cave 2

About

The Enchanted Cave 2 is a single player role playing game. It was developed by dustinaux and was released on June 3, 2015. It received very positive reviews from players.

Delve into a strange cave with a seemingly endless supply of treasure, strategically choosing your battles to gather as much treasure as possible! Find rare artifacts and traverse the skill tree to become your choice of a mage, warrior, alchemist, or a mix of skills. Craft potions or enchant your equipment with ingredients, and discover secret areas! But be careful because the cave has oddly becom…

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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93%

Audience ScoreBased on 482 reviews

gameplay24 positive mentions

grinding39 negative mentions

Simple and addicting dungeon crawler with a satisfying loot and enchantment system.
Good progression mechanics with risk-reward balance and multiple skill trees.
Rich content with 100 procedurally generated levels, multiple game modes, and replayability.

Late game and New Game+ modes become repetitive and grind-heavy, with poor scaling of gear and stats.
Combat can feel simplistic and monotonous due to stationary enemies and lack of player input during battles.
UI issues including clunky inventory management, lack of keyboard shortcuts, and occasional crashes.

gameplay
68 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
35%
61%
4%
The gameplay offers a simple yet addictive roguelite dungeon-crawling experience with satisfying risk-reward mechanics, strategic elements, and a deep skill tree, though it can become repetitive and lacks mechanical complexity or challenge for some players. Its randomly generated floors, crafting, and loot systems enhance replayability, but the core mechanics remain fairly consistent throughout, appealing mainly to fans of casual and retro-style roguelikes. Overall, it’s enjoyable and accessible but may feel stale or too easy after extended play.
- “So much strategy, and there are so many ways to be more efficient as you learn the mechanics better.”
- “Even once I fully deconstructed the game to optimize my strategy, identifying all the unbalanced systems I could abuse, I still continued to play it anyway because the core gameplay loop is so satisfying.”
- “This constant risk-reward management is probably the most engaging mechanic in the game.”
- “There is very little mechanical complexity and I haven't felt challenged at any point.”
- “Not all that shimmers is gold; although this game looks pretty, shiny and interesting, it quickly becomes dull and boring; after 90 minutes of gameplay, I can't help but see how repetitive and monotone the game is, and how lacking in strategy and pretty much any gameplay it really is. I already requested a refund since I regret buying this game.”
- “You have a skill tree but the gameplay is too simple and the only thing that you do is kill weak monsters that can't do damage and farm the same items with more stats, to make the next monsters weak so you can repeat.”
story
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
64%
6%
The game's story is simple but engaging, featuring a classic dungeon crawler narrative with an evil sorcerer and hidden lore revealed through NPC interactions, journals, and exploration. While some find it minimal and straightforward, others appreciate its nostalgic, atmospheric charm and the gradual unfolding of the mystery within the enchanted cave. However, the story can feel sparse or repetitive for players seeking deeper narrative complexity or more diverse quests.
- “The most entertaining roguelike I've ever played, with a story that's gloriously inspired by the oldschool D&D adventure 'The Tomb of Horrors'.”
- “I also adore the implementation of the story through diaries, subtle dialogue with NPCs, and with gradual changes to the starting town as you progress.”
- “Cinematics: 10/10 (attack and movement animations are natural and story is clear and interesting). Story: 10/10 (love how you discover clues to the mystery as you go deeper).”
- “There are no proper quests or NPC dialog except the occasional 'bring me item x.' or a basic shop at the cave entrance (that counts as a floor for some reason).”
- “The mobile app features no proper level design or game/story flow/plot, as they opted to try to use samey repetitive procedural generation algorithms as a substitute for adding such content to the mobile app, avoiding the important job of level/map design.”
- “It is devoid of story elements and is little more than a hack 'n slash for leveling up your character.”
grinding
39 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is a core and intentional aspect of the game, providing satisfying progression for fans of grind-heavy RPGs, though it can become repetitive and slow, especially in late and new game+ content. Some players find the pacing tedious due to repetitive battles, slow stat and gold gains, and the need for extensive farming, while others appreciate its rewarding loot system and balanced challenge. Overall, grinding is generally considered fun but may deter those seeking a faster or less repetitive experience.
- “Would be better with more quality of life features such as teleporting to stairs you already have access to, skipping battles where you take 0 damage, or just being faster in general, but even then the game gets really slow and repetitive after the first playthrough. New game+ is just leaving and re-entering battles hoping for an instakill (which for some reason can only proc on the first hit). Challenge modes outside of story are shortened to 50 levels instead of 100. Labyrinth and monster's lair force you into either fighting more monsters or pickaxing around them but the game plan's about the same. Green goo restricts your equipment to helm and weapon and gives some stat boosts to everything to compensate, just needs a bit more grinding for potions than other modes. The final boss is always grinding for a lot of potions then spamming them until you eventually win since they're just a big damage sponge.”
- “My one critique is that I don't think there's a viable way of beating new game+ other than grinding out +1 stat points.”
- “Once you've done that, there's not much to see but grinding through the 100 levels, killing thousands of monsters that are all functionally identical, just with ever-increasing numbers attached to them.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
56%
8%
The game features retro, pixelated graphics with a charming old-school 16-bit style that appeals to fans of classic roguelikes and dungeon crawlers. While visually simple and occasionally showing minor graphical issues or bugs, the graphics run smoothly even on lower-end systems and complement the gameplay well. Though not technically advanced, the art style is considered a faithful and enjoyable throwback that enhances the overall experience.
- “Graphics: 10/10 (love the simple pixel graphics style; randomized map generation and hidden rooms)”
- “It has distinctive 16-bit style graphics and excellent sound and music design.”
- “The enchanted cave 2 is a good RPG game with rogue-like elements that has great pixel graphics, a large cave to explore and lots of items and enemies that falls somewhat flat due to its simplicity.”
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “While there are options to change the resolution for the mobile app, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the mobile app, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
- “There are several graphical bugs that really ruin this port; just play the free Flash version.”
music
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
65%
23%
12%
The music, primarily composed by the renowned Grant Kirkhope, is widely praised for its atmospheric, relaxing, and memorable qualities, enhancing the game's simple dungeon crawl experience. While a few found it somewhat underwhelming given Kirkhope's reputation, most agree that the soundtrack perfectly complements the gameplay and significantly adds to the game's replayability and charm.
- “Extremely replayable, memorable music by Grant Kirkhope, and the best roguelike progression system that never feels like a grind.”
- “Everything you do feels visceral and satisfying thanks to the sound design, and the music is sweeping and orchestral/epic.”
- “The music by Grant Kirkhope stands out and can be listened to repeatedly, making this a solid title all around.”
- “I found the music just blended into the background.”
- “Despite the inclusion of Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie, Donkey Kong Country) as composer, the music is underwhelming, considering his pedigree.”
- “Luckily, the gameplay becomes mindless enough that I can listen to music or talk radio at the same time and still enjoy myself.”
replayability
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
27%
20%
The game offers generally good replayability thanks to randomized levels, multiple characters, additional modes, and achievements that extend play beyond the initial run. However, its simplicity and relatively short length may limit long-term replay value for some players, with the most engaged replay coming from perfectionists or those seeking to master the game. Features like New Game+ and roguelike progression help maintain interest, but overall replayability varies based on player preference.
- “Nice additions, good challenges, nothing overcomplicated and great replayability.”
- “Found it here, with multiple additional characters, more game modes, replay value out the yin-yang, and more story beyond the initial play.”
- “Extremely replayable, memorable music (by Grant Kirkhope!), and the best roguelike progression system that never feels like a grind.”
- “It's a fun game but is fairly short and doesn't seem to have any real replay value once you beat it.”
- “Low replayability; it makes more sense to continue playing with one character.”
- “The simplicity leads to very little replayability in the game unless you're a perfectionist.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game's atmosphere is praised for its relaxing and enjoyable nature, largely enhanced by its great, atmospheric music. Players find the balanced difficulty and rewarding gameplay contribute to a fun and immersive dungeon crawl experience.
- “A really fun and simple dungeon crawl game with really nice, atmospheric music.”
- “This creates a relaxing atmosphere for the game.”
- “Music is great and the general atmosphere is kinda relaxing.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The monetization of The Enchanted Cave 2 is widely criticized as a greedy cash grab, with users feeling it is a poorly adapted mobile app on Steam that relies heavily on microtransactions and lacks a fully enjoyable experience without additional payments.
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is light and simple, providing a fun and entertaining experience that complements its straightforward, roguelike-inspired gameplay. It is well-suited for players seeking casual, amusing gameplay.
- “It can be a very good choice if you want to spend your time with a very simple but funny game.”
- “At the start the game is interesting, the system is simple but funny, it's like a roguelike but easier.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players express strong positive emotions, highlighting feelings of joy and satisfaction from the game's rewarding progression system and strategic challenge management. The experience evokes genuine emotional investment through thoughtful gameplay.
- “When I saw it was on Steam for $5, I cried tears of joy.”
- “It's a very rewarding system that made me feel like I progressed through each level of the dungeon, causing me to carefully manage my health and magic to take down certain foes.”