The Grindstone

About

The Grindstone is a single player open world role playing game with fantasy, medieval and historical themes. It was developed by Wolfs Moon Studios and was released on February 25, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

To begin your adventure in The Grindstone you need to form a team of 4. You first pick your race from human, elf, dark-elf, amzar, lizard-folk and other various monsters. You then decide a class varying from a heavy armor wearing Warrior, a magic throwing Wizard, a Ranger covering the battle field with arrows and much more! You set off into the world with the freedom to take things…

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83%

Audience ScoreBased on 30 reviews

music2 positive mentions

grinding11 negative mentions

Extensive character customization with a wide variety of races and classes, allowing diverse party compositions and strategies.
Engaging and satisfying gameplay loop focused on grinding, crafting, and battling with challenging bosses and enemies.
High replay value and many hours of gameplay supported by an active and responsive developer community.

Lack of an overarching story or clear endgame, which may make the experience feel aimless or repetitive for some players.
Slow dungeon movement speed and frequent backtracking make progression tedious and sometimes frustrating.
Numerous minor bugs, UI issues, and some design choices (e.g., inefficient leveling systems and overwhelming item drops) reduce overall polish.

story
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18%
64%
18%
The game has minimal to no overarching story, focusing instead on grind-heavy gameplay and side quests that primarily involve repetitive fetch objectives. While some players appreciate the freedom for emergent storytelling and character progression, many find the lack of meaningful narrative and character development leaves the experience feeling bland and repetitive. Overall, the story aspect is weak and secondary to the gameplay loop.
- “Just because there isn't an overarching plot to this game doesn't mean there can't be smaller plots in some of the areas (especially with the reputation system in place).”
- “There are so many things that you can do and what is interesting is when completing side quests opens a lot of new things.”
- “It's practically "side quest - the game", and it's fun for what it sets out to achieve.”
- “Not only does it not actually have a story... just go to this dungeon then to another to get more levels... no, it is also just totally boring.”
- “I don't mind having a plotless game (as I'm a very big fan of the Saga series, which the plots of which take a very distant backseat to gameplay and mechanics), but considering that all the quests I found were literally 'get me (x) of (y)' (sometimes not even getting the amount needed other than 'some'), it just made me feel like a group of errand runners rather than adventurers.”
- “Quests are usually drop quests (bring me 25 of this or that). This is fine until about level 20 when both the spawn rate of the specific monsters decreases and the rarity of the drop that you need from that rare monster increases, meaning you might grind for several hours to get 25 of them.”
gameplay
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
50%
25%
The gameplay offers a nostalgic, dungeon-crawler experience with a satisfying loop, extensive character and party customization, and over 30 hours of content with high replay value. It features interesting systems like a veteran experience, crafting, and skill progression, though quests can feel repetitive and grind-heavy, sometimes lacking depth or narrative engagement. Overall, the mechanics are solid but the game falls short of fully realizing its potential.
- “Dungeon crawler style of gameplay with side quests that reward you with more loot and means of progressing the game world.”
- “There are many hours of gameplay and the replay value is very high with the character creation and party combos possible.”
- “Thanks to the modern amenities of RPG Maker MV, the game utilizes a lot of interesting mechanics and systems, such as a veteran experience system (aside from normal EXP, you also gain veteran EXP by fighting turn-based battles, which you can spend on passive abilities and stat boosts), an extensive crafting system (including complementary fishing and mining mechanics), skills that can be leveled up through usage in battle, and some dungeons that feature (partially) regenerating treasure chests and bosses.”
- “I don't mind having a plotless game (as I'm a very big fan of the Saga series, whose plots take a very distant backseat to gameplay and mechanics), but considering that all the quests I found were literally "get me (x) of (y)" (sometimes not even getting the amount needed other than 'some'), it just made me feel like a group of errand runners rather than adventurers.”
- “"Players can expect over 30 hours of gameplay" — uhhh *looks at 70 hours* yep big emphasis on the "over" in that sentence.”
- “Hardly any gameplay mechanics info.”
grinding
11 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding is a central and well-received part of the game, offering satisfying progression through battles, crafting, and leveling, especially for those who enjoy number-driven growth. However, some find it tedious due to slow dungeon movement and repetitive combat, though activities like fishing and mining provide helpful variety. Overall, the grind is considered rewarding but can feel time-consuming and demanding in harder areas.
- “I want to like this game but the fact that you walk so slow in dungeons and there is no way to speed up combat just makes this game seem more tedious than fun.”
- “Restarting after 20 hours because you didn't like your choices, more grinding, but faster this time because you already did it once.”
- “Progress to next area, uh oh fights are harder now, more grinding.”
music
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is praised for its uniqueness and high quality, contributing positively to the overall immersive experience, alongside impressive graphics and sound design.
- “Lots of unique music.”
- “As expected from this dev, the graphics, soundtracks, and overall experience are very good.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game offers high replayability, with many hours of gameplay driven by diverse character creation options and varied party combinations.
- “There are many hours of gameplay and the replay value is very high with the character creation and party combos possible.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users feel that the game’s repetitive, fetch-quest style tasks lack meaningful narrative depth, resulting in a detached emotional experience that makes players feel more like errand runners than true adventurers.
graphics
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users praise the graphics as high-quality and visually appealing, consistent with the developer's reputation. The overall visual experience enhances the game's enjoyment alongside its soundtracks and gameplay.