''Wayward Souls'' is an 2014

action-adventure game The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a story ...

developed by Rocketcat Games. It is a follow-up and spiritual successor to their '' Mage Gauntlet'' and was released for

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and

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

. A

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version was later released in 2019. The gameplay resembles that of '' The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past'' crossed with the randomly generated dungeons of a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a subgenre of role-playing computer games traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player characte ...

and the escalating challenge of the ''

Dark Souls is a series of action role-playing games created by Hidetaka Miyazaki of FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment. The series began with the release of ''Dark Souls'' (2011) and has seen two sequels, ''Dark Souls II'' (2014) a ...

'' series. Rocketcat has continued to update the game since its launch, adding new playable characters and increasing the base price of the game. Currently, the game has six playable characters.

Gameplay

For each session the player chooses one of six characters: the Warrior, Mage, Rogue, Adventurer, Spellsword, or Cultist. Each character has a unique attack style and set of special abilities. The player enters a procedurally generated two-dimensional dungeon divided into several floors, each containing rooms full of enemies. The player is frequently locked into a room upon entry and must kill all enemies in the room to continue. Combat involves striking enemies with basic melee or ranged attacks, "power attacks" that must be recharged, and consumable items; all while positioning oneself to take as little damage from the enemies as possible. Floors can also contain traps, treasure chests, forges to upgrade the player's weapons, and story-related encounters. At the end of each floor, the player regenerates a small amount of health. If the player is killed, all items and upgrades found in the current run through the dungeon are lost, and the player must start again on the first floor. However, any coins found are retained and can be used to purchase permanent upgrades for a particular character. The final upgrade for each character provides a unique benefit to all six characters. At the end of the final floor, the player faces a boss. Defeating the boss unlocks a new, more difficult dungeon. The bosses and related overarching story are the same for all characters: the tower the player explores has become cursed after its occupants unearthed certain magical artifacts. However, each character has a unique story as well, revealed through text interludes and scripted encounters at milestones in the dungeon.

Critical reception

The game has a

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rating of 87/100 based on 19 critic reviews. ''Wayward Souls'' was ''

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'' 2014 Game of the Year. At the 2014 National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR) awards the game was nominated for the ''Game, Original Role Playing'' category.

References

{{reflist 2014 video games Action role-playing video games Android (operating system) games Fantasy video games IOS games Rocketcat Games games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Windows games