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All is safe when you’re calmly burrowing into a horrific, alien hellscape in search of precious resources and a mysterious relic, but it’s only a matter of time before that peace is interrupted. A bleeping proximity alarm warning you of an imminent alien attack on your dome quickly changes everything, so it’s time to return home and prepare for battle. You might crush the monstrous creatures easily or survive by the skin of your teeth, but then its back to mining and keeping a close eye on the countdown to the next attack until you make it out with the relic or die trying.
This is Dome Keeper – a simple, 2D roguelike that brilliantly combines mining with base defense to create a tense experience where each run is full of tough choices. Created by two-person team Bippinbits, along with some extra help, it launched last month exclusively on Steam to positive reception, and it’s easy to see why. Moreish risk and reward gameplay, combined with Roguelike randomness, make every Dome Keeper run feel unique and prevent you from ever getting too comfortable. Pushing your luck to get just one more resource, lest you miss out on an essential upgrade, can be the difference between surviving another round or spelling your dome’s doom.
Dome Alone
Each run of Dome Keeper kicks off with your pixelated player character in a barebones dome. It comes equipped with a weapon and a primary gadget of your choice, but even basic information - such as your dome’s health bar and the time to the next alien attack - aren’t standard-issue. You’ll need to hastily mine for iron, water, and cobalt to fund any upgrades. However, while it’s safe from aliens below ground, your mining strategies and the risks you take mean you can be a management genius or your own worst enemy.
This risk and reward gameplay and tough decision-making is what makes Dome Keeper so interesting. Randomized world generation and item drops – roguelike staples – mean you’re forced to experiment and adapt. While the constant questioning – have I mined too deep? Do I have enough time to carry all this iron? Should I upgrade my jetpack, laser, or loveable assistant Drilbert? – might not be to everyone’s taste, that kind of pressure is strangely enjoyable in a virtual setting. It’ll make you want to keep playing to find the best combinations of weapons and gadgets – the repellent primary gadget and condenser being one of my favorite combinations, as it allows you to significantly extend how much time you have to gather resources with the right upgrades.
Finding this groove and optimizing your Dome’s facilities feels great. Despite the relentless alien attacks, things are going well and you’re keeping on top of things. As in any game, this kind of success is fun – you feel like you’re winning! But it can all come crashing down very quickly when you get complacent, and that’s not a bad thing either.
Never tell me the odds
In my time playing Dome Keeper, there have been several times where I’ve severely misjudged how long it would take me to get back to my dome, leaving me no option but to dump a massive haul of materials just to get home at something faster than a snail’s pace and barely prevent a catastrophe.
The feeling of just barely overcoming these ever-increasing odds with each wave of ever-changing aliens is another reason why Dome Keeper is so fun. The sense of relief you get from unearthing a cluster of cobalt at the last second to conduct critical repairs before the next attack, keeping you in the game a bit longer, is thrilling. And it’s even better when you begin uncovering the relic that you’re after and realize that the end is in sight – you just need to hold out for a little longer! Of course, there are some runs that do end in failure, but you always feel like you’ve learned something to carry forward, whether it’s an ideal set of upgrades to pursue, or a new alien type to be aware of.
For such an unassuming game, Dome Keeper thrills with its anxiety-inducing decision-making and enticing roguelike gameplay. The defense and mining sections of the game are simple on their own but come together to make each run a real rollercoaster full of risks and tough choices. Coupled with varied enemy types and gadgets, Dome Keeper will make you want to keep coming back to barely scrape by against the alien attackers and overcome insurmountable odds, and you’ll be wiping the sweat from your brow when it all pays off.
Dome Keeper is out now on PC.
