X
Ring of Pain
Released On: Oct 15, 2020
74
7.3
Where to Buy
Where to Buy
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
44% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
74
44% Positive
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
56% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Ring of Pain is an immensely enjoyable experience that can be monumentally frustrating due to its luck-focused nature. It has excellent mechanics and really has a way of worming itself into your brain. But it can be horribly aggravating all the same.
All in all, Ring of Pain is a different enough take on the card game genre that it’s definitely going to be a good time. While not perfect, it has enough lurking in its depths to keep you thinking “Okay, well just one more run!”
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 User Ratings
7.3
50% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
40% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 20 User Ratings
7.3
50% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
40% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Ring of Pain takes a mashup of genres and brings them together for a dark and challenging adventure. The most important takeaway is that it works and provides some great gameplay moments for hours with many new ways to approach encounters. Sure, there are a few high moments of difficulty, and a few systems aren’t completely newcomer friendly, but there’s definitely enough here to keep you entertained for hours of dungeon-crawling and deck-building.
Ring of Pain probably isn’t something you’ll sit and play for hours at a time. It’s the sort of thing you’ll enjoy a few rounds of before turning it off, more than likely feeling defeated. But it won’t be long before you’re itching to jump back in and try again. There’s something infectious about its simplicity; it’s a roguelike dungeon crawler like no other, and despite the lack of action or actual dungeon-crawling, it’s huge amounts of fun. Even when you’re exploding left, right and centre.
Ring of Pain is an excellent concept which is almost perfectly executed, but falls flat at the final hurdle. The gameplay is as engaging as it is moreish, which is why it’s such a shame that the difficulty spike at the end ruins the experience. Hopefully this is something that’s amended after today’s release.
Ring of Pain understands what enamours roguelike fans to a new arrangement of rules and challenges. The focus on lateral movement and strategic interaction forced me to think ahead as I fought my way through a world full of beautiful and haunting creature designs. But an over-reliance on chance and an underdeveloped world cut the legs out from underneath all that polish and initial charm. Those hungry for something different will love the first taste, but I’m just not sure it will convince you to come back for a second helping.
Ring of Pain shows creativity and promise, but all to little depth to carry those qualities through. The choices presented by the game are interesting in principle, but in practice your success or failure are determined by luck more than anything else. The result is a game defined by repetition, which struggles to justify the time it asks of you. That said, for a minor price and a fun few runs, you could do far worse as a distraction.
Interesting spin on the deckbuilding dungeon crawler. Instead of relics that give passive abilities to synergize that need to be used strategically to get any benefit from. This game uses equipment that bolsters your stats like an RPG allowing for situation where some gear gives you bad stats but a worthwhile effect and the reverse. Unlike a deck builder game like Slay the Spire you balance stats that you need to improve to face special enemies that all have various weaknesses and strengths instead of cards.
A complicated puzzle with a lot of variety in-between runs and going for achievements can be quite fun or tedious no in-between.
Wish there was an ability to turn off some pieces of equipment since some pieces of gear are just overpowered in this single player game even on hard mode. So I'd like that feature to be implemented.
I like Simon Boxer's art and the style of this game a lot.
Report
PC
Really good, if you like a challenge and don't mind randomly dying due to the luck based system. You really have to play for a good couple of hours and unlock more powerful cards before the game reaches its full potential.
When I first started playing this game immediate comparisons were to Slay the Spire however, whilst on the surface it seems similar, the games are not that much alike. Ring of Pain has a grittier, darker aesthetic and plays a bit differently. I have put in about 20-30 hours of the game and still have not managed to beat it as the later dungeon levels are quite difficult. The biggest negative is that some runs are impossible, this is due to the game relying heavily on luck. This means that if you draw 3 powerful enemy cards in a row it is highly likely that you will die and have no alternative way of working around it.
That said, runs can be quick so not the end of the world if you die and there are a lot of cards to unlock the longer you play. These unlocks make the game a bit easier, giving you more powerful loot. All round if you like deck-building roguelike games then definitely worth playing.
Report
PC
TL;DR: A cool mobile game, except it's not on mobile and they're charging $20 for it.
DISCLAIMER: Got this one free on Epic Games.
This game reminds me a lot of some card-based dungeon crawlers on the mobile scene, something along the lines of "Night of the Full Moon" or "Dungeon Tales", I think both of which have been likened to "Slay the Spire" in some way. Get cards to equip your character, decide whether to fight or sneak past enemies in a ring, and escape to the next room as you attempt to get to the end of the dungeon and get one of the game's two endings.
No doubt about it, I found the game fun, if not frustrating at times (par for the course in RNG-heavy roguelikes). But I guarantee I'd have never paid $20 for this game. If I had spent $5 on Android, I would have felt like I got about what I paid for. I got one of the endings in roughly 8 hours of in-game time and didn't feel compelled to go find the second ending.
Report
PC
I have a lot of experience in other card-based roguelikes like Slay The Spire, and for a while I felt like this game would be a great alternative. There are a ton of elements to this game that I really enjoy, but after playing about 20 or 30 runs now I have to say that there is just too much volatility, especially in the endgame, and it leads to runs where I've made hundreds of good decisions ending because of a single misclick, which is just aggravating and not very fun to play around. I enjoy playing games with a lot of risk, but this game takes it way too far and makes it unconscionably easy to die in an instant to something that wasn't even obviously a threat.
Report
PC
A unique take on the roguelike deckbuilder genre, but it's not only very repetitive, but also terribly luck-heavy to a point that it's just unfun most of the times. However, it does show promise and with more content and balance tweaks when it comes to "dungeon" generation, I can see it being a banger.
Report
PC
Summary Ring of Pain is a roguelike / card game / dungeon crawler mashup. Levels are generated randomly from decks of cards, and arranged in a format (like a ring) which lets you observe the level and strategise. As you interact with cards the dungeon dynamically adjusts based on what you're doing. Ring of Pain blends elements of modern roguelik...
Platforms:
- PC
- Nintendo Switch
- Xbox One
Initial Release Date: Oct 15, 2020
Developer:
- Twice Different
Publisher: Twice Different
Genres:
