The Hobbit movies are a mixed Baggins indeed – at once thunderous and thin, like butter scraped over too much bread – but one sequence I love from The Desolation of Smaug is Bilbo searching Khazad-dûm for the Arkenstone, while trying not to rouse the titular dragon from his slumber. Don’t Wake The Beast is sort of that sequence plus Spelunkified procgen levels and Thief-esque stealth mechanics.
Created by Artifical Disasters – whose other works include eco-minded reverse city-builder Flooded – it’s a roguelite stealth affair where you sneak through randomly arranged dungeons, avoiding the eyes and ears of walking skeletons and the like. There are pressure plate traps and other environmental obstacles to deal with, but the biggest “terrain hazard” of them all is the screen-filling red dragon on the dungeon’s lowest level. Disturb its rest, and it’ll smash the scenery apart pursuing you to the exit.
As you rove these top-down labyrinths, you must deal with the problem of footstep noise and the rattling of any items you pick up or disturb, with sounds manifest as expanding white rings. While this is a loot-driven experience, the game has a nifty way of punishing avarice. Every pearl necklace or gemstone you pocket adds to your weight, making your footsteps louder.
Sometimes, you might have no choice but to cause a racket – blasting through a cracked wall to reach a door, for example. Thankfully, you have a zipline which is useful for speedy withdrawal behind cover. Bilbo could have done with one of those. Other player items include a Thiefy gadget that covers the ground with footfall-dampening moss, and a cloak that increases detection time. It looks like a game where complexity arises more from the terrain puzzles and enemy varieties than the acquisition of new tools, but there’s a town layer with merchants and, seemingly, a few sidestories.
I’m not sure it’s possible to escape without eventually rousing the dragon, but even if you do, you can expect “new traps and dangers” on the way out. It can’t be worse than having to sidestep rivers of fire, surely.
I dislike the cheesy voiceover in the trailer – the Statute of Cringe has officially elapsed on the practice of starting videos with “Yep, that’s me – you’re probably wondering, etc”. But I’m guessing there won’t be any chitchat during the actual catacombing, so I’ll let it slide. Speaking of sliding, the only request I have at this stage is a giant hall entirely full of gold coins, where stepping incautiously might trigger an avalanche.
Don’t Wake The Beast is out… at some point. Read more on Steam.
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