RPG
Caves of Qud
The Management demands to know why we can’t randomly generate all magazine content. Jonathan Bolding hates to disappoint.
SPECS
Minimum OS: Ubuntu 18.04, CentOS 7 CPU: 1GHz SSE2 Mem: 4GB HDD: 2GB GPU: Vulkan capable
Caves of Qud is a traditional roguelike RPG in form, a C top-down, turn-based game that relies on text and simpleyet-evocative graphics to convey its world. It doesn’t stick hard and fast to permanent death, though, instead letting you choose whether you want save points and even tweak how much fighting you have to do. Nor does Qud stick hard and fast to the traditional roguelike rules of having an opaque, frustrating user interface and arcane, keyboard-driven control scheme – it even plays very well on a mobile PC like the Steam Deck.
You make your character from a variety of archetypes that describe normal humans or the far more numerous mutant inhabitants of Qud. You then build in a relatively free-form way, choosing new skills, upgrading your abilities, and gathering equipment for a dizzying and thrilling array of possibilities. From there you set off across Qud from your starting village in true RPG sandbox fashion, choosing to follow or not follow the many quests and whimsical distractions you may come across. A lot of that involves carefully delving into the ruins of the ancient civilisation of the Eaters of Earth, fighting the strange and deadly creatures you find there, and pilfering their treasures.