Loot River was revealed in 2021 as the pixel-art dungeon crawler offspring we would get “if Diablo and Tetris had a baby.” There was no launch date set at the time, and developer straka.studio has only said that it’s coming soon. Until today, that is—because now it’s out.
But first things first: What exactly would occur if Diablo and Tetris had a baby? In this particular case, real-time combat in a top-down roguelike adventure that takes place in procedurally-generated labyrinths built on shifting geometric shapes. You’ll hack-and-slash your way through the monstrous hordes like an old-time hero, but you can also buttress your abilities even further by taking advantage of the fluid landscape: Slide up next to a monster on a distant block, give it the ol’ one-two, and then slide away before it can react.
It’s a simple but clever twist on the familiar formula: You’ll have access to a range of weapons, items, and abilities that will enable you to delve ever deeper into the catacombs, but mobility, and using whatever geometry you happen to be standing on, is clearly going to be a big part of success and survival.
In fact, as you can see in this clip from 2021, you can sometimes get the job done just through some clever tetro-manipulation: Lead the bad guys on a chase, isolate them, and then get what you came for.
It’s not the most obvious mashup I’ve ever seen, but I think it looks clever—and very pretty, too: You can get a closer look at how it all works in the overview trailer below. Loot River is available now on Steam for 10% off the regular $25/£20/€25 price.