DunGems

DunGems is a free to play casual roguelite with match 3 gem based combat.

DunGems is in very early development phase at this time.  This means the following:

• the game is NOT feature complete!
• there are many bugs
• things will change!
• you may lose your character or progress if game breaking changes are introduced 

You should consider this an early access/tech preview more than a playable game at this time.

If you are not okay with the above then you should skip trying the game for now. Feel free to follow us so you can keep apprised of updates when the game reaches a more stable/final state.

If you are okay with the above then feel free to try the game out and leave feedback in the community as the game takes shape.

Development Status:

Demo/Download Coming Soon:

2022 is the year of DunGems for me - the game is currently playable but I am actively coding together the 'core gameplay loop' in a way that should feel at least a little bit challenging/rewarding with a basic concept of character progression. 

As this is a personal project that gets worked on outside of my day job its impossible to set a date for that fist playable demo until its effectively ready with just a little bit polish needed.

I will keep this space updated with news regarding the first demo/playable build.

Current Features:

• random dungeon generation
• random loot generation
• random monster generation
• match 3 based combat
• character life based on soul depletion mechanic 

Planned Features:

• merchants
• quests!
• static city  (for merchants, quests and other activity hub uses as they are developed)
• overworld map with multiple 'zones'

Roguelike or Roguelite:

Great question - the truth is there is a lot of people using the word Roguelike to market games that are not Roguelikes at all. 

Using the Berlin Interpretation from Rogue Basin I believe DunGems currently fits all the rules with the possible exception of perma-death.

In DunGems Perma death is currently under design considerations. There is a separate concept of your current health, and a soul mechanic that when fully depleted will have some form of longer term death.  

The design question that is not yet finalized is will setting the difficulty or other setting of the game toggle between a hard perma death and a soft perma death?

Soft perma death is in this case defined as the player can not play the game for X amount of time until the spirit is regenerated at which time the character will reincarnate and they may resume playing.

Platforms:

DunGems is being developed currently with the idea of being web/mobile friendly but playable on desktop systems as well.

Monetization:

My base philosophy is you should be able to play this game for free.

No final decision have been made, but as a free to play title there will be some form of monetization. 

This may vary depending on the platform you are on. 

For example if you are on mobile you may be offered a chance to watch an add for a extra reward, but if you are on desktop you may be offered a chance to purchase in game currency to spend at your discretion for extra rewards.

Imagine you beat the boss of a dungeon and 3 randomly generated items drop. If you want to get 1 extra item from the boss this is when you might opt-in for monetization.

The loot table will be exactly the same and the random generation will remain the same, you would just be supporting the development of the game by choosing to get another item via the platform supported monetization.

Everything is subject to change!

Its early enough in the process that literally everything and anything may change.

Don't expect any feature listed here as a set in stone promise that the game will have that feature or that it will be designed in a particular way. 

The gameplay and features will likely need to evolve given the interesting combination of roguelike gameplay plus match 3 combat.