AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Website: http://forum.caravelgames.com/viewsitepage.php?id=90294
Download Link: http://www.caravelgames.com/distfiles/CDROD1_6_7setup.exe
Linux Download Link: http://forum.caravelgames.com/downloads.php?dl=1&id=37

I've been talking about DROD a lot recently, and I think its about time I talk about it since nobody actually heard of it here.

DROD is a 1997 turn-based puzzle game created by Erik Hermansen of Webfoot Technologies, but was later made Open Source in 2000. At the time, it was rather commercially unsuccessful due to being a small project and lack of PR, but gradually became more and more popular after it went Open Source, and is now a rather successful franchise. In fact, its regarded by many who played it to be one of the best puzzle games ever, even HomeOfTheUnderdogs (huge site) has it as #1!

But anyway, its a turn-based puzzle game. You take a turn (moving one square, or swinging your sword by one square), then the monsters take a turn (following basic programming). The goal is simply to kill all monsters in the room. The puzzle part comes in different shapes and forms, though. There's the basic Roach puzzles, which is simply to kill all the giant dungeon roaches in the room without dying (roaches are the simplest of monsters, and will head straight towards you without avoiding obstacles). There's Queen Roach puzzles (same as Roach puzzles, but where the roaches continuously respawn if you don't kill them, or the queen, fast enough). There's Mimic puzzles (they make the same moves you do). There's snake puzzles. There's door puzzles. There's goblin puzzles, tar puzzles, maze puzzles, force-field puzzles, alignment puzzles... there's a lot of puzzles.
300 rooms of puzzles, actually.

(it wouldn't be an overhead puzzle game without a falling floor puzzle!)


But the thing that makes this game really unique from nearly every other game is... its completely ordinary!
By that I mean, the entire rooms are entirely predictable! All monsters follow basic programming, you can see everything in a room, you can tell exactly what's going to happen if you try dash to a choke point. There's no hidden monster in the corner waiting to ambush you, there's no sniper about to shoot you once you move to a certain point, there's no random enemy spawning that can catch you off guard. It is, in the purest sense, a puzzle game.
And not one of those nonsense "guess the logic" puzzles either. I'm looking at you, Professor Layton!

(If this ever happens to you, its nice to know it was entirely your own daisies fault!)


Each level has its own puzzle theme, starting with level 4. Whether it be mimics, forcefields, eyes, brains, tar, its all made rather distinct.
And there's rarely just one solution to a level. The majority of them can be done in multiple ways.
...and that's about it, actually. There's 25 levels, but it gets pretty hard, pretty quickly. You'll first start having major trouble at level 3, and your brain will be hurting after level 4, but they're definitely passable if you put enough thought in.
I beat the game in four days though. Because I'm that awesome!

I doubt it's the best puzzle game ever...top 5 easily, but still.
Play Sorcerer and when you beat the coal mine puzzle, you can claim if DROD is the best.
Go ahead, I'll wait.

Your description reminds me of Chips Challenge, only the goal is to kill the monsters instead of escape unharmed.

I'll try it later

Sorcerer... isn't even a puzzle game. Or free to download legally. Yeah.

Sorcerer isn't a puzzle game, but it has the infamous coal mine puzzle.
And I didn't download it. I rocked the original.

Hah, I remember DROD. I was out shopping with my mom one time (I was what, 7? 8?) and she bought me a game demo compilation called "100 great games", this one was on it. Could only play a few levels, but we eventually bought the real thing. HOLY CRAP was it ever hard! I gotta pick this up again and see how well I do, I don't think I ever finished it

no

THAT POSTER IS A SPY