Support NeoGAF

[More_Badass]

This came out earlier this month, and it's a clever puzzle roguelike that does what the best minimalist puzzle hybrids do: takes simple controls and a simple concept, and mines a wealth of clever and diverse challenges and mechanics out of that basic foundation.

At its core, it feels reminiscent of Desktop Dungeons in how that game was a numbers game as much as it was a roguelike. In Fidel, maximizing your path and clearing out of enemies to earn back health and precisely manage your leveling up is crucial; furthermore, much like Desktop Dungeons let you know the exact consequence of every move and attack, Fidel lets you rewind all your moves, letting you experiment and carefully plan out the most efficient path while not crossing over your lease or blocking your exit

There's a lot going under the hood, between enemy types, hazards, powers, secrets, additional mechanics, and more.

$8.99, PC/Mac
http://store.steampowered.com/app/573170/Fidel_Dungeon_Rescue/
http://ludomancy.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rtV-xhZ0JY

Fidel is a puzzle-crawler about finding the best path through monsters, treasure and magic. Each match is just a few minutes long, but there are many surprises and tricks to learn each time. Also, you are a dog.

Eurogamer

What a game. All games encourage certain virtues or vices, I think, whether they acknowledge it or not. Fidel Dungeon Rescue is about two virtuous Es: experimentation and elegance. Get through the game as slickly, as smartly, as cleanly, as thoroughly as you can, but, while you're at it, never miss an opportunity to learn as much as you can along the way. This is a treat, and if there's a better game out this month, I haven't seen it.

Ars Technica

One month into my time with the game, I'm still not an expert. Fidel is among the hardest puzzle games I've ever played, but I keep coming back, groveling like a... you know. Fidel has everything I want in a brain-busting puzzle experience: quick sessions, a carefully balanced level generator, satisfying payoffs for intelligence, decisions full of stakes, and a dedicated "bark" button.

This is my favorite quick-burst, brain-busting puzzle game in years. Buy it.

Kotaku

Fidel's initial difficulty hurdle is intimidating. It's very easy to get killed if you fail to exploit weaknesses, though there is fun to be had in discovering the best way to proceed. However, as I pressed further into the game's dungeons, Fidel felt like a great brain teaser that I'll continue to explore. Besides, who doesn't love a brave dungeon dog?

Alright Gaf, I've been dying to talk about this gem, came out Aug 1st:

Fidel Dungeon Rescue - $8.99 (PC, Mac)

No joke, one of the most cleverly and elegantly designed games I've played in years to the point where Spelunky comes up as a comparison in terms of how naturally understandable and tightly executed it is. To give a better idea of the gameplay, it's kind of like playing a The Witness line puzzle (which isn't a coincidence, and Jon Blow has been shilling it on Twitter for weeks) where you swiftly try and maximize XP and coin gain by surgically taking out enemies and carving out the best path you can in the level without doubling back over your line, or in this case, your leash.

Someone called it a "puzzle-action" game on Steam and that feels like a more apt description than just "puzzle game", simply because of the general flow of the game as well as the extra layer of satisfaction and game feel; the game has juicy, satisfying enemy squashes, a great level up effect, snappy music and sound effects, screen shake, etc.. It's a rouge-lite/like as well, but it's light on the procedural generation, as screens are handcrafted/handpicked and have a lot of level design elements that are always the same each time you play. Just so I don't destroy expectations, it's not meant for dozens or hundreds of hours of play like Spelunky was - I basically strangled everything possible out of it in 11 hours - but there wasn't a dull moment in that 11 and I can seeing myself jumping back in and still having fun. Plus the devs have been avidly patching and tweaking things despite it being so polished and balanced out of the gate, and it sounds like they may add content in the future.

I'd go into more detail, but simply learning about the game's mechanics is a blast and a sight to behold. Someone mentioned that the title screen itself could win an award and I totally see where they are coming from. One of the best games I've played this year, like top 3 so far.

i have to put a good number of hours into hollow knight and tacoma, and i want to give prey a shot once it's cheap and safe to buy (you know, in case it's shit like dishonored and doesn't work), but fidel is very likely gonna be my goty.

Spoiler

ahem cos also i'm not gonna spend $500 to buy a freaking ps4 to play persona and nier 2 was not that great

it just provides that same sense of developing a knowledge and sense of intuition that i really love about puzzle games, and i really dig that it's not an abstracted thing but instead something that makes a lot of sense when contextualized and it's really fun to look at and play. it's really fast and it changes a bit so that you can't memorize it but not enough so that it's completely different every time, which makes it a lot easier to digest than a roguelike or whatever, and i can appreciate that a lot better since i've never had the mindset to dedicate the countless hours needed to complete any of those games. the story is kinda throwaway i guess but i appreciate it's there, it's a dumb little thing to think about i guess.

not sure if i'm gonna do all the secrets, those look really tough, but i'm curious what they're like

kind of wish this game had gotten more traction but alas

i would've made an ot but i sort of know the people who made it so that doesn't sound right to me

 

[Haldinian]

Sounds similar to Dandy Dungeon (a free mobile game from the creator of Little King Story).

It could be good, but it's not the type of game I would play right now.

 

[Fancolors]

Found it yesterday. I might sell my steam cards to get it. Looked fun.

 

[Stoze]

Thanks for making a thread, hopefully the game gets more eyes on it. It's on sale for $7.64 for about 20 more hours btw.

Found it yesterday. I might sell my steam cards to get it. Looked fun.

It really is, can't recommend it enough. Even if you're someone not usually into puzzle games, I think there's a chance it could still hook you.

 

[Tank Jr.]

This was in the October 2016 Humble Monthly although I don't know if it's the exact same game.

 

[Wok]

This was in the October 2016 Humble Monthly although I don't know if it's the exact same game.

It is a different one somehow. The Humble Monthly featured a 2-month prototype, and this game has been developed for 9 additional months.

 

[Wok]

I need to share this:
https://github.com/Hohol/FidelPlayer

This is a solver for the whole game, which was written in Java by a single dev.

Have a look at the videos and enjoy the discoveries/spoilers:

 

[fargofallout]

This game really seems to have flown under the radar. Which is too bad, because it's awesome. It's great to play in tiny sessions - in fact, it'd make a pretty good iPad game.

I've put about nine hours into it, and I've almost wrung about as much out of it as I'm going to get, other than one final challenge I just started on yesterday.