Magic Toenail

Neat little strategy game, has a bunch of ideas I haven't really seen explored before. Cool to see more slow paced combat roguelikes coming out. Only real complaint it that though I like the slower pace of the game, if you don't get at least 1-2 damage upgrades early, all the enemies start to out pace you and battles drag on a ton. Isn't a big deal but limits the amount of viable builds. Overall nice and sweet, fun game to pick up and play for a weekend

top 10 games all of time

Fun strategic roguelite! Having movement and attack tied together is a cool concept for planning out how to approach each level. Cool vibes and art as well

“The more, the merrier.” It’s a phrase we know too well, one whose spirit the so-called “gaming community” invokes all too often with regard to resolution, length, mechanics… … … *Traversable space.* But consider this. Compelling game design is about challenging a player’s priorities. Look at a chess board. Now imagine it was a thousand times larger, the opposing pieces separated by oceans. The further apart these elements of friction become, the less common it’ll be for the player to find themself in a position where they’ll have to make a meaningful decision. Now, I seem to recall at least an hour stretch of Tears of the Kingdom spent just scrounging around for something interesting. This will never happen in Magic Toenail, where it takes all of one second to start plotting the three grid squares you must navigate to evade Death. The verb-consolidation of Magic Toenail has the same effect. Shooting happens automatically during movement, and the projectile you’ll shoot during each square of traversal has to be determined before you begin. You’ll always move before your enemies, and you’re given everything you need to solve the puzzle of any particular stage. That level of hones…

This appears to be an introduction to strategy games, ages 10 and up

Magic Toenail is a neat little roguelike that reminds me a lot of the games of Michael Brough, but with its own unique twist. Unlike most turn based roguelikes, you make 3 moves for every move the enemies make, but enemies have to be damaged by specific spells. I did find myself having to double check what kind of spell damaged what enemy relatively frequently, but hopefully over time I can internalize what the damage triangle is, which should hopefully speed up my pace of play. The overworld map is a pretty unique idea, and while I've seen it for some more expansive roguelikes in Qud, I really appreciated the minimalist take here where each tile gives you a different upgrade. There are some interesting combos that can be pulled off with the right gear, but the game doesn't get quite as wacky and combo oriented as something like Seven Scrolls or Cinco Paus, which is where my own personal taste lies, but this still has some fun unexpected behaviors that are worth digging into. I think anyone into designing games should give Magic Toenail a try because there are a lot of clever ideas here that could inspire some other games.