Dust and Salt
Prime Games · 2018 · Indie, Adventure, RPG, Casual, Turn-Based Strategy
PC
Very Positive82% · 67
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About Dust and Salt
Dust and Salt is a text-based narrative adventure with a pinch of turn-based tactical battles which has you as the main hero leading your troops in a gritty, low-power, medieval fantasy world.
When his father is murdered and his village burned to the ground, a young warrior swears vengeance. He has to choose between force or diplomacy to forge new alliances and subdue his enemies. Will he get rid of the oppressors of this world or become an oppressor himself?
The game consists of a story text, a world map, and a tactical combat layer. On the world map you can choose to travel to different locations. The story text builds around the constant choices you make. Once you engage in battle the game will switch to a tactical map where the actual fighting takes place as turn-based combat. Enjoy the vivid writings by the quill of the author Sycamore Bright.
When his father is murdered and his village burned to the ground, a young warrior swears vengeance. He has to choose between force or diplomacy to forge new alliances and subdue his enemies. Will he get rid of the oppressors of this world or become an oppressor himself?
The game consists of a story text, a world map, and a tactical combat layer. On the world map you can choose to travel to different locations. The story text builds around the constant choices you make. Once you engage in battle the game will switch to a tactical map where the actual fighting takes place as turn-based combat. Enjoy the vivid writings by the quill of the author Sycamore Bright.
- Story is king. Rich, non-linear story that reminds of D&D with a "flair of battle". We’d describe it as a choose-your-own-adventure book that meets an RPG.
- Tactical combats. This is not checkers, this is a grown-up combat simulation. Send your light-armored infantry, the Nameless Wolves, through the woods into the back of the enemy while your armored, hammer-wielding Nameless Bears stall the enemy attack.
- Decisions matter. The narrative branches based on your choices. Your actions define and shape the world you experience.
- Character development. Are your decisions black, white or gray? Will they lead to a better future for the Sin Lands or will you turn into a usurper?
- Memorable personalities. Stand up to the cunning Lords of the Sin Lands in well-written interactive dialogues.
- Art that gives more life to the whole story. Zoom-in on the world map and experience the detail of the artistic work.
- You don’t pick abstract skills. Instead the choices you make at the beginning of the game define what abilities your character will learn.
- Featuring a gorgeous Nordic soundtrack by acclaimed artist Mike Olsen a.k.a. Danheim.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
✦ AI summary
Players praise the game's attractive artwork and music alongside its choose-your-own-adventure premise with meaningful stat-based choices that offer decent replayability. However, common complaints center on the checkpoint-based save system forcing tedious replays, confusing choices with unexpected or poorly explained outcomes, a rushed story particularly toward the climax, and unforgiving combat where losing troops makes later battles unwinnable, leading most to view it as a short but ultimately forgettable experience.
I give this game a rank D+ (50-55%) Forgettable game - sadly nothing really good here.. See my profile for more details about my reviews. Not a bad game, just nothing good for a gamer like me here... I had more expectation, but it ends up being a boring, repetitive, very indie choose your own adventure type of work. Admittedly, the game is prettily drawn, and I love CYOA books, but here as a video game? nah. The VERY first blocks of text, I had a few non meaningful choices (both lead to the same event), but the worst was that at my very big first choice, I chose option A out of ABC.... and died. I had to restart the game, since I had not reached the first checkpoint. I did it again, reached the choice, chose option B this time... and died again. Had to do it ALL OVER AGAIN, knowing now it was option C. Well that was a VERY BAD START, not for a STORY, mind you, but for a GAME. Gameplay wise, there is nothing. So sad, it could have been much better, but I have NO intention to go on as, AS A VIDEO GAME, it is not an inviting experience. EDIT 1 (April): thank you to the dev for their very understanding and positive feedback. Should take time in the future to try that one again. EDIT…4 found this helpful
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Developed and published by Prime Games, Dust and Salt is a distinctive blend of medieval fantasy storytelling and tactical strategy that leans heavily into player choice. Rather than presenting an epic tale through lavish cutscenes and spectacle, it embraces a more intimate and literary approach. The story begins with personal tragedy as the protagonist loses his father and is left with little more than a desire for justice in the unforgiving Sin Lands. From that moment onward, players are tasked with forging their own legacy, gathering companions, making difficult decisions, and determining whether their journey will be remembered as one of honor, ambition, or revenge. The game's greatest strength lies in its narrative design. Dust and Salt borrows heavily from classic choose-your-own-adventure books and tabletop campaigns, giving players an impressive amount of control over how events unfold. Conversations are often layered with consequences that may not become apparent until much later in the campaign. Allies can become enemies, opportunities can disappear permanently, and entire storylines can change depending on the player's actions. This commitment to meaningful choice gives…
Short, simple and fun. Decent replayability with few choices and stats having some major changes in how the game plays out. Could have more text and lore to make it less rushed experience, but it's still not that big of a downside given the general focus seems to be on decisions and the whole "puzzle" which to make where to get the different outcome later.
This is basically a poorly written visual novel, albeit with decent artwork and music that gets old fairly quickly. You're presented with options, where you need to make the correct choice every time in order to have a chance at completing the game. However many are confusing and give results you weren't expecting, or don't properly detail what in fact the action is. Battles play out, but you can't let any troops die because they don't get replaced and you won't be able to win the battles towards the end. Waste of time, not even worth the 5 bucks I paid to get it on sale.
Pretty good choose your adventure game. Only things I disliked was the checkpoint system instead of manually saving and in the climax of the story, things became quite rushed.
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