

Hydra Slayer
Zeno Rogue · 2016 · Traditional Roguelike, Puzzle, Education, Inventory Management, Mythology
PC
Positive93% · 43
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About Hydra Slayer
You are facing a nine-headed hydra. Your flaming longsword cuts five heads in each swipe (no more, no less), which will kill a five-headed hydra, but a larger one will regrow two heads after each swipe. Your storm scythe cuts exactly seven heads, but it makes ten heads grow back if the hydra is not dead. Is it possible to kill the hydra? What if you also had a silver dagger, which cuts just one head, but makes five heads grow back?
Solution: \It is impossible without the silver dagger (the number of heads always stays divisible by 3), but possible with the silver dagger, for example: 9 -> longsword -> 6 -> longsword -> 3 -> dagger -> 7 -> scythe -> 0.\
If you liked this puzzle, and you also like dungeon crawling, Hydra Slayer is for you! The unique combat mechanics of Hydra Slayer are based on the puzzle above. It is challenging both at a short term tactical level (each hydra is a unique challenge, bumping into it with your weapon almost never works), and at a long term strategy level (you have to build a set of weapons which slays hydras effectively). While the early levels could be used to teach arithmetic and tactical planning in a fun way, building an effective set of weapons for late levels is a challenge even for expert number theorists! Hydra Slayer predates the "roguelike deckbuilder" phenomenon by focusing less on traditional roguelike grid-tactics and more on constructing complex synergies inside a limited inventory of weapons. Not really a deckbuilder, but still fully a roguelike, so this tag is more accurate than usual!Hydra Slayer currently features a tutorial, 5 player character races with distinct characteristics, 28 enemy types (10 common hydras, each in two varieties, and 8 special enemies), 28 types of equipment including rare artifact weapons with special properties (not counting material and size variations), 15 weapon materials, 18 types of magical items which help you in your quests, three game geometries to choose from, 8 level topologies on very deep levels (including the Möbius strip and Klein bottle), 11 level generators, two endings (a small victory for quick challenges and more casual players, and a big victory for those who want more challenge), and millions of heads to cut!The Steam version of Hydra Slayer includes online achievements and leaderboards, a "challenge" mode for short but very interesting games (much more unpredictable than the normal play), traps to lead hydras on, and Orbs which provide a powder/potion effect many times at the cost of a weapon slot!
Solution: \It is impossible without the silver dagger (the number of heads always stays divisible by 3), but possible with the silver dagger, for example: 9 -> longsword -> 6 -> longsword -> 3 -> dagger -> 7 -> scythe -> 0.\
If you liked this puzzle, and you also like dungeon crawling, Hydra Slayer is for you! The unique combat mechanics of Hydra Slayer are based on the puzzle above. It is challenging both at a short term tactical level (each hydra is a unique challenge, bumping into it with your weapon almost never works), and at a long term strategy level (you have to build a set of weapons which slays hydras effectively). While the early levels could be used to teach arithmetic and tactical planning in a fun way, building an effective set of weapons for late levels is a challenge even for expert number theorists! Hydra Slayer predates the "roguelike deckbuilder" phenomenon by focusing less on traditional roguelike grid-tactics and more on constructing complex synergies inside a limited inventory of weapons. Not really a deckbuilder, but still fully a roguelike, so this tag is more accurate than usual!Hydra Slayer currently features a tutorial, 5 player character races with distinct characteristics, 28 enemy types (10 common hydras, each in two varieties, and 8 special enemies), 28 types of equipment including rare artifact weapons with special properties (not counting material and size variations), 15 weapon materials, 18 types of magical items which help you in your quests, three game geometries to choose from, 8 level topologies on very deep levels (including the Möbius strip and Klein bottle), 11 level generators, two endings (a small victory for quick challenges and more casual players, and a big victory for those who want more challenge), and millions of heads to cut!The Steam version of Hydra Slayer includes online achievements and leaderboards, a "challenge" mode for short but very interesting games (much more unpredictable than the normal play), traps to lead hydras on, and Orbs which provide a powder/potion effect many times at the cost of a weapon slot!
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
Game flat out crashes every single time I kill a hydra without fail, which is a bit of a problem in a game titled "Hydra Slayer".2 found this helpful
Traditional roguelike, with intriguing mechanics1 found this helpful
Like Hyperrogue, this is a very unique roguelike, very tactical, where every situation is an interesting puzzle. While in Hyperrogue the puzzles are more spatially/geometrically oriented, the nature of this one is geared more towards arithmetic. Very fun, and it gets hard quick!
Match the number of heads on the hydra with your weapons to kill them. Quite interesting and difficult at the same time. I recommend this roguelike for someone looking for a small amount of puzzle solving in their roguelikes.
this feels like the kind of game I'd find myself playing at 3:00 AM for absolutely no reason
It was surprisingly good! This math-based roguelike is pretty tense. You're rarely sure of how well a fight will go, and vanquishing a big hydra feels truly epic. Like Hyperrogue, Hydra Slayer is very well balanced and the weapons and consumables you encounter open interesting possibilities. Like Hyperrogue, the downside is a lack of streamlining in the effect of consumables: you often have to read a page of text, then make calculations to foresee what a consumable will do. Sometimes, crucial information is not mentioned, and you'll have to try it out to find out. All in all. Hydra Slayer is a hidden gem full of epic moments.
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