Numgeon

Review

The evil Princess has captured and imprisoned the last dragon on Earth.  As a gallant and brave knight, you set forth to rescue the dragon from the “plump” evil princess.

Upon choosing to start a game you’ll be greeted with two options, the Adventure Mode and Time Attack. Time Attack at this moment is locked and will have to be unlocked later, so for now it’s off on an adventure you go. The game can be played with only the mouse buttons; left click for selecting and right click for your special/magic when it’s available to you.      

As the game starts, a set of four by four squares will appear, each with a number ranging from one to sixteen. The numbers are randomly mixed, some white in colour while the others in red to try and confuse you. Sometimes there’ll be a set of five by five squares with the numbers ranging from one to twenty-five, which will be the case when you confront the evil princess.

Above these squares of randomly-placed numbers you’ll find you, the gallant knight, on the left and a monster on the right who you’ll have to defeat. To defeat the monster before you, you’ll have to start on the lowest number and work your way through them all in order as fast as you possibly can. Each time you click on a number you’ll have a small amount of time to click the next one, otherwise you’ll be attacked and lose either some life or shield protection.

Once you’ve defeated the monster any numbers that you haven’t clicked on will be converted into gold. Then it’s on to the next obstacle. This could be another monster, but sometimes you’ll be greeted by a trader, who will sell you items if you have enough gold to pay for them. Other times you may come across a chest, a Shrine of Destiny or a bonfire.

Chests can be opened with a key and a reward will be given to you; if you don’t have a key to open the chest you can try to pick the lock. There are three pins which you’ll have to move into place so that all the notches line up together, allowing the chest to open. There is, however, one catch; you will only have ten attempts at unlocking the chest.

The rewards can be anything from an apple, healing, mana or cure potion, bread, yerba mate or another key; it’s all random. Any keys collected or bought will be stored and will be displayed at the top of the screen. To the left of the keys in the top centre there is normally an empty box; any item you collect will be stored here and can be used any time by simply clicking on it. You are only allowed to hold one item at any time. To the left of here is where it displays the amount of gold you currently have.

If you come across the Shrine of Destiny, you have the option of praying. Should you be successful in having your prayers heard you’ll be granted a plus one to your maximum health. If you aren’t successful, then you’ll lose one from your health. If you come across a bonfire you can save your progress and rest, which will replenish your health to its maximum.

You’ll continue moving forward until you reach the end of the level, which is displayed as some wooden double doors. Once you’ve gone through the doors, you’ll have the choice of one of three upgrades, such as Lock Pick, Rest, Medkit, Ancient Shield or Earphones, along with others. Each one of these upgrades will help you along the way as you delve deeper in search of the evil Princess.

Each time you hit a monster your magic bar will fill, and once it’s full you can use it by clicking the right button on your mouse. The more monsters you defeat, the fast your character will level up, which will increase your health points while also unlocking new palette colours which you can change in the settings. On defeating the princess and releasing the dragon, you’ll have your game stats revealed, detailing your final score, monsters killed, gold earned, comb and time taken.

On the main menu screen, you’ll find Play, Continue, Settings, Cyclopaedia, Stats, Credits and Quit. In the settings there’s options for Fullscreen, Scale, Tutorial On/Off, Music On/Off, Sound Effects On/Off. You can also change the Colour Palette and Borders, along with enabling Expert Mode by checking the box, should you wish for a more challenging game.

In the Cyclopaedia you’ll find Bestiary, Items and Upgrades once you’ve come across them in-game, at which point they’ll become available for you to check out. In Stats you’ll find the combined stats of your game plays; you can reset these stats should you wish to at any point. There are also two other characters that you can unlock and play through the game, along with the Knight:  the Mighty Sorcerer and the Silent Assassin.

Review written by Piston Smashed™ for Zeepond.com!