Ziggurat is a rogue-like FPS in which players combat creatures using magical weaponry and items. At the beginning of each floor, a Spell, Staff, or Alchemy weapon will be available to the player. Each Apprentice starts with a unique Wand, each having their own energy cost and Mana regeneration rate, usually serving as a fallback option in the event all other Mana reserves are depleted, as they don’t regenerate by default. Once unlocked, Apprentices with starting skills and quirks make use of weapons in differing ways, usually encouraging more usage of a specific weapon group. Some have a harder time early game, as their skills focus on a specific weapon group and lack Mana sustain skills. Some Apprentices basically never have to worry since they have skills that reduce Mana usage, which gives them an early run advantage. Upon leveling, some reward rooms, and hidden rooms, skills are given to the player, with level-ups offering a choice between 2 skills. Amulets, which can be used and reused after killing enemies, can also be found in treasure Chests. These grant abilities that limit enemy movement, damage them, buff the player, and heal/refill Mana, to name a few.

      Enemies in the Ziggurat spawn upon entering almost any room. The difficulty of each encounter largely depends on skill level, equipment, and enemy combinations. It’s one thing to fight charging carrot monsters when you have a fast firing weapon, it’s another thing entirely if you got those boyos chasing you in circles while sniping goblins shoot at you, with aim accounting for your current movement trajectory, and the only weapon on hand is an explosive slow firing weapon. Not to mention, sometimes an enemy can spawn as a champion, granting them buffs such as more health and extra movement speed. A large portion of success in this game will come from the player’s ability to understand what each enemy can do and the player’s spacial awareness, the standard fanfare. Oh and room modifiers, they play a big part too.

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      As for the weapon variety, each of the three weapon groups are about the same save for certain niches. Alchemy weapons tailor more toward the player that likes radial damage, with weapons like the Porcupine Bomb and Fireweaver Bomb, which are both thrown weapons with an arch that apply status effects on enemies. That isn’t to say other weapon types don’t offer similar aptness, just each weapon group has more focus on different damage delivery systems, like Spells having many auto aim options and Staffs having higher fire rates.



      Ziggurat presents little of the outside world, opting instead to have the events of the trials of the Ziggurat at the forefront. The trial itself consists of many battles, with the experience dropped being Knowledge Gems, symbolizing the growth of the Apprentice. Earning EXP grants more skills from experiences and struggles, allowing them to grow as Apprentices to face the real test at the end.

      Each floor looks roughly the same, following the typical dungeon aesthetic: Stone walls lined with small cracks, metal gates blocking pools of lava, hanging chains, floating platforms, and so on. Each floor has a hidden room marked by a wall with a more prominent crack which can be broken with any weapon and will contain a Skill, as well as an Easter Egg.

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      Rooms that don’t hold enemies ready to ambush the player will have hazards, a Chest, a single Scroll with lore, a room asking for offerings in exchange for a benefit, Indifference (neither good or bad in nature), or punishment, the Portal Key needed to summon the floor boss, or the floor boss itself, a Guardian. Not every kind of room will appear on a floor though. You’re guaranteed the necessities (Portal Key, Guardian), and even if the other rooms make an appearance, very little fortune is promised.

      The enemy designs are wild in their own right, with wrinkly blob creatures and running carrot monsters, shamans summoning carrot monsters and other creatures, and flying albatross lightning ball spitting dragon monsters. The bosses themselves, aside from the final boss, are larger, more menacing looking versions of creatures encountered in normal rooms. Their abilities are often augmented, and always have more imposing abilities and designs. Imagine a sentient carrot, like I’ve mentioned previously. Now imagine it thrice the size of a human, moving almost as fast as you, summoning more lil carrots and spitting acidic vomit.


      The Daedolon Brothers, a wizard guild unsurpassed by all, stand as the greatest of this mystical lands defenders, protecting the inhabitants from evil forces hellbent on devouring the souls of any unlucky soul to wander too close. Every 10 winters, the citadel hosts a ceremony only for the most promising Apprentices, hand picked by the elder masters themselves. Following the ceremony… The test: The Ziggurat. After years of study in the arts of Arcane magic, the time has come. The test of all tests to prove the Apprentices’ worth, to prove they deserve a place in the brotherhood. Those that don’t make it out, feed the evil within as if a sacrifice. A fate worse than death.

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      This game is fun, and at a fair price point for what it offers. Every fight is a learning experience, and the further you get, the more you encounter and thus, the more Apprentices you unlock. Most of my fun in Ziggurat came from all the extra Apprentices and their unique starting loadouts. Learning how to handle enemies in battle, the differing combinations, and experimenting with weapon/Apprentice synergies was my second favorite. While simple, I enjoyed the lore as I made my way through runs as I collected Scrolls. it isn’t integral for the overall experience, but neat nonetheless. I look forward to trying the second game someday and see how it stacks against the first.