Kerkerkruip

by Victor Gijsbers profile

Dungeon crawl
2011

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Hard to learn and hard to master, but that's why it's rewarding, March 29, 2023
by Lance Cirone (Backwater, Vermont)

Kerkerkruip is an acquired taste, and it took me a while to warm up to it. This is a roguelike along the lines of NetHack, which I've never been particularly good at. What I found slightly aggravating and confusing quickly revealed itself as a game of logic, math, and a lot of dice rolling.

To start my journey, I read the help menu and beginner's guide. When I got into the game, I could tell I wasn't very successful. I was rarely able to make sense of the items I found, and any enemies (particularly those daggers) would kick my butt in a second. Despite this, the feelings of frustration from losing rarely lasted, and I'd immediately hop in for another chance. It was impossible for me to stay mad at the game for very long.

A few playthroughs later, and I hit my stride. I found some good gear, was destroying enemies with relative ease, and I realized something: I had been rushing way too fast. There's no reason to treat it like a real-time battle to the death. The best thing you can do is check your enemy, their weapon, your weapon, whatever else you might have, environmental hazards, anything that may have been inflicted on you from previous spells or battles. Once I started playing more defensively like this, I was doing better. You have so much to take into account, so take your time and really plan out your moves.

Combat itself is pretty in-depth. The main mechanic is that you can attack, or "concentrate" to build up your attack power and increase the chance it hits. When an enemy attacks, you can dodge, parry, block, or roll, all of which have different effects and are better in certain situations (you wouldn't want to parry a big club if you have a small dagger, and dodging when you're on a thin bridge isn't a good idea). There's a bit of RNG with the rolls, but much of the battle is determined through item stats and what you've done beforehand. Every enemy also has a unique weapon, moveset, stat set, and power it gives you after. If an enemy's too tough for you, you can retreat; you get a free one upon discovering a room, so it never feels like you're being punished for exploring.

There's a big feature that really incentivized me to keep going. Every time you defeat an enemy, you get a skill (like a chance to immediately act after being hit, a piercing attack, or the power to stun other enemies), in addition to a max HP increase and some points to freely distribute into one of three stats. Only the latter is permanent; there's a complicated rigmarole you have to get through in order to keep the rest of your bonuses, which involves the order you fight your enemies in. This winds up being one of the biggest puzzles in the game. It's not something you should worry about for your first few tries, but when I was about to fight the final boss, I picked up pretty quick why it important -- and I had lost all my skills except one along the way. The second time I fought him, I planned my gameplay out so that I retained three powerful spells from earlier, which led to my victory.

Weapons and gear rarely feel like straight upgrades from others, and it's fun to work out a battle plan from what you have. The array of items you can have mostly amounts to types of grenades, from what I saw, but they have vastly different effects in play, some of which are unpredictable. Some gear will also be cursed and have negative effects, which you'll only know after you put it on. In this case, you can either live with it or find a way to purify it.

There's more to watch out for, too. The game has a religion and sacrifice mechanic, where you can sacrifice skills to different gods in favor of themed bonuses. You can find scrolls spread around, but most of the time you won't know what they do until you use them. However, you can find scroll analyzers or learn about them from other books. Some enemies will fight alongside others, and they'll either gang up on you or start attacking each other. You'll also come across different types of machines around the labyrinth, which you can experiment with.

It took me a little over two hours to finish Kerkerkruip for the first time. My victory was somewhat dampened when the game told me I had now unlocked normal difficulty, but the key point is that I was always having fun with it. Even a failed run felt rewarding, since I picked up on some bit of new information or thought of a strategy I'd want to try next. Now, I'm pretty excited to go back in and see what new stuff is added on harder difficulties.

This game felt different every time I played it, so I'd definitely recommend it. And don't worry about dying; it's a learning process!

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
Replayable, October 4, 2019

A text adventure and roguelike hybrid that is very fun to play and replay. It is pretty hard to win in this game.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
The only well-polished number-based RPG I've seen on IFDB, August 6, 2015
by MathBrush
Related reviews: about 1 hour

Kerkerkruip is a randomized dungeon RPG game. You fight through a crowd of enemies using different tactics and absorbing the powers of the defeated. You pick up treasure and magic spells along the way.

The randomization allows for immense replay value. Also, the game has an adaptive difficulty setting, so the better you do, the harder each replay is.

You have many options, like attacking, 'focusing', dodging, etc. This is the only IF game with such a well-developed system as of now (2015), as far as I can tell.

The game is relatively squick-less (no gross blood or other similar things). You face a variety of human and monster enemies. Each session can be completed relatively quickly (less than an hour).

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Awesome game, October 10, 2014

When I found this, it was all I could play for days. The attack system is very ingenious. You can examine your opponent to see if their weapon gives them or you a bonus or reduction for dodging vs parrying, etc. Once you get into the game, and comprehend how it's unique system works, you find it to be a puzzle. If you try to kill all the monsters from weakest to strongest, you're doomed for failure. Play the game to find out why. I do recommend reading the beginners guide. There a few commands I wouldn't have thought of that are important, such as status, that will help you in your adventure. The randomization and religion makes for a lot of replay value. Sometimes, you will find a really cool item, like the cloak of shadows (which is like a scroll of shadows that resets itself, even if you are seen, when you enter the next room. You find yourself debating - (Spoiler - click to show)Should I sacrifice my bomb and dagger spirits now, or try to kill Israfell? I have tried weakening monsters almost all the way, sacrificing my powers, then coming back to finish them off. This sometimes has worked. The religion system is very interesting. You must sacrifice powers you have gained, but you might lose them anyway. (You'll find out what I mean- read the beginners guide if you don't.) Each god is different, some giving you items, and some intervening in battles, with one or two doing both in some form. Herm can (Spoiler - click to show)Grant you scrolls of shadows, and switch your place with the attacker (e.g. You are dodging, when suddenly, "Herm bends space and time around you, and suddenly you find yourself in the role of attacker!") Aite mostly just (Spoiler - click to show)intervenes in battle, (e.g. A gigantic spear stabs through the floor, wounding Malygris for 6 health!). A note of caution, though- you will also be hurt a lot more if you worship aite. Nomos(I think) (Spoiler - click to show)Gives you some items that can potentially help a lot in battle, and you can feed them blood to temporarily increase their bonus. He/she also intervenes in battle, though it is different. ( e.g. a voice says in your mind, "You will attack 2 turns from now. The law will be with you (This means you get a bonus to your attack hitting the monster, and the damage it does. Now that I think about it, I haven't actually sacrificed to Sul yet. Time to play some more!

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
Excellent and innovative, August 8, 2013

I may as well nail my colours to the mast: I'm a big fan of roguelikes, and Kerkerkruip does an excellent job of transferring the roguelike dungeon-crawl experience to a text medium. It reminded me a lot of "The Reliques of Tolti-Aph", another game I love (though I recognise that it's an acquired taste), but is easier and less unforgiving. The enemies and many of the items are innovative.

It's not the kind of game you play for the prose or the mood. The writing is workmanlike a lot of the time, but that doesn't mean that it's bad (in case anyone were expecting bad writing from Gijsbers): there are some excellent descriptions (I particularly like the mirror room and the phantasmagoria). Battle descriptions are nice and varied. Humour is sparse, but excellent.

Is it a perfect roguelike? Is anything on this earth perfect? No. The small size of the game world, while necessary (and obviating the need of a map, or of hours of free time) means that the game doesn't have one of my favourite features of roguelikes: the exploration. The randomly generated dungeon means that there is no real sense of build-up: it is possible (at least in earlier versions) to spawn in the room next to the final boss. There is no complex plot, and little sense of the wider world of the game, other than some scattered sword & sorcery tropes. (Though, again, this isn't a game you play for the plot or worldbuilding.)

Those quibbles aside, I love it. Highly recommended if you enjoy RPGs and have fifteen minutes to spare. And finally, kudos to mynheer Gijsbers for continuing to develop and upgrade this game. He has created something innovative and wonderful.

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1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
Warning: You will want to hit your computer., June 6, 2013
by RedHatter (Vista, California)

Purposely random, quickly addicting, insanely irritating, incredibly fun. I recommend Kerkerkruip to any who wish to spend hours cursing in front of their computer.

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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
An exciting new take on dungeoncrawling., May 17, 2013
by Wade Clarke (Sydney, Australia)
Related reviews: IFComp 2011, Inform, RPG

I had a problem during the 2011 Interactive Fiction Competition. I was supposed to be getting a move on and reviewing all of the other entrants' games, but I kept procrastinating by sneaking away to play Kerkerkruip. By the time the competition was over, I had played it at least 50 times in my quest to complete the game on Normal difficulty. This is testimony to Kerkerkruip's addictiveness, which grows out of the stiff but strategically overcomeable challenge it presents and the relatively infinite pool of circumstantial variations it offers to dungeongoers. The latter quality is what makes the game really memorable and anecdote-worthy once a player has got a handle on its mechanics.

A moment's divergence for the consumer guide part of this review: Kerkerkruip is certainly not a traditional IF game or text adventure in which the player solves unchanging puzzles en route to particular goals while possibly becoming involved in a narrative the author has laid out. This is a high-stakes game of Dungeons & Dragons adventuring in randomly generated dungeons. At the same time, it is delivered by text and controlled by a parser, and uses explorative elements in some typical adventure game-like ways. In all of these capacities, it is obviously from the school of text adventures, and not completely unlike a combat MUD or a modern incarnation of Eamon, though a plotless one. Also note that it is essential to at least read the Beginner's Guide before playing (I found this three page guide to be the easiest way into the game, as opposed to traveling through multiple inline HELP menus) or Kerkerkruip will promptly kick you to the pavement.

Your goal is to find and kill the evil wizard Malygris of the dungeon Kerkerkruip. You begin armed with a rapier; more significant weaponry and equipment must be found in the dungeon. Usually there will be about five other groups of monsters lurking around, and it is only by defeating these monsters and absorbing their powers and health in a wisely chosen order (new powers only accumulate if they are weaker than powers you already possess) that you will have a hope of becoming powerful enough to defeat the wizard. The dungeon contents and layout and the roster of monsters change every time you die or restart. You can't save the game except to take a break, and there is no UNDO. These danger-increasing elements are common to another genre of game Kerkerkruip announces that it belongs to: the roguelike, named, unsurprisingly, after a particular game called Rogue.

Movement is handled with the traditional compass commands, augmented by a "go to" command and a handy "remember" command, but the combat makes use of the ATTACK system originated by the author and is divided into Action and Reaction phases. By working with just a handful of well balanced temporal elements, Kerkerkruip ensures each decision you make about what to do next in battle carries significant weight. Should you Attack now, or build up the strength of your next attack by pausing to Concentrate? You can try to build up to three levels of concentration, but if you're struck in the meantime, your concentration will be broken. On the other hand, if you never concentrate, your attacks won't grow strong enough to finish off the bad guys before they finish you.

This core system is simple enough for anyone to understand, but its application in any moment is modified by a huge number of variables, amongst them: the geography of the room you're in (e.g. it doesn't pay to Dodge while fighting on a narrow bridge over lava), the nature and habits of the enemy you're facing (e.g. animated daggers attack ceaselessly and break your concentration as often – the jumping bomb will never break your concentration, but if it gathers enough concentration itself, it will explode and kill you instantly), the Tension in the air (how long has it been since anyone last struck a blow?), your current status and arsenal of powers, and the interference of a further array of supernatural stuff like fickle dungeon gods or weird summoned entities.

The sum effect of the play amongst all these interrelated elements is that Kerkerkruip is capable of generating the exciting sense that with almost every move you make, the whole game is at stake. The circumstances of danger can rearrange themselves into so many different patterns that a lot of your battles will strike you as uniquely memorable, even when you're dealing with the same small roster of monsters over and over again. You can marvel at a seemingly (or actually) brilliant series of moves you make that succeed in resuscitating your prospects when you're down to 1 hp. Similarly you can laugh at the results of a particularly bold, stupid or unlucky move that backfires spectacularly, or at some confluence of events so extraordinary that you'll feel like telling someone else about it. You will certainly die far more often than you will win, but this is a game where experience, exploration and repeat plays really pay off, and the strategic element is always vivid, the prospect of victory always tantalising.

Ultimately, Kerkerkruip is an essential and massively replayable game for dungeon and combat fans, and also demonstrates the kind of novelty and elegant design that is inspiring in general.

Note: this review is based on older version of the game.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
Frustratingly addictive, September 24, 2012

So - an IF roguelike. Randomly generated content, permanent deaths, dungeon crawling, and all that. Not actually the first, even - Wumpus2000 is a different take on the concept - but this is astonishingly well done. Hardly surprising from Gijsbers, really. So what does it actually involve? Well, you're a totally generic person who's been plonked down in the dungeons of the dread wizard Malygris, who you must defeat before you can escape - and you must defeat at least some of the other denizens of the dungeons before you can hope to do that.

As a roguelike, it's pretty short - each playthrough is unlikely to take more than an hour, but that's hardly surprising with the combinatorial explosion it must involve. Trying to create a piece of IF which takes months to play as many standard roguelikes do would be, I suspect, impossible.

Anyway, the real question is - is it any good? Yes, yes it is. It's short, has fun and intuitive combat, strange rooms to explore, better artefacts to find, monsters to fight, and all that. The length really does help with the addictiveness - you'll always be wanting just one more go. Maybe this time you'll get past the mindslug, now you've beaten Malygris in easy mode it's only fair to have a go at the harder setting now, and so forth.

So. All in all, tremendous fun, and I hope Victor Gijsbers keeps releasing updates for a long time to come.

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1 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Brilliant!, February 14, 2012

I had a crack at doing something like this in 2007, but my coding skills and my work ethic weren't up to the task. The results are available on this site and you can breeze through the "game" in 5 minutes if you're so inclined. This is much, much better. If you were looking for an IF/roguelike hybrid, this is it.

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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
Rogue-tastic!, January 3, 2012
by Joey Jones (UK)

When I first played this game, I played it six times. That's how hard it is. That's how addictive it is. Kerkerkruip is a rogue-like text adventure, in which you travel about a randomly generated dungeon, killing enemies, picking up equipment, employing tactics and dying. A lot.

The game isn't a perfectly smooth interactive story where you play out complex motivations while unveiling a carefully crafted plot. It's not trying to do that. So of course the writing is sparse, and the synonyms sparser. That's goes with the territory. If I was making the game, I would have added an additional layer of randomisation to the monsters- giving named characters a different name and apparel each time and so on. As it was, there were enough antagonists that the game remained fresh through six play-throughs, and I was pleased that some enemies (like the Reaper) changed their weapons. The real joy of the game is that it's more than a complex dungeon-crawl simulator, it's a puzzle. Figuring out which enemies to fight, how, and in which order are vital to successfully completing the game.

Every time I played Kerkerkruip I discovered something new, died in an interesting way and wanted to go back for more. All in all, a great roguelike! Two thumbs up!

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