Gideon’s Perspective
I love claw machines, which sucks because most of them are entirely rigged. Anytime I find one that isn’t, I walk out with an armful of stuffed animals that I have absolutely no use for simply because I like playing with the claw machine. Dungeon Clawler turns the concept of claw machines into a rogue-lite deck-builder which unsurprisingly, grabbed my attention.
You can find a video version of this review on YouTube!
The concept is very simple, you use a claw machine to pick up items such as swords and shields that contribute damage, defense, and other effects during battle. Just like a real claw machine, physics matter. Which means Dungeon Clawler has those realistic moments where I swore I had a good grip on something only for the claw to inexplicably let it go and send me into a fit of rage. The good news is there is no actual claw machine for me to shake angrily like a tubby child whose candy bar just got stuck in the vending machine, and controllers are expensive, so I’m averse to throwing them.
On the other hand, Dungeon Clawler is a video game. This means it can do all kinds of cool things that a real claw machine can’t, such as filling up with water or sucking up all the items with a giant fan. Dungeon Clawler has some pretty clever mechanics that make for a novel deck-building rogue-lite game.
| Gideon’s Bias | Dungeon Clawler Information |
|---|---|
| Review Copy Used: No | Publisher: Stray Fawn Publishing |
| Hours Played: 18+ | Type: Full Game |
| Reviewed On: PC using a Gamepad | Platforms: PC, Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Switch, Mobile |
| Fan of Genre: Yes | Genre: Turn-Based, Rogue-lite, Deck-Builder |
| Mode Played: Variety | Price: $14.99 |
Getting Grabby with It
The core principles common to most deck-builders remain intact with Dungeon Clawler. You take turns dealing damage, shoring up your defense and inflicting a variety of status effects. However, instead of playing a sword “card” to deal damage, you pick up swords with a claw machine. You usually get two claw grabs each turn, and this makes your “actions” somewhat fluid. You use as many swords, shields and other items in a single turn that you manage to pick up.
This isn’t quite as straightforward as it appears. Different items have varying sizes, weights, and are made of different materials. That means there’s a semi-realistic physics element to pulling these items out of the machine. Depending on how the items are sitting in the machine, you might manage to scoop up a big war hammer and a few small daggers. Alternatively, you drop it all and learn that greed has consequences.
What makes the process even more interesting is the way Dungeon Clawler uses these elements beyond the simple concept of using a claw machine. For example, if you have a bunch of metal items, and then add a magnet item to your “deck” it will draw in metal items and make it easier to pick up several at once.
If you or an enemy fills your machine with water, lighter items made of wood and plastic float to the top. While heavier ones remain at the bottom. As you win battles, you get to choose from new items to add to the machine, and perks that grant passive effects. But you can also do things like change an item’s material. Transform a beefy war hammer into wood, for example, and it too will float on water. It’s all pretty clever. The physical presence of the claw machine allows for some fun dynamic strategies that wouldn’t be possible in a standard card-based deck builder.
Between battles, you get to play a bunch of small mini-games, most of which also include using a claw to try and earn money, items, perks and more, but in a very risk versus reward kind of way. One mini-game might have you picking perk bags out of a machine filled with spike orbs that damage you. It’s a refreshing change from simply clicking a button and getting an item. It works well with the game’s overall balancing act of pushing your luck.
There are a ton of unlockable characters in Dungeon Clawler, each of which brings a unique flavor and play style to the game. Many have alternate claws, such as a ceiling fan, giant magnet, harpoon gun or even a gravity device. When you manage to win a run with a character, you unlock some new items and lucky paws related to that character, allowing you to transfer some of their mechanics, including their unique claws to another character for some really cool mix and matching.
Runs tend to be a bit longer in Dungeon Clawler than other deck builders, simply because using a claw to pick up items is slower than playing a card or rolling dice. However, that slowness has the side effect of really making you feel out your build as you trudge through the 20 dungeon floors. By the time you reach the end boss, you will have a very solid grasp of your claw machine strategy. If you didn’t come up with one despite the dungeon’s length. Well, you’re going to feel that too, alongside the bitter taste of defeat.
Tilted Balance
Dungeon Clawler’s balance is a bit out of whack and certain options are clearly superior to others in a way that’s pretty hard to miss. The most obvious is how each and every claw is hands down more effective than the default one. There may be a few edge cases where they aren’t ideal. For example, the ceiling fan can be problematic in a battle where an enemy places bad items in your machine. But for the vast majority of a run, they feel powerful at worst, and downright overpowered at best. This ironically makes the starting default character one of the hardest to actually win a run with when you first start the game and don’t have other claws unlocked.
Furthermore, some builds are simply stronger due to consistency. Sure, you probably can make a really cool water build where you fill up your machine with water and combine it with a bunch of related items. However, it takes so many moving parts to make it work that you’re pretty much reliant on luck to make it happen, as opposed to a strength, damage or defense build where the items you need simply fall onto your lap.
Frost in particular stands out. While not mandatory, stacking frost on enemies completely neuters their ability to deal damage, and it’s very easy to consistently make a frost build every game. The final boss in particular makes this a big issue. The boss is always the same and functions in such a way that he straight up kneecaps a wide swath of builds, and frost is the best way to beat him.
The final boss continually stacks higher damage on himself, while filling your machine with spikes that harm you when pulled, and piggy banks that increase his damage when used. All while having over 1k HP. Frost is by far the most effective at surviving his damage. Even a defense-focused build struggles to keep up with his ascending damage bonuses
I can, and have, beat him with other builds, particularly by using a variety of special claws. But once you fight him a few times, you realize just how many build ideas aren’t going to be viable against him. Since he is the inevitable conclusion of every run, that makes playing those builds a non-option. That’s a shame, because feeling shoehorned into how you build your deck can crush a deck builder’s replay value.
Verdict
Dungeon Clawler is such a clever game that I have to appreciate that it exists. Taking the concept of a claw machine and making it into a deck builder is the kind of unique idea that only ever springs from an indie game. The presence of a physics-driven claw machine turns the standard staples of a deck builder upside down, and that’s a lot of fun to toy with. The wide variety of characters is impressive, especially how each of them alters the game’s core rules in some way or another. Even without factoring in the special claws.
Being able to do things like change an item’s material, which affects how it interacts with the machine and other items is brilliant. I just wish there was more room to experiment with it because many of my experimental ideas were simply not viable to realistically pull off and win the run. Be it because of how many specific items it would take, or the final boss simply saying no and slapping it down.
The poor balance doesn’t make Dungeon Clawler a bad game by any means. It’s still a fun and unique deck-building game. But with so many builds being nonviable, and so many options clearly taking the throne as “meta” choices, its replay value burns out much faster than it should.
