The caves of Caves of Qud have always been a rich source of mystery and adventure in the ambitious sci-fi sandbox roguelike, but for its final foray out of Early Access and into the unknown on December 5th (oh hey, that's today), the game is set to reveal what waits in the stars far above. A fitting finale for a story rich in cosmic weirdness.
After fifteen years of development (many of them spent hinting at this potential finale) the launch trailer from today's PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted not only builds on the poetic narration that got me interested in the game in the first place, but also confirms that players will finally be ascending the Spindle, the massive space elevator that has sat at the center of Qud’s post-post-post-post-apocalyptic landscape.
Given that Earth in this setting is already an incoherent melting pot of strange mutant creatures, forgotten civilizations and reality-warping technology, it surely can’t get that much weirder in space, right? But at this point, nothing could surprise me, especially considering the massive mechanical twist (which I shall not elaborate on for fear of spoiling an amazing surprise) which the game already hits players with in its penultimate act.
The past couple years of development have been very eventful for Caves of Qud. Most recently the game was blessed with a comprehensive tutorial that should help new players survive their first few days of exploration. Help, but not guarantee; this is a very hostile world still.
Before that it got a major UI update, making the whole thing fully playable with gamepad or mouse, and featuring some nice details like a dynamic paper-doll equipment screen that grows based on how many limbs, heads or other body parts you may have. A number that can change drastically over the course of play, especially if you’re a mutant with the chimera perk.
All good changes that make a previously intimidating game more accessible (seemingly a key focus for new publisher Kitfox Games, fresh from overhauling Dwarf Fortress), but I still reckon the most important change was the formal introduction of two game modes in 2021: ‘Roleplay’ and ‘Wander’. The former allows players to save their game at towns (thus sparing them the indignity of losing a promising character 20 or more hours into the main story) while the latter shifts gameplay away from combat, with XP granted solely through exploration, and only truly territorial creatures attacking on sight.
Even in early access, Caves Of Qud sits comfortably at the 80th spot in our Top 100 PC Games list. Perhaps ascending the Spindle will help it climb even further next year? Caves of Qud concludes its long ascent out of early access today, and you can pick it up for £24.99/$29.99 on Steam, Itch and GOG.
