Road Not Taken

Developer: Spry Fox LLC
Publisher: Spry Fox LLC
Release: 2014
Platform: PC (played), PS4, iOS, Android
Genre: Puzzle/Roguelike

Road Not Taken puts a hard emphasis on the NOT when it crams its 8x6 single-screen dungeon rooms with an unmanageable myriad of enemies, NPCs, materials and hindrances rubbing shoulders. Puzzles can be solved by mashing stuff together to create new units, and the smart premise of doing everything (saving children, defeating foes, unblocking paths) through this “dynamic crafting” system would be a killer one if actually feasible–navigating the mazes, per se, gets seriously impractical over time–let alone doing it within the min-maxer mindset the game demands.

Quirky--and a bit nasty at times.

Elsewhere it manages to be compelling enough though. Building relationships back at the village (à la Harvest Moon) unlocks both perks for the current run and secrets that carry over to the next ones, potentially lending meaning even to trips headed south. Presentation here is charming and cohesive overall too.

Above (or behind, as a pervasive mood) everything else, Road Not Taken’s quirkiness may be its biggest strength. Its interactions, lore and twists always stray away from predictability (every now and then throwing in a note of eeriness as well) and the genuine pleasure and awe in uncovering such mysteries can make it worth the trouble if that’s what tickles a player’s “one more try” trope.