The idea behind the TouchArcade Game of the Week is that every Friday afternoon we post the one game that came out this week that we think is worth giving a special nod to. Now, before anyone goes over-thinking this, it doesn’t necessarily mean our Game of the Week pick is the highest scoring game in a review, the game with the best graphics, or really any other quantifiable “best" thing. Instead, it’s more just us picking out the single game out of the week’s releases that we think is the most noteworthy, surprising, interesting, or really any other hard to describe quality that makes it worth having if you were just going to pick up one.
These picks might be controversial, and that’s OK. If you disagree with what we’ve chosen, let’s try to use the comments of these articles to have conversations about what game is your game of the week and why.
Without further ado…
Rogue Legacy
Rogue Legacy ($3.99) from Cellar Door Games is one of those games I’ve heard amazing things about for literally years, and being a roguelike action platformer it’s right up my alley in terms of the types of games I enjoy. But I just don’t really play PC games, and even when it was ported to consoles I very rarely play there anymore either. Heck, the game has been on the Nintendo Switch for almost a year, a platform I DO play almost daily, but I have such a massive backlog poor Rogue Legacy has been sitting on my eShop Wish List for that entire time. Once again, as has been the case with many other games, it took Rogue Legacy coming to mobile for me to finally give it the time it deserves. And just as it was with Hyper Light Drifter a couple of weeks ago, I’m asking myself “Why the HECK didn’t I play this game sooner!?"
Seeing as how Rogue Legacy launched on desktop way back in 2013 you might be familiar with it already, but just in case, here’s a refresher. In the game you’ll be exploring a randomly generated castle room by room, taking out enemies and collecting coins and loot as you go. Your ultimate goal is to battle the mid-bosses and then a final boss, thus conquering the castle and beating the game. But you don’t really “beat" Rogue Legacy, as even if you’re able to accomplish that task, the game begins again as a New Game+, and if you beat that a New Game+2, and then New Game+3, New Game+4, and on and on she goes. But like… you’re not going to beat it, not on your first try anyway. Probably not on your tenth either, or on your fiftieth. You are going to die in Rogue Legacy over and over and over and over again.
And that’s ok! That is pretty much the point of the game. When your character dies, you’ll start again with an “heir" of your choosing, each with unique traits and characteristics. That heir also inherits the gold you earned in your previous run, and that can go towards upgrading an extensive skill tree that’s represented by a castle you build. You can also unlock a Blacksmith that can forge you awesome new gear, an Enchantress that can utilize runes to give you enhanced abilities, and an Architect who can lock a particular castle’s layout (for a price) so that on your next playthrough you’ll be able to play the same castle you just died in. These permanent progressions are the real brilliance in Rogue Legacy as even on the lamest run you’re probably making SOME type of progress, and it’s impossible not to want to immediately hop right back in and take another stab at things.
Altogether that makes Rogue Legacy a very hard game to put down. Its touchscreen controls aren’t perfect but they do work surprisingly well, and there’s MFi controller support for those who need the physical touch of a controller. This is also technically the “Wanderer Edition" of the game, which means it includes all previous content that was ever released in other versions on other platforms, PLUS a bunch of new stuff exclusive to the mobile game like new traits, new mini-bosses, new room types, and more. It’s just a complete and total package that’s infinitely replayable and can be played in the shortest of bursts or in the longest of marathon sessions. Astoundingly, this definitive version of the game is being sold for just 99¢ until August 11th, which I believe is legally considered stealing. After that the price jumps up to $3.99, which is still criminally low for a game of this caliber. What the heck are you waiting for? Go buy this!
