Dungeon-diving Delver done and dusted declares dev

The dungeon crawling and doddering daggers of sprite-filled roguelite Delver is good and pure, if you believe my early access impressions. So it’s a happy day for all you “I’ll wait until it’s finished” types. Delver has left early access and is considered complete by its developers, Priority Interrupt. They’ve also doubled the price on Steam, now that it’s done. It used to be about a fiver in British quids, but now it’s over a tenner (a change from $7.99 to $14.99 for US folks). My instinct when this happens is always "ugh!" But on reflection, no, it's fine.

It’s been six years in the making after all, first popping up on TigSource in 2012. It’s hard to tell what goodies (or baddies) have been added since I last stabbed my way into trouble, but a previous update from the devs had them add mod support. Since then players have added big guns, rings from Dark Souls, and gear from Hyper Light Drifter. The game's developer also made a sci-fi total conversion as an example for others, as well as compiling loads here. It also looks much prettier than when John first played it.

I had a lot of fun getting blown up by tricksy potions and slashed by cute demons, their old-school sprites constantly turning in tandem with the player’s position, like those portraits where the eyes follow you around the room. For a game about raiding lower and lower levels of a labyrinthine monster paradise, I wouldn’t call it “deep”. But it makes up for that by being quick, easy to pick up, and playable in bite-sized sittings. It’s old-fashioned maze wandering, and while it might not be as cheap as it was before, it still looks just as cheerful.

It's on Steam for £11.39/$14.99. But a clever clogs might buy it straight from the developer, where it is still $7.99.