‘Shardpunk: Verminfall’: What If ‘XCOM’ and ‘Darkest Dungeon’ Crossed Over?
Shardpunk: Verminfall strikes a great balance of mechanics from both of its clear influences but manages to be something wholly unique.
I don’t feel bad admitting I’m terrible at permadeath games like Darkest Dungeon. I’m too impatient and too ready to risk it all on a 30% hit chance. Nonetheless, I have a great time trying and failing over and over. Lately, I’ve been getting that same fix from Shardpunk: Verminfall.
Influenced Without Copying
The gameplay of Shardpunk: Verminfall is much closer to XCOM than Darkest Dungeon. It’s turned-based combat on a grid. Combatants each have their own weapons and skills, and have to balance cover and miss chance. And you slowly uncover the map as you make your way from one side to the other.
On the other hand, the Darkest Dungeon influence comes in as the icing on the gaming cake. Your characters all have a Stress meter. You take actions in “town” between missions in order to recover, and upgrade your skills and equipment. And topping it all off is a dash of Slay the Spire, with a map of branching paths to choose your next mission.
Excellent Game Design and Presentation
This is a game that has clearly been designed by a team who loves games. There are a lot of obvious influences, but Shardpunk: Verminfall manages to stand out not as just another this plus that kinda game. It adds a lot of new ideas, mechanics, and weapons.
The one that stands out to me the most is the objective for each mission (at least every one I’ve been on thus far) is to reach and breach the bunker door. Upon reaching the bunker door, you initiate a breach which takes several turns. Once the door is open, each character must leave through the door individually. Once everyone (of those still living) escapes safely, then the mission is complete.
One aspect that I’ve really come to enjoy is the Combat Tactics. By performing specific actions (looting three times in a turn, or using a melee then a ranged attack on the same target, etc.) you unlock Combat Tactics which provide small bonuses to you and your team. It’s a nice little buff to encourage different tactics and see what might get unlocked each time.
Final Thoughts
Shardpunk: Verminfall really hits a lot of the right notes for me. It’s got just enough of an edge to keep me engaged, but not so far that it’s discouraging. I’m having a blast with it and will be dumping a lot more hours into it in the coming days, I’m sure.
Plus, it certainly doesn’t hurt that it’s got that pixel art style I love so much. Who needs hyper-realistic graphics anyhow?
