Gemstone Keeper, the very cool ASCII shooter is now on Linux, some thoughts

Rarely do I like ASCII games, but Gemstone Keeper [Steam, Official Site] is one that stands tall as a game you need to check out.


It was actually supposed to have released for Linux on the 7th, but the developer didn't have the back-end setup correctly. I had a chat with them and showed them how to fix it and I got a little thank you in their Steam news (yes, I'm patting myself on the back again).

If you didn't see it previously, the developer actually blogged about the experience of bringing the game to Linux. Really great to see more developers do this! I hope we see more do that in future, as it can help a lot of other developers.

Gemstone Keeper is essentially a simple twin-stick shooter with some random generation. You blast your way through cave after cave, collecting various gems and other elements to sell. You can go back to the surface in between each cave, so you can upgrade yourself, but going back to how deep you were previously will cost a lot of your money.

The upgrade system is pretty good too. It's another game that offers a mix and match approach, with you selecting the type of fire mode like a handgun or a machine-gun as two examples. You then pick the actual weapon itself like a laser or homing bullets. I've had a lot of fun testing out the various weapon types and modes as I've gone deeper into the caves.

What I really like about it is that it's not just basic ASCII; the developer put in some fancy graphical effects and it really does give it a unique look not usually seen in games today. Each enemy is easily distinguishable, thanks to the clever design and they each have unique sounds to them too. All aspects of the design have really surprised me on how polished it really is.

There's boss battles every few floors too, which are pretty decent. From massive caterpillars to tarantulas, each with their own style and attacks, they're damn fun. I wish there were more of them though and a few mini-bosses during the actual normal caves would have made things a little more interesting.

There's plenty of different types of areas to explore, too. It's not all browns. There's ice, which is damn difficulty to navigate when you're being chased by spiders and bats since you slide all over it. There are also areas with strange mist that wobbles your screen about and more. A lot of variety is hidden away, which provide a very rewarding feel the more you play.

The sound design is great. Every little squeak from the mice, the bats and their screeching as well as the relaxing ambient music is surprisingly high quality for such a small title. The only thing missing is impact sounds from your weapon, which would have helped fill it out somewhat.

It's a pretty decent pick up and play type experience, since the difficulty increases slowly (sometimes a little too slowly for my tastes), so it's not something if you're looking for a serious challenge straight away.

If you're going to use the Steam Controller, I highly recommend changing the config of the right pad over to Joystick Camera for a much better shooting experience. The default ended up a fight between left stick and right pad for aiming. Although, Mouse and Keyboard is a far nicer experience I found.

My main issue with the game is that there just isn't enough variety. I'm not sure if it's a bug in the generation, but for half an hour+ I had floor after floor of ice and I know there's a few more different types.

Overall, it's an interesting idea with fantastic presentation. Don't be surprised if you fire it up for 10 minutes and an hour vanishes! Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.