Caves of Qud

 PC
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Eurogamer
    Dec 10, 2024
    100
    Densely imagined and as complex as you fancy, this roguelike RPG is brilliant.
  2. Multiplayer.it
    Dec 20, 2024
    95
    Quotation forthcoming.
  3. PC Gamer
    Dec 6, 2024
    94
    Caves of Qud is a genre-defining achievement in play, story, and roleplaying freedom.
  5. RPG Fan
    Aug 19, 2025
    90
    As someone generally more motivated to complete a playthrough than get caught up in a cycle of experimenting and restarting, I’m not sure I’m the main audience for Caves of Qud. This makes me even more impressed by what a good time I had with it. Whether you’re signing up for one playthrough or one hundred, it’s hard not to be captivated by its depth and imagination once you get a sense of how the world works. And if I were the type of player who liked to invest the bulk of my gaming time in one single-player experience, this would be a rabbit hole worth falling into.
  6. GamingTrend
    Jan 17, 2025
    90
    Caves of Qud is a game that will reward you more and more for putting in the time and effort to learn about it. Even just from scratching the surface, however, I am absolutely entranced by the worlds the game can create.
  7. Metro GameCentral
    Dec 27, 2024
    90
    A staggering achievement in terms of role-playing interactivity and flexibility, that also manages to be both accessible and maintain a fun sense of the absurd.
  8. Vandal
    Dec 20, 2024
    85
    A roguelike RPG that stands out for its deep emergent narrative, complex character creation, and endless possibilities in exploration and decision-making, but its steep learning curve, dated visuals, and English-only text limit its accessibility.
  9. Edge Magazine
    Jan 24, 2025
    80
    Here is a game not only made over decades but one that feels made to be consumed over an equivalent timeframe. To play Caves of Qud is to be aware that you have just one life to give it - and that you might well come up wanting. [Issue#407, p.104]
    All this publication's reviews
 This publication does not provide a score for their reviews.
This publication has not posted a final review score yet.
These unscored reviews do not factor into the Metascore calculation.

In Progress & Unscored

?
  1. Rock, Paper, Shotgun
    Dec 19, 2024
    Caves Of Qud is as deep as any Bethesda open world RPG (technically 2 billion floors deep) and funnelled through a rich prism of randomness possible thanks to the limited scope of its visuals. It is complex and compelling enough that many glowing Steam reviews are left only after hundreds of hours of playtime. By contrast, I have barely made a dent. Yes, you will have to embrace and decipher the lore-riddled lingo. And you will have to stoically acknowledge infinite death as a means of learning the arcane rules of survival. But persevere and you will discover a realm hundreds of times more vibrant than the dark inky green of its screens. [RPS Bestest Bests]