Pixel Boy and the Ever Expanding Dungeon is a great distraction that is well worth the 10 dollar asking price. In its infancy, it was hard as hell. Unfairly so. The procedural generation combined with the loss of powerups, coins, armor, and any xp gained in the run made it almost impossible to make any real progress. However, this was soon corrected. Anyone considering this title presentPixel Boy and the Ever Expanding Dungeon is a great distraction that is well worth the 10 dollar asking price. In its infancy, it was hard as hell. Unfairly so. The procedural generation combined with the loss of powerups, coins, armor, and any xp gained in the run made it almost impossible to make any real progress. However, this was soon corrected. Anyone considering this title present day should know that you only lose all EQUIPPED powerups when you die. That's it.
Aside from that, let me talk more about the game. Pixel Boy features an eye-catching cartooney style that takes full advantage of colour, and never ceases to impress me. The dungeon is procedurally generated, and gets more and more difficult as the game progresses. It becomes bigger, spawning harder enemies and traps. You never feel as if you're at a disadvantage though, and since the updates the game does a great job at picking you back up and planting you firmly on your feet.
For what I would consider a dungeon-crawling RPG, Pixel Boy has absolutely no story. Also the narrator is annoying, and says nothing other than instructions, which are buried within his grating one-liners. Turn off the narration at the start of the game, or else! This lack of story never seemed to bother me, as I was already occupied with the bullet-hell of the dungeon. Let me make this very clear, Pixel Boy is a game driven solely by mechanics, and nothing else.
Finally, the sound was very atmospheric. It all seemed to fit the tone perfectly fine, but I couldn't whistle it back to you if you asked me (btw, I have an eidetic memory and can whistle on key. It's my only two interesting qualities). It didn't stick out, but it served its purpose.
Overall, I rather enjoyed Pixel Boy and the Ever Expanding Dungeon. It was a fine game (one that I have sunk over 23 hours into) and I think that anyone who likes rogue-likes or dungeon-crawling RPGs with stellar combat will find it is worth the asking price.
Though if you could get it on sale then you most certainly have made away with a steal ;D… Expand