Introduction

If you need an example of why events like Steam Next Fest are so important and useful, let this article be that. Valve’s thrice yearly event, currently running from Feb 24th – March 3rd, is when a cavalcade of developers release demos for their upcoming games. It’s an excellent display of how much creativity there is in the games industry. But it can prove difficult for games to stand out amongst the masses, or for players to feel overwhelmed. Lucky for me, I stumbled across what I believe to be the seeds of something special. An Indie game called Necroflora.

To be clear from the start, Necroflora is currently still in development with many features, like audio, yet to be implemented. The game also has a kickstarter that will be closing soon, with less than half of its very reasonable goal left to go. For anyone who wants to try the demo and/or support the game’s development, links to both Necroflora’s Steam demo and kickstarter will be at the bottom of the preview.

Preview

Created with a beautiful, minimalist 8-bit art style, Necroflora is a strategy roguelike game being solo-developed and self-published by developer Dinoptique, or SukkoyF on social media.. You play as a new form of evil that has taken root. A many-headed hydra plant that must grow, mutate, and overcome the encroaching heroes to survive. Each run stands alone, with a new randomly generated world everytime.

Quick note. Go into the settings and turn on both the tutorial and window darg with the mouse. The first will help teach you how to play Necroflora, and I found the second improved my experience greatly!

Here is how a typical run in Necroflora plays out. It begins with a loadout screen, where you can pick from three different hydra classses with set passives and flower slots. Your flower slots determine how many types of flowers you have for each run, selecting them from a menu. Descriptions for each flower explain their unique abilities as well as behaviours. At first, using different hydra and flower types was all about trail and error, but after just a couple of runs I already had a solid understanding.

You start each run with your hydra’s health bar at the top of the screen, as you overlook your small plot where you can plant your first seeds; a fertile bed from which your malevolence will spread. Once they are sown, a flower’s stem will grow organically, slowly stretching out in search of prey. You have no control over your flowers once they are planted, and they will grow whichever way they choose. However, new flowers can be grown from any other’s exposed stem, fully embodying its namesake; the mythical multi-headed hydra. Each flower type has a bone cost, a currency you earn passively, through slaying enemies, and destroying buildings.

Speaking of enemies, as soon as the run starts different types of foes will start making their way towards your hydra. They spawn from settlements that can be destroyed, considerably reducing their numbers. Your hydra will attack or defend according to what type of flower it is. Some fire projectiles with different properties, while other may push enemies back or posion them with a cloud of toxin.

Scattered about the map are crystals that your hydra can destroy, which unlock mutations that alter your flowers. These include freezing enemies, increasing your hydra’s growth rate, and creating an area that increases the bones of slain enemies.

I would say that Necroflora feels like a unique blend of a tower defence game and a RTS (real time strategy) game. While the start of each run is slow, momentum quickly picks up as your hydra grows, covering more ground and drawing greater ire from the locals. Despite the hands-off, auto battler nature of your floweers the game demands constant attention, where any opening can lead to your demise and the end of your run. Notice one of your flowers has grown pretty far and has overexposed itself to attackers? Plant some flowers along its vulnerable stem to reinforce your advance and stave off defeat. Think of it like a small village that over time grows larger and larger, into a sprawling city, expanding in all directions.

It didn’t take long for my runs to improve, with my first attempts lasting no longer than a couple of minutes. As I became familiar with the different hydras, flowers, and mutations I was able to plan my future runs, with my best lasting nearly 15 minutes! But no plan is perfect, and there is rarely a moment to relax once a run gets underway. On several occasions I was undone by a lone flower that I had forgotten to check up on, only for the game to punish me for my hubris.

At the end of a run there is a stat screen that breaks down how you did, with the game pausing on the last moment. This is a great time to breakdown how it went and what lessons can be learned. It is also great to look over your hydra and its progress in al its glory, each flower a different colour crisscrossing the map like a vibrant web. Even though I have yet to finish without failure, I love leaning back in my chair and taking in the colourful, yet horrifying majesty that I have wrought.

Feedback

As I said at the top of this preview, Necroflora is still being developed. There are several elements missing, like audio, which the developer has promised will be there for the full release (and can be seen on the game’s Steam Page). I can only hope that they are able to create or use suitable sound effects and a soundtrack to enhance they game’s macabre-meets-retro atmosphere. The same goes for the unlockable progress of the game, as everything was unlocked to try out for the demo. As long as game progression is structured correctly, I can see players getting many hours of enjoyment out of Necroflora.

Something I would love to see is a timelapse option at the end of a run, so that players can watch their creations growth. Like watching a sped up video of a flower breaking through the ground to bloom!

Conclusion

We here at Gamer Social Club have always prided ourselves on our passion for games, from AAA to Indie, and are forever on the lookout for something new or interesting. Necroflora is both of those things, and despite the lack of polish and key features, it already has a strong identity and engaging gameplay loop. I believe that, with enough care and support, Necroflora could bloom into an Indie hit!

Click here to visit the Necroflora Steam Page and download the demo.

Click here to visit the Necroflora kickstarter page.