Dungeon Clawler Early Access Review
Stray Fawn Studio proves a claw machine could be fun and rewarding with its new roguelike.
Dungeon Clawler. Credit: Stray Faun Studio
I’ve always regarded the arcade mainstay claw machine as a money pit. Feed it tokens and try to snag a prize that will undoubtedly slip from the claw’s weak, butterfingered grip. Claw machines are not fun. Swiss studio Stray Fawn’s claw machine roguelike Dungeon Clawler is just the opposite.
After losing your paw thanks to gambling debts, you must delve into a 20-level dungeon to get it back. Until then, you’ve got a trusty claw arm that helps in your battles. Whenever you encounter enemies or bosses, you fight by using the claw arm to fish weapons and other items out of a pool. Whatever you grab takes effect immediately.
Dungeon Clawler. Credit: Stray Faun Studio
While this sounds simple on the surface, there’s some strategy here. Icons appear above enemies’ heads to indicate their intent for their upcoming turn, so you must grab defensive items like shields out of the pool if you will take damage. You might want to buff yourself with strength items that will boost damage. Maybe you’ll have a strategy revolving around converting defense to offense. All of this is enabled by the items you choose to add to your arsenal after each battle or from other sources.
Dungeon Clawler. Credit: Stray Faun Studio
Aside from enemies, helpful NPCs also appear in the dungeon. The blacksmith can upgrade your items for a fee. The alchemist can change the material properties of items to suit your strategy. For example, wood will float in water if your claw pool floods, but you can combo metal weapons with batteries to boost damage output. Minigames help you heal or earn perks, though some games can also hurt you.
Dungeon Clawler. Credit: Stray Faun Studio
I’m impressed by how many playable characters the game includes out of the gate in its early access state. Each has its own perks and properties that vastly alter your strategy to succeed. This adds a lot of variety and replayability to the game.
Even in early access, Dungeon Clawler is a fun experience, though the developers can add a lot in the year before the planned 1.0 release. I’d love to see more item types, new NPCs, and more playable characters. It’d be great to see more kinds of dungeons and some improvements to presentation. For example, the dungeon map view is currently a bit bland, with white icons populating each grid-based dungeon floor; it lacks the life the battle screen has with its fully rendered, well-designed, animated characters.
Dungeon Clawler. Credit: Stray Faun Studio
Dungeon Clawler has a lot of promise and is worth picking up right now during its Early Access release on Steam or on mobile. Even right now, it feels like a complete game, and it’ll get even better over the next year as the developers add features.
Dungeon Clawler is available now in Early Access on Steam for PC, as well as on the App Store and Google Play for iOS and Android, respectively.
Played on: Steam Deck
