Boneraiser Minions (2022)

Game #65/225

I had played a good bit of VS, probably 10-15 hours, and was hooked on its simple-but-addicting synergy-based gameplay. The mass destruction of hordes of enemies, the ability to quickly put the game down and pick it up, and the massive assortment of unlockables and achievements made the game a blast and I fully intend on going back to it for more. Nonetheless, I started dabbling in some other "survivors-likes," such as 20 Minutes Till Dawn, and had some mixed experiences. Boneraisers, however, is an awesome alternative that scratched the same addicting itch, albeit with seemingly far less replayability, and modifies the gameplay enough where it is distinct from VS and not purely a clone or mere extension on it. First, the outstanding spritework and chiptune music is a pleasure. As a Game Boy Color kid, the style of both the visuals and music brought me a lot of joy. Not only are the tunes nostalgic, they are well arranged and there's a nice variety of mellow, upbeat, and straight up weird songs for which you'll want to raise the volume. The visuals consist of an also wide variety of wacky creatures, demons, mythical creatures, etc. that seems all encompassing of the monsters that could possibly exist. There is also a fusion system built into the gameplay which generates plenty of odd and cool looking creatures.

The gameplay itself is such a success because, while it copies the general gameplay loop from VS, it employs a minion system so that you're creating allies who deal out the damage for you while you focus on dodging. The auto-battling aspect lends itself well to this system, even though you take seemingly very large amounts of damage sometimes when hit. The gameplay is quite punishing in this sense, although there are countless ways to bolster your defenses in a run. The major joy of the game, not unlike Isaac, is unlocking the hundreds of achievements, seeing new items, and realizing how items and creatures interact to build a powerful run. There is clearly a lot of Isaac influence (some items are even referential), and Boneraisers benefits from this influence. The constant rush of picking up bones that translate into level ups, allowing you to choose how you want to increase your power, followed by opening presents and picking up more bones and gems, is simply a dopamine factory. The basic "final boss" can be beaten in about 5 hours of repeating runs, but there is simply way too much else too unlock, plenty of other game modes to play (including a card battler not unlike Final Fantasy IX's), a new game plus, and so much more. Boneraisers is a nice pick up for anyone looking for a little more VS but with a different presentation and some welcome, if slight, variations to the gameplay loop.

Spooktober 2023 Game #2

Fairly certain this is my favorite game to come out of the wave inspired by vampire survivors.

I've always been a big fan of minion based gameplay, and, as the name suggests, that's the focus here. You'd expect a game about minions to be fairly passive to play, but you're dodging for you life and trying to get off spell casts regularly here, so it ends up being among the more engaging games in the genre. There's also a great variety of classes, spells, minions, relics, maps, tower defense type structures to build on the maps, etc. to keep things fresh for a good long time as well.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the strange mix of faux olde English and juvenile humor strewn throughout every bit of text in the game. For me, it's so dumb that it wraps back around to having its own charm, but I could see some being turned off by it.

Absolutely addicting 8-bit style rogue-lite. I am having a blast with this at 6 hours in just a few days. I'm basically going class by class (there are at least 10) and upgrading them. There are tower defense elements as well, although they mostly act as support rather than true defenders.

Such an amazing alternative/addition to Vampire Survivors. And the music is amazing with lots of variety in genre. There's even a lo-fi track or two.

There are apparently several levels but I haven't unlocked them. There are also meta progression for overall abilities and for unlocking new enemies. This game is like crack to me.

So what is Boneraiser?

In short, the key word in Boneraiser Minions is minions

You are the leader of a crypt, you choose a class and raise minions to fight waves of enemies in a Pixel graphic bullet hell roguelike.

There is plenty of metaprogression and lots of replayability. As you level up during each run you get choices for minions and buffs/items. Those minions can then be leveled up on their own or fused/merged/evolved into different minions with lots of variation. It depends on what class you are playing, what general unlocks you have and also what unlocks you have for the class you are currently playing.

Theres an endless mode and different stages to choose from, you can also install some traps/buffs or even treasure chests to make a run easier or more profitable.

The game is easily worth the 4 euros it's listed on steam for currently.