‘Dungeon Clawler’ Fights With Items Pulled From a Claw Machine

Dungeon Clawler needs you to get some lucky pulls from a sword- and shield-filled claw machine if you’re to survive its dungeons.

As someone who rarely has any luck at playing claw machines, I was wondering exactly how quickly I’d be killed playing this game. In this roguelike deckbuilder (claw machine filler?), you will start every battle with the ability to make some pulls from a claw machine filled with weapons, armor, and useful items. Your job is to aim the claw at a nice, dense spot filled with all kinds of armaments and tools and hope you get a good handful of things that will let you hit the monsters while bolstering your defenses.

This sounds like you’re relying on luck a great deal, but the game does try to mitigate that. You’re given attack ratings for the monsters every round, so you always know how much damage they’re going to deal. That way, you know if you should prioritize picking up shields or defensive items from the machine. Once you’re well-protected, maybe focus on pulling more weapons so you can mow your foes down. Or you can start pulling from the other useful tools (like boosts that let you convert defense into higher attack damage) to finish up a fight quickly. There’s a good layer of strategy in what you should aim for each round, but you’re still at luck’s mercy. Just not to the point where it feels it harms the game.

Dungeon Clawler plays around with its claw machine mechanic in some fun ways, too. Enemies can have effects on the machine, doing something like filling it with water. This makes it hard to see what you’re going to pick up while also making all of your metal swords and weapons sink. Pretty hard to attack when that kind of element is in action, so you have to change your strategy. The claw machine also factors into bonus rounds and other playful things you can do. It’s a creative mechanic that flows well through the entire game, making for a delight for those who like roguelikes and who want to actually pull something from a claw machine for a change.

Dungeon Clawler is available now on the App Store, Google Play, and Steam Early Access.

About The Author

Joel Couture

Joel has been covering indie games for various sites including IndieGames.com, Siliconera, Gamasutra, Warp Door, CG Magazine, and more over the past seven years, and has written book-length studies on Undertale and P.T.. Joel is constantly on the lookout for digital experiences that push the boundaries of what games can be, and seeks to delve into the creative process, meanings, and emotion labor that goes into the work of artists worldwide.