Rate top gamesCaves of Qud
About
Caves of Qud is a science fantasy roguelike epic steeped in retrofuturism, deep simulation, and swathes of sentient plants. Come inhabit an exotic world and chisel through layers of thousand-year-old civilizations. Decide: is it a dying earth, or is it on the verge of rebirth?Who are you?Play the role of a mutant indigenous to the salt-spangled dunes and jungles of Qud, or play a pure-strain descendant from one of the few remaining eco-domes—the toxic arboreta of Ekuemekiyye, the Holy City; the ice-sheathed arcology of Ibul; or the crustal mortars of Yawningmoon.
You arrive at the oasis-hamlet of Joppa, along the far rim of Moghra'yi, the Great Salt Desert. All around you, moisture farmers tend to groves of viridian watervine. There are huts wrought from rock salt and brinestalk. On the horizon, Qud's jungles strangle chrome steeples and rusted archways to the earth. Further and beyond, the fabled Spindle rises above the fray and pierces the cloud-ribboned sky.
You clutch your rifle, or your vibroblade, or your tattered scroll, or your poisonous stinger, or your hypnotized goat. You approach a watervine farmer—he lifts the brim of his straw hat and says, "Live and drink, friend."What can you do?Anything and everything. Caves of Qud is a deeply simulated, biologically diverse, richly cultured world.
You arrive at the oasis-hamlet of Joppa, along the far rim of Moghra'yi, the Great Salt Desert. All around you, moisture farmers tend to groves of viridian watervine. There are huts wrought from rock salt and brinestalk. On the horizon, Qud's jungles strangle chrome steeples and rusted archways to the earth. Further and beyond, the fabled Spindle rises above the fray and pierces the cloud-ribboned sky.
You clutch your rifle, or your vibroblade, or your tattered scroll, or your poisonous stinger, or your hypnotized goat. You approach a watervine farmer—he lifts the brim of his straw hat and says, "Live and drink, friend."What can you do?Anything and everything. Caves of Qud is a deeply simulated, biologically diverse, richly cultured world.
- Assemble your character from over 70 mutations and defects and 24 castes and kits—outfit yourself with wings, two heads, quills, four arms, flaming hands, or the power to clone yourself—it's all the character diversity you could want.
- Explore procedurally-generated regions with some familiar locations—each world is nearly 1 million maps large.
- Dig through everything—don't like the wall blocking your way? Dig through it with a pickaxe, or eat through it with your corrosive gas mutation, or melt it to lava. Yes, every wall has a melting point.
- Hack the limbs off monsters—every monster and NPC is as fully simulated as the player. That means they have levels, skills, equipment, faction allegiances, and body parts. So if you have a mutation that lets you, say, psionically dominate a spider, you can traipse through the world as a spider, laying webs and eating things.
- Pursue allegiances with over 60 factions—apes, crabs, robots, and highly entropic beings—just to name a few.
- Follow the plot to Barathrum the Old, a sentient cave bear who leads a sect of tinkers intent on restoring technological splendor to Qud.
- Learn the lore—there's a story in every nook, from legendary items with storied pasts to in-game history books written by plant historians.
- Die—Caves of Qud is brutally difficult and deaths are permanent. Don't worry, though—you can always roll a new character.
System requirements for Linux
16.04, 18.04 or later
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: OpenGL 3+ and DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: OpenGL 3+ and DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
System requirements for PC
7 / 8 / 10
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
System requirements for macOS
10.11 or later
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: OpenGL 3+ and DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
Processor: 1GHz or faster. SSE2 instruction set support.
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Graphics: Graphics card: OpenGL 3+ and DX9 (shader model 3.0) or DX11 with feature level 9.3 capabilities.
Storage: 2 GB available space
Mouse, keyboard
Caves of Qud reviews and comments
Translated by
Microsoft from French
Microsoft from French
Early access review caves of Qud is probably my favorite Rogue-like. I find it well worth ADOM or ToME, for many reasons. In addition to being very complete, it is very original. The game takes place in a futuristic universe, which reminds a little of the post-apocalyptic universe of fallout.
+ Futuristic universe that changes medieval-fantasy + two character types, each with its pros and cons: mutants and true kin (= non-mutants) + complete character creation: distribution of STAT points, choice of class/caste, choice of mutations (very varied) for mutants + visually original (UI style console/retro, colors "Neon"...) + interesting lore + good evolution of the characters (many passive skills and interesting assets, mutations to improve/buy, some stats points to distribute) = > ability to create quite different characters with varying skills and combinations of mutations and skills + reputation system with many factions + NPCs generated proceally, with a name, and a small story in the form of a positive or negative reputation with a particular faction (and that influence our reputation when we kill them) + diversity of monsters, loot, etc. + game full of surprises + lots of other interesting stuff +/-it's a rogue-like, so often frustant. Especially when you lose a character we spent hours lifting and "shaping" +/-only in English +/-still in early access short, I recommend caves of Qud to rogue-like enthusiasts. It's a good game, and its originality is a big plus.
Translated by
Microsoft from French
Microsoft from French
Early access review I certainly wouldn't want to upset fans of this title.
I am an old-timer and I practiced the MUDs.
Given the high level of appreciation of the game, I thought I would also love it.
I thought I would have an exceptional experience, that I would be fascinated by writing and everything else!
The side that I actually found really friendly is "the game universe", new and mysterious. I wanted to find out more.
Another very interesting side is the reputation system: there are very many factions and even more ways of gaining reputation from them, and everything seems to be taken into account in a rich way at this level.
But I have for my part not hung on the writing, the environment, the proposed classes, the combat system... and when I say not hung, I am even revolted, because all this set seemed simplistic and unfortunately limited. The MUD side I expected, but I expected a better MUD than I had experienced in the years 90; in the vein of ToME. It is really far away, and it is not just the interface that does not help to get out of that time, but also the writing, the skills and the classes.
Some unlogical topics also have left me a bit neutral: for example I can click on any thing with only "trade" action; including with the creatures and monsters of a neuron and a half who actually have nothing to Exchange; the topics of discussion are really extremely closed; the places of life are purely symbolic and lack coherence, of population; and I would have preferred a free conversion system to the Ultima 5 for example.
But to summarize, caves of Qud mostly gave me claustrophobia on the UI, few pleasant sensations, and very little "dream".
This dream side is what I was looking for and I think it might be accessible to others who would try the title. If for your part, this was accessible, I am happy for your gaming enjoyment; for my part it has not met my expectations.
I don't want to disappoint any fan; I posted here because I also liked to see such reviews before buying.