This is a roguelike that pretty much does everything right. It`s biggest problem is the fact that it does nothing extraordinary, wherefore other, more complex, creative or exuberant games like WAZHACK, The Pit or Dungeons of Dredmor outshine it. If you want to learn what that infamous, frustrating and tough-as-nails roguelike thing is all about, then this is a good game for you. If you already own one really good roguelike game, then I frankly don't know why I should recommend "Claustrophobia" to you, as it is unfortunately something of a grey mouse in regards to mechanics and overall gameplay expreience.

My first impressions YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgAmTVaahfg

Nothing needs to be said more then this: Don't judge this game by the simple graphics you see.

This game is mega fun, especially if you are an RPG dungeon searching fan. Period.

It is turned based, meaning for every action you take or over movement you make, the monsters also take a turn. You can't out-move or click your mouse fast to get extra strikes on them... that will get you killed fast, trust me, hehe. Instead, take your time, plan strategically in your battles and movement, and that is where this game shines.'

There is tons of loot, store 'rooms' inside the dungeon that you can find where you can pawn your junk and buy needed gear. There is level ups that give you points to add to stats, new special abilities/spells to add, and new perks to unlock. Add to this all the real feeling you get of 'exploring' the dungeon as rooms are revealed from the darkness as you explore them, and this game is a simple, but deep and very fun little gem.

This game is worth three times it's asking price. After playing it, I am hooked, and if I had to go back and buy it again, I'd gladly give $14.99 USD for it after spending some time with it! It's THAT good. "Must Buy" if you like RPGs and especially if you believe a games heart isn't in its graphics.

After a few runs in the Claustrophobia Dungeons I have to warn all the big developers that again a single student can make something more good than hundreds of other big teams trying to do.

I knew this already because of the first Rollercoaster Tycoon game (while a totally different genre) was detailed and intelligent and was a big proof for my statement.

After more than ten years this game is the second proof!

It’s a real shame that you can pick up this game for under 5 euro in Europe.
I understand that it is not content heavy at the moment, but it’s EA and so I wish there is some work in progress.
The game mechanics are already 90 % complete in my opinion.
For a rogue-like this game is perfect in many ways.
You start the game by selecting your hero.
You can choose your class and assign some skill points like many other games. If you like you can change the appearance and the name of your hero, but if you hate naming like I do because of getting in the game ASAP the engine can randomize your character for you. This is a big plus.

In a few seconds you are in the randomized maze/dungeon and start searching for treasures and fight monsters. Everything in the dungeon is so cliché, but perfectly done. Movement and fighting monsters is very smooth (you can choose in settings real turn-based or movement at the same time) and clicking doors, items and watch your stats is all done very user friendly because of the good UI.

You can change the place of the menu’s and keep your inv and char sheet open while you play which is also a big plus. Leveling up you can do when you want and when you think you are ready for it. For strategy and tactics this is a big plus because the game is not force you to spend your exp points directly when you level up. For example if you find an ultra-rare item and you need to change your stats before you can use it you have time to do so.

Items are all unique (random?) named and so everything what you find is different every time you play. What is unique in this game is the color code for the items. Items with a green glow are rare, blue items are very rare and possible you will find an ultra-rare purple item in one of the dungeons.

For people who played Dungeons of Dredmor they know the simple mechanics for buying and selling at the shopkeepers place. This is done the same way in this game which is a good thing.

Items, the skill tree and monsters are balanced very well. You never met impossible encounters if you think good what you are doing, but one single mistake can be your perm death. I find myself in a situation in the fourth floor where I was only possible to survive an encounter by using my last teleportation scroll while I had only two life points left. That’s fun.
Like many other rogue-likes you have to find out what different scroll’s and potions do, but you don’t have to write it down. Once you know it’s safe to use the same potion or scroll again. This is the same as in Shattred Planet for example. Some games makes it too difficult for the player to indicate different items like in Rogue’s Tale where you have to indentificate all the items you find every time in a shop for money. That’s not the case in this game. There are more ways to do it, but to prevent writing spoilers you have to find out yourself.

Maybe this game is not very original but it takes the best of all the other rogue likes and put it together in one single game for possible the cheapest way to have hours of fun.
And it’s even early access so what I really hope is that before this dev launch his game he gets a lot of support from the community (buy this game!!!) to make more content.

You can play endless because of the game mechanics, but there is too less diversity in monsters and dungeons at the moment. That is the only con I found so far.

It’s a real masterpiece and I cannot believe the top review of this game only have 30 likes. I don’t know the dev, I paid for the game and have almost all other rogue-likes in my game list, but so far didn’t enjoy a game as much as this one. 9/10.

My absolute favourite rogue-like game, spent loads of hours on it on Desura. With the steam release it got even better both visually and from a gameplay standpoint. More than worth your money. 10/10

One of my favorite rogue-likes (lites, ish, whatever). I have quite a few hours on this game on Desura (eww) and quite possibly may be the reason I got Desura in the first place. Anyway, the game has done a complete 360, in a good way not a Project Zomboid way. The dev is really awesome and commited and I wish all indie devs took their projects as serious and gave as much love to them as this one. I won't go into gameplay and stuff, you can watch the videos.

I would conservativly give this game a 8.5/10 anyday. Very fun in its early stages, and with all these upgrades and much deeper gameplay mechanics evolving that rating might go higher! Give this guy your 5 bucks, you know you've spent more on way worse games!

It's another Rogue-Style Dungeon Crawler.

I can't tell if there are any unlockables but it's an addicting fantasy turn-based Rogue-like game. It plays fine and the aesthetics are nice, but I feel like it might be a bit brutal in terms of difficulty.

I mean, I also said the same thing about the Binding of Isaac when I first played it, but I feel like I always had more control over what I was doing in BoI then I do here.

I've had several instances where opening up a door on the SECOND FLOOR of the dungeon gets me into a situation where I've bitten off more monsters than I can chew (yes I'm funneling them into the doorway to fight them one at a time). Sure you can escape, but monsters aren't stupid enough to not chase you down or flee when they're hurt.

If you can't tell from the number of hours I've played it, I really love this game. If I were to design my own roguelike, it would pretty much start out like this one.

As a fan of roguelikes, Claustrophobia really hits the spot when I feel hungry for some beatdown, both given and taken. I'll be cruising along, crushing little monsters, looting some neat gear, until I hit a room full of monsters looking at me funny. I died to many such rooms until I learned a few tricks that made it easier, and even then I would still die, mainly from making "stupid" mistakes. An unforgiving roguelike? Now there's a tautology if I ever saw one.

About the Early Access status... I've given feedback for many games in the past (not only on Steam) but I've never seen a developer be so receptive to his players' comments. The interaction is timely and courteous; the developer is a real professional in every sense of the word. This tells me this little gem of a game will grow to become something quite extraordinary. With a 5$ pricetag, it is a steal.

Played this one a lot on Desura and even threw down comments that the dev deemed helpful! I eventually stopped playing once the developer stopped updates in order to upgrade everything, but now it's back and looking better than ever. This indie developer here is a whole lot of awesome and dedicated to Claustrophobia. If you find bugs and report them, you'll definitely hear back from the guy and you'll definitely be helping shape what's promising to be quite the fun roguelike.
It's no Dredmor, but given time this game will become a beast all it's own. As it stands, it's pretty straight-forward roguelike goodness with all the randomized stats and equipment you could ever hope for. If turn-based roguelike yummyness is what you want, then throw in $5 and follow along with the developement of a terriffic experience.

Although it's still EA, Claustrophobia has lots of content already, and well worth a purchase if you enjoy rogue-likes. I think it may be my favourite in the genre. Yes, it may be even better than Dungeons of Dredmor!

Simple and easy to understand UI, several classes, loads of items/weapons/armour, good music and randomly generated dungeons means there's lots of replayability.

Yes, you could get killed right on the first floor!

I don't typically play games like this, so this is coming from someone who doesn't enjoy the typical "turn based" system like this. Much more into a free-roaming/mission oriented level/gear based game such as Diablo. However, that being said, there is quite a lot of strategy within this game (aside from the gear and levels) which I enjoy. It's addictive, and even though it was hard to grasp and I found myself dying a lot, you learn the ins and outs fairly quick.

I'd definitely recommend this game to someone that is new to these kinds of games. It was easy to grasp.

This game really shows promise; very playable already, even in early access. I'm a rogue-like fiend and this is a good deal better than many similar offerings on Steam. Won't dethrone DCSS or ADOM, for me, but it is much more approachable.

The game is extremely good:)
I started it today and i had tons of fun with it!
There are moments that you think that you going to die but you just kill the mob in the right second:)

I recommend the game if you like the games of this title for sure but if you are new to this gerne(Rogue-like) like me then dont hesistate.The game is extremely good!
Rating:9/10

Claustrophobia: The struggle to finish this game.

Hooo boy, I regret buying this game! I like Rogue like games. Every encounter is tense, you never know when or where more supplies are going to turn up from, you are kept on your toes and if you get overconfident, you die.
It really is a thrill and many of us would agree that you feel crushed when you die in a Rogue-like game, but from the ashes you rise again!

Hell, even games that aren't rogue-like in nature may feature an ironman mode or a hardcore mode such is the legacy of the rogue-like.

Enter this game.

Rouge-likes are supposed to be hard!
For me, I've played a lot of rogue-likes or games with perma-death and without a doubt the one recurring theme is that you take the safest build possible. This obsoletes most of the other things in the game. Build health, build just enough damage to kill things respectabley and not an iota more. Build defensive stats and evasion. Horde food.

Playing through this game was just me going through the motions. It didn't bring anything new or "challenging but fair" it was just another rogue game, designed like it was painting by numbers.

But wait! You can customize your own class! That's what the promotional blurb said anyway.
I won't critique the interface for not being clear on this aspect, that is subjective. However how can I customize my class when there are no classes to customize with! We have warrior, shieldbearer, ranger, thief and hex-caster/warlock. With the exception of pairing up Warrior and Shieldbearer, none of those other classes work well, combined! An arguement can at least be made for ranger/thief since thief gets stealth but what on earth are you going to combine warlock with?

Doesn't matter anyway because here is the golden rule. Stun rules.
Rules every game that it is in and this is no exception. Shieldbearer and Warlock get stun, you may combine the two classes if you want but regardless you will want shieldbearer since he has the longest stun, no matter how you build your class, get that stun or you are going to get annihilated.

This game is a struggle to keep playing
Ultimately the game is not good. It is drowned out by a sea of games that do what this is trying to do but better, much better. The music is good, the art direction is very good, but the game is just paint by numbers. Traps you can't see? Check. There is a perk for that by the way and it is the ONLY perk worth your while. Hunger? Check. An outdated relic but hey, Rogue did it so we'll be damned if we don't! Monsters that outscale you horribly? Oh yes, got to have that, so playing Melee is a huge waste of your time. I could go on but you get the idea and really the only question worth a damn is; is it good? To which my answer is no, it is too tedious and too boring because that is the only playstyle that will keep you alive. Stun, hit a few times, run away. If Ranger, place a trap, run away. If thief, you are already dead. If Warlock, cast poison, run away.

---
The developer is very active here on the steam forums, s/he listens and you really get a sense that this is someone who cares. If you agree (or disagree) with my findings, be sure to make a post about it in the forums so they can read it. Similar to Adventurer Manager and the Dev team behind that, I have confidence in this Dev that the finished game will be decent. This is early access and my complaints might vanish as time goes on but reviewing the game as it is now, it felt like any other run of the mill Rogue instead of something unique or better. Hopefully, that will change.

Graphics better. Looks proffessional. Great Game. However spent four hours looking for the ♥♥♥♥ing exit to the dungeon. But only found stairs to death. 10/10

First Impressions:

"Claustrophobia: The Downward Struggle" reminds me a lot of "Dungeons of Dredmor", albeit a quicker and more simplistic version. "DoD" has a lot more character classes and skills to choose from, but then again, "Claustrophobia" is still under development. For five bucks, it's a pretty fun time. I'll be curious to see how this game looks when it officially launches.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5STxVPpzbb8

-This game is pretty interesting, although I wish it had a few more features that would make it better such as a...
Character saver, a set of difficulty levels to choose from and more traits and perks to pick from your class.
-The game has the class 4 classes, rogue, mage, warrior (juggarnaut as the game calls it) and archer.
-This game also has a lot of potential to turn into something big but I don't want to shove words into the developers mouth but this game has a really small player base (32 peak high for about 2-3 months http://steamcharts.com/app/269590 ) and due to that, I personally think the developer will drop working on this title since there is a small incentive to work on it if people keep passing it up.
-For 5 dollars and you want a small indie game to itch your small adventuring taste, I am iffy about this game, but I'm going to like it because this game is overlooked and this is ONE of a few rogue-like and indie games I actually like, I generally only play AAA titles.

I made a video preview to show off some of the features and gameplay of this game!
http://youtu.be/FZbBIQKwPzU
I hope you enjoy!
Martyr

This is a first and foremost a really great game. It has taken obvious inspiration from Dungeons of Dredmor, and in many ways I think it personally succeeds and being superior. The animations, the moving, the combat is so lovely and clean compared to D&D which I find jittery and sometimes buggy.
At the moment though, C:TDS is very much an unfinished game. Once you get the hang of it, and it will take you several new characters, and once you have descended through each floor and fought the final "boss" you have then reached the end of the current version (I think this is about 5 floors?). You are told how the game is in alpha stage and that there are plans for much more content, which I think will truely make this game fly. But for now, you are sent back to the beginning of the (randomly generated) dungeon to face harder and meaner foes.

As I mentioned before, when/ if this game is fully finished, I believe it will be very successful. Much like D&D.
The loot system is superb. I found myself grinning with glee everytime I stumbled upon a new weapon/ piece of armour/ piece of jewellery with awesome stats and felt very satisfied as these improved stats worked their magic quite visibly so.
The combat is beautiful, and so... Idk, clean! It has nice sound effects which makes killing enemies very satisfying.

The hunger system is a nice little added tidbit which makes it very challenging. You will be very pleased to find a big slab of meat lying on the ground, even if it is green and potentially unsafe to eat, as long as if satisfies your hunger, you're happy!

One final note/ plea: Please devs! Please complete this game! I love it so much and it would be even more perfect if it were complete with the features hinted in the final message at the end of the dungeon.

Overall I give this game an 8.5/10. I will happily update my review once the game has more content.

Even though it's still a small game, it really does have a lot to offer...I haven't played it a lot yet, but I know I will eventually...
In my opinion this is a great game, worth the money!

I got set on fire, and trapped between 4 zombies (that were also on fire) 10/10


On a serious note. Claustrophobia is one of the best rouguelikes around at the moment. I have played since its early development and boy has it come a long way!
Great artstyle, lovely music and sound, Interesting combat, funny randomised naming system (totaly not bias from having my name as a prefix).


An overall very enjoyable experience, (cheap too)!