SNKRX is a wave-based action roguelite auto-battler that lets you take control of a snake where each segment is a different hero that can create class bonuses and unique builds. Made as a 3 month developer challenge, it is one of the most fun games I have played this year.
Overshadowing many of the big AAA games, and even indies for me, i highly recommend if you have not seen this game (and you probably haven’t) please do yourself a favor and check it out.
Where classic snake meets new ideas:
The ever popular roguelite genre has been gaining popularity over the last 10 years with some games using it poorly and some taking advantage of it. SNKRX does a great job at making the base roguelite mechanics feel super good.
This game focuses on wave based rounds while in between you can make purchases for new heroes to beef up your snake. The heroes act as segments to your snake. The more you have the bigger you are which can make dodging enemies a little tougher but gives you some extra firepower or abilities.
In the store you can also reroll the heroes by spending money or buy more heroes with the gold you’ve earned playing the game. Heroes can also be levelled up by buying the same heroes again until they are level 3. These segments can also be rearranged to put each hero exactly where you want on the body of the snake. If you like warriors in the front and healers in the back you can do so.
Every few levels you are given the choice of randomly rolled items which can do anything from change how heroes’ attacks work, to giving your snake weird abilities, like touching walls and sending out projectiles. These will start to form a build that you can try to make possible through hero selection as the game progresses, these can also be leveled up through the shop to increase their effectiveness.
You control the snake with only two buttons. I use a mouse but there are controls for the keyboard as well. Left click turns you left and right click turns you right, sounds simple but can be hard to master once you start bouncing off walls and disorienting yourself.
The Classes:
There are currently 16 classes in the game that all have their own function and playstyle. From mages that do giant AOE attacks to rogues that throw daggers able to seek more enemies on hit. to swarmers that create little minions to aid you in battle. These are some of the most diverse classes I have seen in a game and there is something for everyone here. As you gather more heroes of the same class you will begin to get class bonuses (I think of them as set bonuses) that will give your heroes extra buffs and new abilities that will help you later in the game. Sometimes getting everything to work out between classes, items, and heroes can be difficult but with the reroll option handy most of the time you can get the build you want going if you’re good enough. There is even a class called the mercenary that can start dropping gold on the floor you have to collect which really gives off that old school snake vibe.
The Items:
There are a ton of items in this game; quite a few general ones that can increase movement speed to increase damage of a specific position on your snake. The Class oriented items are where you will get huge increases in power if you build correctly and have a little luck.
The Nuker class focuses on giant AOEs covering huge portions of the screen and their items can magnify them to be even bigger or have a chance to create smaller AOE barrages on their hits (pretty amazing in action). The Warrior class can get items that give them more defense, or increase attack speed depending on missing HP for some fast barbarian swinging action.
One of the most fun parts of the game is seeing all these items in action and working together, let me know which builds you have really liked!
The Enemies:
There’s only a few enemy types in the game but they create challenges where it’s needed. You have your basic enemies, red, that follow you wherever you go and can get speed boosts, buffed, or shot towards you by other special-type enemies. The blue enemies create mines that shoot out an AOE projectile blast, the white enemies shoot projectiles at you from afar, and the yellow enemies electrically charge the red ones. This throws them at you at insane speeds which are crazy difficult to avoid just to name a few.
Every few levels you will also fight elite-type enemies that are stronger versions of the special types that can be annoying if not dealt with quickly. After 24 gruesome waves of combat you also get to fight the final boss which is an amalgamation of all the other enemy types (have fun with that) after you have defeated that round you have won the game!
Well kinda…
The Replayability:
After you beat the game for the first time you are prompted to play NG+1 (New Game Plus) which increases enemy difficulty as well and gives you one extra segment on your snake for an extra hero. This starts to change how you think about which hero’s you want even more because there is not just one NG+. If you continue to win you can go all the way to NG+5 which gives 5 more heroes to use than the base game. At that point you can start multi-classing and making some crazy snakes. Besides New Game Plus there is a ton of replayability to try and make really sick builds with certain classes, see how overpowered you can get or even achievement hunt for that sweet 100%.
Final Thoughts:
If you are a fan of Snake games or roguelite, boy are you gonna be happy with this! Even with how simple the art style and gameplay are, this is one of the most fun games I have played; it really just feels like a fun good old game.
I didn’t think I would end up playing many hours of this game, but I have and I will continue to. That’s just how good of a game this is for me being a lover of roguelites.
SNKRX is available on Steam for $2.99 USD.
