Platforms: Microsoft Windows, macOS, Mac operating systems
Initial release date: March 12, 2024
Publisher: Orc Chop Games
Genres: Role-playing video game, Indie game, Adventure game, Strategy video game, Strategy
Developer: Orc Chop Games
Engine: Unity
In fantasy games, goblins are not always well-reviewed. Though they may not be nearly as clichéd as huge Rats in the sewer, you might fight them after huge rats. Apart from the lustful weirdos, who aren’t technically considered to be people, nobody really cares about goblins. In the game Goblin Stone, players assume control of some of the poor little guys who were left behind after being persecuted by cruel adventurers. They must rebuild a goblin lair, slay monsters and adventurers, gather riches and treasure, and—wait—did the one who was adventured upon end up becoming the adventurer after all? Lots to think about!.
I’ll admit that I’m interested in this for a few reasons: I made a little tabletop game about being a dumb goblin, and I’m the weirdo in the house who enjoys games. In addition, Goblin Stone was compared to Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon on Steam, which sold me as someone who had invested hundreds of hours in both games. Now let’s move.
Starting with two small, mostly nude goblins, you flee from adventurers only to discover, strangely, a magic stone that perfectly matches what they were searching for. The fact that goblins are primarily nude creates a humorous itemization scheme in which a massive ham leg or a rock on a stick make excellent weapons. You’ll scowl and question if that magic rock or wooden seat is indeed an improvement. The witty narrator will remark that half of your powerful group won’t even be wearing pants when they go on an adventure.
Once you’ve mastered the game’s tutorial and story mode, Goblin Stone follows a very straightforward pattern: you have a goblin lair with several rooms that you can modify. Some of these are for storage purposes, while others allow you to raise your goblin population. One of these is for goblin breeding, so sure, you can practice goblin eugenics and improve goblin breeding, but sadly, sorry perverts, you can’t watch. However, I’m sure someone is already developing a mod for that. You can purchase and sell treasure from your travels at the merchant and enlist roaming goblins that stop by the topside campground.
The basic idea of adventuring is to assemble a crew first. Among the classes are:
- Peon: You’re a goblin. That’s it. But you can carry a lot of stuff.
- Guard: You’re a tank. You mitigate damage
- Raider: Think barbarian: You do a shitload of damage but may also have synergy skills with the other classes
- Shaman: You do heals and hexes
- Mystics: You cause and prevent damage
- Bandit: They’re rogues
- Hunter: You toss traps and screw around with enemies positioning (not like that, sickos).
After assembling your lineup, select a location on the map. Some of these objectives have to do with the plot, but occasionally you have to spy, explore, find treasure, or create supplies to upgrade your base. You will usually know what to expect ahead of time.
The game is a 2D side-scrolling adventure that is similar to Slay the Spire or Darkest Dungeon. However, because it is a roguelike, it has all the usual roguelike elements, such as “you can’t go back and change your choices because there’s a single save and it autosaves, so deal with the choices you make, sucker,” hidden beneath the storybook visuals, endearing artwork, and witty narration.
The most common type of gameplay you’ll encounter is “combat,” which is your typical turn-based experience with a ton of modifiers, spell effects, positioning, buffs, and debuffs, along with decisions along the lines of “do you want to heal your guys but damage yourself OR do you want to do a lot of damage to the first guy in line or the second and fourth guy in line OR do you want to poison three different guys.” The adversaries in the game vary from slime cubes, floating skeletons, and zombies from fantasy role-playing games to nasty adventurers and halflings who are obsessed with breakfast and want to steal your orc brothers (orcs are pals with goblins, naturally).
But aside from goblins who enjoy murdering adventurers, I believe that these maps also feature a great deal of other activity. Gathering resources is one thing. Blacksmiths and merchants can sell you goods or enhance your weapons. Rare riches can be discovered. There have been odd experiences with magic lamps and surprisingly amiable treasure boxes. Because it’s a roguelike, you just have a general notion of what each route entails and a map, so it’s possible that nothing at all will happen or if the magic light is real. Who knows?
You’ll assemble your goblin lair back at base with the treasure you’ve found. One drawback is that, like the majority of these games, there is no right or wrong building or room to construct. Instead, you are usually limited in resources, so it becomes more of a matter of what to update when and what you can afford to upgrade.
Furthermore, it’s usual for these games to be more complicated than they appear. For instance, in order to complete a mission that required me to enhance my Ancestor’s Hall, I needed to have more goblins on my roster. To find them, I headed to the campground. But my Barracks were full, and there was no room at the (goblin) inn, so I had to upgrade those. I needed to go adventuring since I needed bone and wood to do it.
Now that it was adventure time, I headed to my War Room to assemble a new group of people because our previous run had resulted in some serious losses. I thus had to travel BACK to the campground and merchant to buy supplies, promote a number of peons, and re-equip the new group. I went BACK to my Warren to turn one of my baby goblins into a Guard Goblin after realizing I didn’t like one of the people I was with. This allowed me to go BACK to the War Room and complete preparing my group for our adventure.
I did what looked to be a more necessary plot quest instead, so please excuse my best Stephen A. Smith voice. And while completing THAT mission, which I did, I lost 4 goblins in several hard-fought skirmishes and did not obtain the goods that were necessary to initiate this whole thing. Ultimately, it’s all about killing some dirty hobbits, which is what truly matters.
Thus, beneath the charming storybook façade lies the devilish core of a really good roguelike, if that kind of management and silliness sounds attractive (and I did love frowning at my goblin roster and trying to min-max stats in my goblin eugenics program). As I was wrapping it, there was also a significant patch, so you can see what kinds of fixes they made here, which provides you with an indication of the caliber of support they are providing.
Review Overview
Gameplay – 82%
Story – 75%
Aesthetics – 85%
Content – 80%
Accessibility – 78%
Value – 80%
Overall Rating – 80%
Good
Summary: Goblin Stone: Breed for Achievement is a unique turn-based strategy game that combines charming hand-drawn aesthetics with an innovative breeding mechanic. Players manage a clan of goblins, breeding and evolving them to create the strongest team possible. The gameplay is engaging, offering a good balance of strategy and experimentation, though it can become repetitive over time. The story, while not particularly deep, provides an intriguing backdrop to the gameplay. Overall, it’s a solid title for strategy enthusiasts, offering a fresh take on the genre.