Game Alert: Dungeon Chaos

Pacing is a vital element in any form of media, yet it is so easily forgotten. If you've ever seen a movie or read a book or played a game and were absolutely sure that it was 'good' or 'bad', but had trouble explaining why, it was probably thanks to good pacing or a lack thereof. Likewise, if you've ever played a Sonic game, you probably know how it feels to be zooming through a level and then suddenly come to a dead stop for one reason or another - pacing has always been one of Sonic's greatest adversaries. Thankfully, pacing is one thing which Dungeon Chaos has in spades.

Dungeon Chaos is a painfully short game which can be completed in about a half hour, but a great deal to care went in to ensuring that the game constantly flows to create a remarkably energetic and satisfying experience. The opening cutscenes only take a handful of seconds to establish protagonists, antagonist, and the basic setting before sending you straight into the action. The game itself consists of a series of single-screen rooms with every fourth or fifth room being a 'hub' room where players can buy upgrades and turn in quests; pressing Enter rapidly sends the player forward through completed rooms and dying or pressing Backspace at any point sends the player back to the closest hub, meaning the entire 'dungeon' can be traversed in a matter of seconds. Even the tutorials simply consist of a series of single sentences written on the walls of the first few rooms the player traverses, meaning there is not once a moment when the gameplay is interrupted or even slows down.

The actual combat is simple enough, yet surprisingly fun. The player starts with a gun which can be aimed with the mouse and fired by holding down left click, but upgrades such as a jetpack, firing speed increases, and grenades (or rather, Granades) are quickly acquired and both food and leveling up permanently increase HP.  Rooms usually consist of a giant wave of several dozen enemies rapidly spawning and can quickly become overwhelming if the player doesn't kill fast or find a good position to attack from. Perhaps the most interesting mechanic in Dungeon Chaos is the way rooms 'wrap' as there are no pits and instead falling into a hole or walking to the right side of the screen simply results in reappearing from the opposite side in a way similar to Bubble Bobble or Kid Icarus, although enemies will frequently utilize the wrapping to their advantage as well.

This snake-like boss wraps itself around most of the room.

So, that's Dungeon Chaos. It's a short little game with fairly standard gameplay, but an extremely clever sense of pacing keeps the action flowing from start to finish. On a final note, you will probably want to make sure you download the newest version of the game (the 'Xmas' edition); it lacks a magic system and local multiplayer found in earlier versions, but several improvements such as the mouse-controlled aiming and a vastly superior food system more than make up for the loss of magic and multiplayer.

The newest version of the game can be found here: http://sandbox.yoyogames.com/games/191586-dungeon-chaos-xmas