I didn't find a lot to like about Regions of Ruin. It is trying to do a lot of things, but doesn't do any of them very well.

There is an exploration system, where you scout a map to uncover areas you can go to, which are side-scrolling combat or traversal challenges. You can also send dwarves to harvest from these locations once you clear them out, which just serves as a clicker-style resource gathering mechanic.
I expected this game to lean harder into the colony sim aspects, but it doesn't really do much of interest there either. The buildings you build are just linear upgrades you will eventually fully purchase, so it is a grind and not much more.

The combat and traversal are very simple and fairly clunky. They never feel quite responsive enough and much of the damage I took felt random or unavoidable.
There is a stealth system, which doesn't quite come together (hard in a side scrolling game like this one) and a ranged combat system that just feels broken and overpowered.

You upgrade your character by building things in your town once you have collected enough resources and by killing enough goblins to gain levels and learn skills. Both of these advancement systems feel pretty rote and uninteresting, however.

There are about three different systems that, if the focus of the game, could have made it compelling.
Overall it is just trying to do too much -- the ideas are scattered, disconnected and unsatisfying.

Slightly reminiscent of Dwarf Fortress, Regions of Ruin is an decent mix between an action side-scroller and a city building game. Let's get the second point out of the way: the management mechanics are rather sketchy and add little to the economy of the title, other than slowing down progress in the first half of the game. Not that this is inherently bad or unpleasant, by the way: it's nice to see your tribe develop at the same time as your dwarf's strength. In this regard, the gameplay does some justice to this sense of evolution: the feedback on moves is nice – especially on critical hits – and the title has that welcome kick-ass feel. In truth, the game definitely seems to be designed for a measured consumption: the gameplay loop is relatively repetitive and is only interrupted by lore reading or the platforming sequences, when you have to light up pillars. In this respect, the game's biggest flaw seems to be its progression curve: it rises exponentially, so that the last enemy has a gargantuan life bar, which requires being very solidly equipped. However, the optimal equipment is most often bought, which requires enough money – since the prices also follow an exponential curve. Apart from this sometimes shaky balancing, Regions of Ruin can be a nice pastime.