i am generally not a resource management enjoyer, but dome keeper has IT. it is stylish, fun, and downright engrossing with its gameplay loop. the two modes, relic hunt (30-50 minute bursts with a goal) and prestige (uncapped, but generally 3-ish hour score attack mode) are each vastly different play experiences and the 4 domes each play drastically different in each mode. this combined with the various gadgets, modifiers and difficulties means there is a LOT to this game that on the surface seems like it doesn’t have much content.

I am sure many people will find this game enjoyable; it just wasn't for me. The shorter timer on each descent into the ground stressed me out. I felt like I had a good hold on the game and beat runs multiple times on increasing difficulties. I just don't like feeling anxious about missing the deadline. I already have enough deadlines to keep in real life. I don't want them in a video game.

On the other hand, the choices you have to make about upgrades are interesting. It feels like there is enough variety that is viable enough to warrant having to choose between multiple good options. I like the variety that the different playable characters and the different dome types present. As I said, many people will probably enjoy this game, even if I do not.

You know that bit of Terraria right at the beginning where you shuffle to build a home before nightfall, for you're soon to be assaulted by the unspeakable horrors that prowl in the dark? It's a surprisingly tense moment that never lasts very long, as the next time you come above ground, you're likely to be decked out in at least some plate armor. What if there were an game just about that night? The fine folks at Bippinbits have you covered with their game Dome Keeper.

Dome Keeper puts you in the role of an engineer that opens the game by crash-landing on an unexplored planet, then begins gathering resources and whatever else they can find underground. Encased by the walls of their hi-tech dome, with the only exit being a mine shaft leading deep into the earth, they must make the best of their time to obtain metals to strenghten the base before a wave of monsters strikes. Once that happens, they'll power up the dome's defensive weaponry and hope for the best.

It's a fantastic core loop: mine, bring whatever you can back to the surface, survive the monsters' assault, upgrade everything, rinse and repeat until either the map is beaten or you are. There are only three types of resources, which you'll have to decide on whether to use to make your mining tools more efficient, or your dome, more resilient, an increasingly hard choice as the upgrades become more expensive the further you push into the tree. There are two modes to the game, one which has you hunting for an item somewhere in the underground, and another in which sending resources off-planet gives points, and the goal is to score as high as possible.

A short session length -- it takes 30~60 minutes to reach a victory screen depending on game mode -- combined with atmospheric sound design and gorgeous pixel art make Dome Keeper an excellent game to unwind to, as its frantic pace can take your mind off of anything. Do be warned, however, that you might end up staying for longer than initially intended: as runs are completed, new stages and items are unlocked, which beckon the player to try another run. A large amount of possible upgrades to your gear, some even mutually exclusive, also encourage new attempts with different strategies.

Puzzlingly, however, variety is exactly the game's greatest shortcoming. Most of the unlocks and upgrade paths are strictly worse than their competition no matter the situation, and you're likely to follow the same upgrade path every time. Notably, a second playable character that is completely different from the default was added at one point, was so universally rejected that he earned a rework update, and even then is still not worth picking over the default.

In some cases, this is a consequence of the starting kit being just too solid: the initial release was developed around it, after all, and the rest of the arsenal is an attempt to switch things up. It should be said, however, that there are multiple instances of overtuning in the game, the advantages of an item or upgrade being completely offset by downsides presumably placed there for balance's sakes. Regardless of the cause, it remains a common theme that a new item will have a much higher skill floor and/or demand a larger resource investment to get online while offering worse performance than the old one.

The game has been out for less than a year and is still under active development, with the developers being active on the Steam forums and listening to players' feedback, so it is my hope that these issues will be reduced in time, and I do believe Dome Keeper is worth giving a try regardless, especially if you have a Steam Deck.

Making an arcade style game has to be one of the most challenging tasks for a game designer I can imagine. Arcade games seem so simple and obvious, but the ones we all remember are literally the cream of a decade of trying to get the formula right. Weapons grade game loops and laser focused design that keeps you playing is truly an art, and dome keeper sadly falls short of such lofty goals.

It's a game of two halves, the defensive dome phase and the exploratory digging phase. The defending is simple and enemies steadily grow larger and more threatening. The digging meanwhile is slow and methodical as different tiers of dirt intentionally prolong each level. Either mode could work fine on its own but together it's like having two different dishes served and every 5 minutes the waiter insists you swap to the other meal or he'll take both away.

The digging could be a relaxing endeavour, after all it's too slow and tedious to be a mad dash to uncover the exit far beneath, breaking blocks is passive and relentless as you hold your direction down with only colourful baubles to occasionally reward your 'effort'. Then suddenly monsters demand you defend, but defending is itself a distraction from digging. You swing back and forth from 'active' gameplay to 'passive' and neither lets you get comfortable with the other.

The baubles then are the link between them, but this is abstraction. Your laser or sword is unrelated to your digging, and your unearthed discoveries have to be fed into a machine to translate them into numbers and upgrades for your defence tools. Making the weapons and defences more powerful brings you no closer to the end of a level other than to withstand the tedious and constant attacks peppered throughout.

Maybe if you detached your laser and used it to dig we could say they are connected meaningfully, but dome keeper sadly doesn't blend or mix it's ingredients. The novelty of juggling two games wears off quickly when neither really stands strong on its own, it just takes you longer to realise the lack of depth either holds. Fun for a few hours but it lacks staying power.