Endhall's description - a 'byte-sized roguelike' - encompasses exactly what this game is.
It easily serves as a stepping stone for those unfamiliar with the genre, whilst still being enjoyable for those who are well-versed in it. The learning curve is not steep, but the game does a fine job of making you reflect on what you could have done better. It took me about 40 or so minutes to beat the game, which is completely fair given the price. A run consists of beating 9 stages, and a successful run could end up being about 15 or so minutes.
The gameplay is straightforward, yet rewarding. The satisfaction that comes with playing a turn 'perfectly' is unbeatable, but there is always room for improvement. I often found myself pondering at the end of my turn what I could have done better, irrespective of how well the run was going so far. This kind of engagement is always a joy to encounter as the game is encouraging the player to actually want to improve.
There is no time limit on turns, or the run as a whole. Instead the game uses a dual-resource based system; Energy (life points) and CPU. Energy is capped at 8, but a successful enemy kill rewards you with one Energy cell for your efforts. You are also docked a single Energy cell at the end of your turn, forcing you to think ahead. Can you afford to intentionally destroy a nearby bomb, taking damage but also killing an enemy in the process, while still being mindful of the single Energy cell you will lose when your turn ends? This kind of thinking is what makes Endhall deeper than it may appear at first glance.
Beneath your Energy are CPU chips. You only have 4 that you can use each turn, with all the abilities costing varying amounts of CPU. This is where the game forces you to plan out your Actions. Many of the abilities have quirks to them, such as knocking back the enemy or stunning them for a turn. As such, you've got to be on your toes and think each turn through. Using your Actions in the wrong order, or moving to a certain tile, could result in a sticky situation for the next turn, or end the run altogether.
At the beginning of each run, you start with 4 Actions. Move, Melee, Control and Leap. After completing a stage, you are given the choice of choosing between 3 random Actions. Some of these can be duplicates, which allows you to use them more than once per turn. At the time of writing this, I believe there are 17 total Actions in Endhall (including the 4 you begin with).
The majority of these Actions use CPU as a resource, though some use Energy instead. This is a nice little touch as it adds a whole new twist to how to approach each turn. On top of that, many actions also inflict status ailments. Stuns will put an enemy out of action for a single turn, burns will result in them taking damage at the end of their turn, and frost will slow enemies movement.
There do not seem to be any unlockable Actions, nor any new mechanics added to runs after completing the game. I feel as though this is a missed opportunity given the genre, and it does impact the replayability factor. As it stands, replaying the game is fun and optimizing runs is as challenging as it is rewarding. However, without any added incentives to replay the game, such as the aforementioned unlockables and new mechanics, consecutive runs lose their charm after having beaten the game a handful of times.
Graphically, Endhall is a throwback to the retro 16-bit era. They're simple, but effective, and set the tone for the game's premise. I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of graphical style, and I can shamelessly admit that it was the screenshots that piqued my interest for Endhall.
That being said, the game itself seems to be somewhat devoid of animations. Outside of Actions, the only animations I can think of are explosions and turret surges. Character and enemy movement is limited to sprites sliding into place and colliding with one another when attacking. Is this a problem, and does it affect the game? No, it does not. It has its own charm in a way, but some additional animations for enemy attacks and unique movement wouldn't hurt.
The soundtrack for the game, composed by the developers brother, is pretty good. It's not intrusive, and - importantly - not too repetitive. Given the length of the average run, it's vital that the music doesn't grate on the player. There does not seem to be a lot of tracks, but they all do a good job of being both a pleasure to listen to while not being too distracting. As expected, the soundtrack fits with the 16-bit graphical style. It doesn't feature any live instrumentation, or anything too jarring that would interfere with the theme. The music suits the game for what it is, and I found myself humming some of the main melodies even while not playing.
[b]To sum up,[/b] Endhall is a fantastic entry into roguelikes. The game describes itself as being high difficulty and having a lot of depth, but I believe that might be a little bit of an overstatement. The difficulty curve is not too steep, which is perfect for a roguelike of this scope - but! I found that after about 25 to 30 minutes (which was about 3 or 4 failed runs), that I understood the game and what was expected of me. The only difficulty thereafter came from the occasional unlucky stage and a handful of misplayed turns.
As for depth, Endhall can be played in a variety of ways, and there is a lot of fun, and challenge, in trying to optimize runs. That being said, the level of depth can seem a little shallow after an hour or so of playing - especially after having beaten it a few times.
It is, without a doubt, worth the money. So far, I've put about 2-3 hours into it and I can see myself playing it for another few hours in at the very least. However, without any new content or optimizations, Endhall will struggle to leave a lasting impression on many players. I would recommend the game to kill anywhere between a half-hour and hour every now and again, but it will likely not be a game you think of in about a few months time - [i]in it's current state, at least.[/i]
