Flame Keeper

With its cute aesthetic and gameplay combining exploration, combat, and character customisation, Flame Keeper offers a fresh take on the action rogue-lite genre. The adventures of Ignis, a cute little flame-like character, through a world filled with monsters will be a hit with younger teenagers, who'll love restoring the eternal flame while overcoming some pretty tough strategic challenges.

Flame Keeper is an action rogue-lite that stands out for its cute aesthetic, unique blend of gameplay mechanics, pretty artistic direction, and likeable main character. You’ll be immersed in an epic adventure to restore the Eternal Flame to the world of Orbis.

We loved the game's look. From the opening moments of the game, Flame Keeper is a feast for the eyes. Ignis, the main character, is a burning lump of coal with a cute face on an adventure through a richly detailed, and sometimes dark, world. The contrast between the gloomy environments and the colourful, expressive creatures creates a unique and immediately eye-catching atmosphere. Not to mention the little cutscenes that add depth to the story. Everyone loves this one!

The core gameplay resides in exploring different biomes and restoring the Eternal Flame. You'll be moving through different levels, collecting sparks of flame and placing them in totems to recharge the levels flame. This mechanic forces you to strategically manage your health, because each transfer of energy causes Ignis to temporarily weaken, making you more vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Our tip to help you on your way? When exploring the desert biome, Ignis needs to collect sparks while fighting scorpions and shaking trees to collect coals. Each time Ignis transfers energy to the totem, his life bar falls, so you'll need to strike the right balance between attack and discretion if you're to avoid a pointless death.

We loved Flame Keeper's combat system, that's both simple and satisfying. Ignis possesses a number of skills, like puncing, rushing to dodge or launch a quick attack, and special attacks unlocked by finding scrolls in the different levels.

Our favourite part? The Village Hub. Between levels you can go back to the village, which serves as the game's central hub. Here, Ignis can use the resources he's collected to upgrade his skills and unlock new abilities. Resources – like acorns, mushrooms, and seeds – can be obtained by exploring the levels or achieving optional objectives. The village is also where you can build and upgrade buildings that give you extra bonuses during the missions where you're defending the cauldron.

As for the gameplay, there are two different kinds of mission: collecting totems and survival levels. The totem collection missions have you finding and recharging the flame totems, while the survival levels see you protecting a cauldron against waves of enemies in an attempt to run down the clock. It adds a really cool tower defence dimension. You can position spikes that spring from the ground to damage enemies, or place allies in towers to rain down spears.

Flame Keeper is a great little rogue-lite game that combines combat, exploration, platforming, strategy, and even a little bit of tower defence elements, all in a visually appealing world. A spicy treat to savour without delay!