Knock on the Coffin Lid is a fresh roguelike. The game combines interesting and thoughtful dialogues with RPG elements. RedBoon Studios – independent indie developers have brought Knock on the Coffin Lid to life. Developers devote all their free time to focusing their imagination and turning the concept into something cool and interesting.
In Knock the fight system is very seriously thought out, and here you have to calculate each of your attacks. The death of each character causes him to be reborn, and the quest begins anew. Your character has no items left and all experience is canceled. There is no such thing in other roguelike games. All you are left with from the last attempt are general reactions to events.
At the beginning of the game, we choose one of three characters who left this world prematurely. Each of the characters is very different from the others. The differences can be seen in the gameplay as well as in the story. Each character reveals a new side to Knock on the Coffin Lid and its storyline.
The very first character in K.O.T.C.L. was a Slavic-looking bearded man named Percival. We’ll start with him. Each character has several classes that change the style of the game.
With this character begins the whole story and the players immersion into the world of Median and the peculiarities of the gameplay. The first character is the one who understands less than the others what is going on around him. He is the one who introduces us to the world of the game. But don’t think that Percival is as simple as it seems at first glance.
Percival is immediately met by the mysterious Mortis with a predatory smile. Mortis boasts that he brought the character back from the dead for some purpose. But what was the purpose?
The game conceals intrigue and draws in the storyline.
When Percival is reborn again – he repeat these actions over and over again. In this way he reveals more and more of his essence. He says that he could not even imagine how much things had changed, and he has no idea of the dander that awaits him.
Percival’s mechanics will be familiar to players who have played card games before. You have a deck of cards consisting of a variety of abilities and effects. Each card costs a certain amount of energy that our hero has in reserve. You should plan your every move carefully, keep an eye on the enemy’s intent, and attack and defend at the right time.
Percival classes affect your abilities and tactics. Percival classes affect your abilities and tactics. The bearded man receives armor at the beginning of a fight. This class tries by all means to unleash power, which directly affects the damage dealt. What do I do if I run out of energy? Spend coins to get it all. But be warned, be careful – it’s a slippery slope: for every 100 coins received, Percival, will receive a curse card – Greed. A brave knight gains strength, dexterity, and energy when his health holds above 80%. The cards played by Percival are not shuffled when they return to the deck, so you can predict which cards you will receive. If you don’t get more than two attack, defense, or skill cards in a row, you get extra energy and health. A battle-hardened player has an immediate boost in energy. When the knight plays three cards of different types, one after the other, he reduces the cost of the cards. If Percival uses cards of the same type, the cost of the cards will increase. You need to be quite flexible and use a variety of cards to gain an advantage.
Percival is the character that introduces you to Knock on the Coffin Lid, but the game doesn’t stop there.
The most interesting part starts when you discover a new character. Elf Bjorn is already a completely different game experience. He is a Lycan, a werewolf who shares a body with a wolf spirit and suffers from bloodlust. A werewolf, expelled from elven society for indulging his beastly nature and enlisted in the service of the Lord of the Northern Gate. He hates his tribesmen and strives to rid himself of the werewolf curse. On the battlefield, he transforms into a huge wolf and tears his enemies to shreds. With this character, the player has to constantly balance between forms, as Bjorn in Lycan form, although he does a lot of damage, he gets a curse and loses health. He has to return to his normal form so he doesn’t lose control. But this also has its problems for the player – you have to pay for each attack with your health. The point of the gameplay and the story is to balance and not lose control. For the character, the developers have come up with equipment and other things that affect the game.
Except for moving around the world, all of its mechanics work differently. There’s no more energy for cards, and things to boost it just don’t come across. Bjorn casts abilities for his health. After taking damage five times in a row, he turns into a Lycan, which deals with enhanced attacks, applies special abilities, and is generally just a monster. In this state he plays cards: if the Lycan spends five in one turn, he calms down and turns back into the elf. Bjorn has no problems with health or resources, and he wins the battles that were a challenge for Percival without any difficulty. The Lycan guise gives huge advantages, but it also imposes penalties: the longer he’s in the guise of a beast, the more curses are thrown into his deck. If you drag out the battles too long and abuse your power, Bjorn will eventually die of his ailments. That’s why you have to win fights quickly and keep an eye on your health. In addition, spamming attacks are also not allowed: you should overdo the cards in werewolf mode, and Bjorn will calm down and turn back into an elf. This would deprive him of his power bonus and his ability to play special cards.
Our third Knock on the Coffin Lid heroine is the archer Vanadis. She appeared quite recently. Vanadis is a human who has dedicated herself to the service of the original spirits. She can summon wild beasts to her aid. The wild boar was the first beast Vanadis decided to tame on the advice of her mentor. The thick-skinned pet does not require much care or attention. Her story is shrouded in mystery, and she knows much more than the other characters. Here you will have to work hard and understand how it all works and interacts.
What role in all this played and still plays killed, but revived Percival, elf-werewolf Bjorn, and their companion Vanadis – this we have to find out in a lot of attempts.
Knock on the Coffin Lid is an excellent card rogue-lite with interesting gameplay ideas, a great visual style, and a rather unusual setting.
