Lately I have noticed how more and more games are opting for a more -let’s call it rough- aesthetic over the more polished and hyper realistic graphics of triple A games. There are games like Big Walk or Peak that go for a nice mix of semi realistic and goofy cartoony graphics. And then… There is Blood Dungeon. (Queue the drum and bass)

I don’t think these games choose this type of graphics because of budget or time reasons. I’m sure these aspects were part of the conversation, but they are a clear style choice made by the developers to suit what the game is trying to do.

A lot of games inside the new ‘Friend Slop’ genre tend to take this route. In part because making a hyper realistic game like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 takes a lot of time for an indie studio -though, we’ve seen it’s still possible- but they do so more because it fits the purpose of the game.

The purpose of games like Peak, Content Warning or Big Walk is not to wow you with the amounts of polygons and details on the wrinkled face of the protagonist. Their purpose is to create an environment where the interactions between the players and the world itself take the spotlight. And what best way to do that but with goofy little guys doing goofy little things together in a sort of goofy little world.

We’ve recognized that games like Clair Obscur are going for a cinematic approach, while games like Big Walk are going for a more lighthearted social focus, so… where do games like Pizza Tower or -my inspiration for this article- Blood Dungeon belong?

I think sometimes we, the gaming community, get wrapped up in debating why a triple A game with ultra high graphics is better than a pixelated indie game, or vice versa, and along the way we forget that the point of games is to just have fun, whatever that looks like. If it looks like the beautiful cinematic world of The Last of Us or like the Microsoft Paint dreamscape that is Blood Dungeon, it makes no difference as long as you are having fun.

Messhof, the developers of Blood Dungeon, understood from the very beginning that it doesn’t matter if you are literally controlling a flapping rectangle -the way you do in Flywrench– as long as you have fun doing it. Most of their games are deceptively ‘simple’ in the sense that they tell you what the game is about up front, but they hide complex systems and interactions behind a mask of pixelated graphics and stylized environments.

Their latest release, Blood Dungeon, follows along in this trend. The premise is simple, this is a Vampire Survivors roguelike platformer where the point is to run around and stay alive for as long as possible while you collect blood to gain upgrades. Simple. But the vibe of the game is a whole different story.

I think IGN host Brian Altano described the vibes of the game perfectly on the Beyond! podcast:

“[the game] is like someone is torrenting music on LimeWire while drawing on Microsoft Paint.”

From the moment you boot up the game and you get pooped out of a ceiling butthole -no, I am not joking- paired with the dreamlike drum and bass, it is very clear that this game is going for some very specific vibes. And I’m into it.

I remember looking at screenshots and gameplay of this game on the podcast and thinking that it looked absolutely hectic and hideous. But now, after 20+ hours of playing it… I get it.

The jumble of ugly sprites and insane drum and bass create a vibe that I find hard to compare to any other game. The fast and surprisingly responsive controls make running around like a little freaky baby wielding a magnum the most fun I’ve had in a good while.

Lately I find myself reaching for my gaming handheld and playing a run of Blood Dungeon every time I have some minutes to spare. Something about the game’s simplicity and straightforwardness demands your attention. I also believe that a game so clearly human made stands out from the sea of AI slop art that is starting to infect all areas of our digital lives.

Games like Blood Dungeon, Big Walk and Pizza Tower all fit this description. In a time where AI and robot made content is sloped out of data centers, not to entertain us, but purely to capture our attention and get a reaction out of us, it’s these sort of games that are so very clearly human that fill me with joy and wonder.

And they don’t do that by having the prettiest graphics or running at 120 frames per second, they do it by embracing the rough edges and trusting that we -the players- will learn to embrace them too for the sake of having some fun.

So the next time you see an indie game with rough looking graphics going for $2.65 on Steam, maybe give it a chance before looking for another 100+ hour movie like game. You might just end up having some fun along the way. Go download music from LimeWire while drawing shitty doodles on Microsoft Paint.

Don’t actually go download music from LimeWire. I don’t even know if it exists anymore or if you’ll know what LimeWire is, but if it still exists, better stay far away from it.

If you are interested in Blood Dungeon there is a free demo on Steam that I strongly recommend checking out just for fun. Check it out HERE.