In mid-Might, I boarded a cross-Atlantic flight from Paris to New York Metropolis. I placed on my podcasts, opened up my telephone, and proceeded to play Dungeon Clawler for about seven hours straight.
It is a suggestion.
Dungeon Clawler is mainly Slay the Spire with a claw machine. Within the roguelike/deckbuilder, you play as Sir Bunalot, an unlucky playing bunny who has misplaced a hand to a card shark — actually. The shark in query is the dungeon boss, and your hand (properly, paw) is changed with a mechanical claw.
As you progress via the dungeon, you combat baddies by pulling gadgets from the claw machine. It begins easy, with daggers and shields, and rises in complexity as you may select from a random collection of rewards so as to add to the machine after every battle. A run takes about 40 minutes to finish, however dying sends you proper again to the beginning, your upgrades wiped and your claw machine reset.
The synergies don’t fairly rise to the extent of madness you may obtain in Slay the Spire, however they’re typically satisfying and tactile. For instance, you will get a power-up that fills that claw machine with water. This causes picket or plastic gadgets to drift, and steel ones to sink. It’s possible you’ll randomly be rewarded with a shower bomb that adjustments the water to poison, or to lava that does hearth injury. Or maybe you cease by the transmutation room to show your steel gadgets into plastic — or your plastic gadgets into steel, with the intention to make the most of a magnet that pulls in steel gadgets. And so forth, and so forth.
It’s also possible to unlock further characters with their very own distinctive claws and skills.
Having performed, conservatively, a ton of Dungeon Clawler, I can say that the sport’s opening ranges can really feel like a slog, relying on what character you’re enjoying, and what rewards you get. I significantly struggled with a personality referred to as Felina, who has a pet cat that basically acts like spikes, doing return injury each time Felina will get harm. It felt like I wasn’t increase power shortly sufficient to get via battles.
Then again, I thrived with the lovely Depend Clawcula, who can’t use any gadgets that block injury, however can heal himself by doing injury. I used to be in a position to make a wacky power construct with Clawcula that had me (I assume actually) chewing my manner via enemies.

As a rule I loved the method of filling my machine and discovering the suitable steadiness of things in order that I might reliably seize what I needed with out getting a claw-full of junk. I’ve continued enjoying it after escaping the airplane, regardless of the siren name of infinite video games like Warframe or my beloved Sawayama Solitaire. I’m nonetheless unlocking characters and claws.
One factor I respect is that Dungeon Clawler permits you to unlock new characters even in the event you haven’t accomplished your preliminary run because the beginning character, Sir Bunalot. After a pair failed preliminary runs with Sir Bunalot, I used to be in a position to discover a few of the weirder characters and proceed to get a really feel for the sport. I bought my first win and got here again to Sir Bunalot later.
Additionally value noting: Dungeon Clawler is a one-time buy of $4.99 on Steam, iOS, or Google Play with no microtransactions or adverts. The synergies are enjoyable, the artwork type is pleasant, and I believe my playtime speaks for itself.