One Step From Eden Demo Thoughts
Publisher: Humble Bundle, Maple Whispering Limited
Release Date: March 26, 2020
Platforms: PC and Switch
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I just finished playing the sneak peak demo included in the latest Humble Choice Bundle, as One Step From Eden just recently released, so I wanted to see how the game played. Just by viewing the trailer the game seems very fast-paced, as this is a rogue-like deck-building game with a side-scroll layout on a grid. Moving quickly around the grid with your character with the arrow keys on my keyboard is a little difficult to get used to at first, but soon I found my rhythm and I was dodging enemies with ease.
As a deck-builder, you get new spells with various characteristics that get shuffled each level and it’s your job as the player to manage your spell usage while at the same time dodging enemy fire trying to prevent your HP from hitting zero. This game clearly requires a lot of dexterity, but also patience to know which spells are available to use by looking at different parts of the screen all at the same time. That is the hardest part I found playing the demo, but with more hours and a longer game with the full game I have no doubt I would figure out how to manage my eyes on the screen. There are elements of Slay the Spire, like choosing your path between levels and also getting Artifacts that serve as passive buffs as you level up your player experience.
Overall, the One Step From Eden demo playthrough was a little over an hour for me, but I was definitely left with the feeling of wanting to play the full version to see how all nuances of deck-building come together in the end. I like the concept of the game, as it brings familiar elements from other popular games, but still creates a unique gaming experience I haven’t had before. This was a very well put together demo that clearly did its job!
