Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 review - “A satisfying puzzler that will occasionally drive you crazy”

• Incredibly satisfying when completing a puzzle
• Requires utmost precision
• Definitely not for the casuals

Back in ye olde days of 2022, I reviewed a little-known gem called Dungeons of Dreadrock, created by Christoph Minnameier. I am not the best at puzzlers, but I remember having an incredibly good time. So, when the sequel was announced, Dungeons of Dreadrock 2: The Dead King’s Secret, I was excited to continue my tricksy journey.

Dead King’s Secret runs parallel to the story of the original, complete with cameos from the original’s protagonist and their brother, as well as a delightful split-screen moment with the two. Our hero this time around is the priestess who provided the bloodstone in the original and then follows her journey from there to claim the mysterious Crown of Wisdom.

A rather captivating journey

Heading into the cavern under the watchful, and rather pragmatic, eye of the Holy Mother, whom you can converse with during campfire mediation, our Hero and this leader are arguably the two main characters, with a secret third popping up later, and it must be said even this small cast creates a gripping story. You want to keep playing to discover why the Holy Mother wants this crown above all else, and if your priestess can put aside her reservation and complete her goal.

Along with these shiny new characters come some more delightfully designed areas. Dreadrock has a rather simple graphical design, but it still manages to be incredibly appealing. This is great because you are going to be staring at it a lot as you try to solve the tricky puzzles. At least to start with.

A lot of diversity in the puzzles

We start with two skills: a magic staff that fires projectiles, and the ability to beat your target with that same stick. Throughout the adventure, your staff will change abilities, such as firing lightning or lighting fires. Smacking people is always fun, and I enjoy that your secondary ability changes - it adds some new mechanics to levels every so often.

There is enough variety to keep you coming back for more, including puzzles that require you to think across different floors, or ones with some insanely tricky solutions. Solutions that I am almost positive no one is going to come up with on their own. There is a level that involves an ogre, a fire trap, and an invulnerability potion - I am convinced nobody will be able to sus out the backward way you are meant to continue from there. 

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Luckily, Dreadrock has a very robust hint system, which borders on hilarious. It feels like you have a supportive friend with you who already completed the game. You start with gentle nudges towards the right path, but by the time you reach the last hint, your friend is saying, “Just give me the bloody controller” and it spells out the answer. I find it much funnier than it is.

You need to be on point

One of the main things you will pick up on with Dungeons of Dreadrock is just how much precision and speed play into things. Throughout the levels, you will contend with switches that need to be pressed at specific times, enemies that need killing at exactly the right spot, and moments where you need to get your movement perfect down to every single step.

It sounds quite frantic, and to be fair it can be, but when you pull it off it is incredibly satisfying. There are some incredibly brilliant puzzles in there that make you feel smarter than you ever have in your entire life upon solving them. I really enjoyed figuring out the pattern you needed to hit at those magic moments to continue.

It can be frustrating more often than it should be

Unfortunately, in one of those cases of complete and utter contradiction, the pacing is perhaps my biggest gripe. Imagine you are getting through a tricky puzzle with precise timing, and then one mistake throws you right back to the start. This by itself wouldn’t be an issue, but Dungeons of Dreadrock has some frustratingly slow enemies.

In particular, there is a long section of levels with puzzles involving these Golem-like enemies. When hit, they counterattack incredibly slowly and then take a step. Some of the puzzles have you moving these fellows incredibly far, and if you accidentally mess up, you have to lead these lumbering beasts all over again. It does grate on you pretty quickly.

The balancing is off on some levels

Another issue I touched on briefly before: some of the levels are just too difficult. If you aren't used to lateral thinking, you won’t get the solution. For that, the hint system is a godsend, but I found myself relying on it too much. By no means am I a puzzling genius, but I have gamed enough to know how these things work, yet some of the answers were just baffling. 

One final problem I found is that for something that relies on this much precision, the controls are a bit lacking. It is very inconsistent - equal times I either swiped to move and it didn't happen, I went another way, or I lightly brushed the screen by accident and my character jumped into the jaws of death. You also can’t swipe through your inventory, no matter how hard I tried to, which made one particular skeleton level the most irritating experience in a long while.