Denial

Sometimes called “dungeon crawlers” or “roguelikes,” these titles offer a mix of exploration, gathering, and fighting opponents. Thanks to some talented modern VIC programmers, we've got some excellent recent games from this genre to enjoy.


Demons of Dex Demons of Dex High Scores
4320 …… R'zo

Exit Plan Z Exit Plan Z High Scores
5861 …… hasseapa
5162 …… Ola H

Realm of Omari Realm of Omari High Scores
2180 …… akator
1480 …… hasseapa
0680 …… R'zo
0510 …… Ola H

Serpent Caves Diamond Count
16 …… hasseapa
24 …… R'zo
32 …… akator
All 4 games are in the ZIP file.

• PRG: Demons of Dex, Realm of Omari
• D64: Exit Plan Z
• TAP: Serpent Caves Retro Edition

As always, your posted scores will be added to this first post. Play, discuss, have fun! And remember:

hasseapa wrote:... posting in the old threads should be encouraged. Old players can update their score, new players can post scores, and anyone can leave comments on the games.

I've never played Realms of Omari so I decided to start with it. I gave it a test run. It has a very interesting setup from what I can tell so far. It almost feels like Dark Chambers with a twist of Dig Dug.
I'm flying some what blind here though. Is there any documentation on the game? What is the objective? There are no in game directions. It loads strait up to the game screen.


I have only so far been able to beat Exit Plan Z in Mostly Harmless. I have not beaten it on Relatively Difficult or heard of anyone who has. I am curious to know if anyone can.

Most of what I know about Realm of Omari is from the 2010 MiniGame Compo thread here on Denial:

Find your way through the Realm of Omari and restore the ankhs that once belonged to him.

Joystick to move in all directions. Collect gold for points. Crush bats with rocks or lure them to the flooding water to get more gold.

Find the ankhs which are hidden somewhere below the third level. Ankhs reward 1000 points + an extra life + you get magically teleported to the next cave.

There's also a page for the game at pouet.net but it doesn't provide much info.

As for Exit Plan Z, so far I haven't been able to get past level 4 on even the easiest setting

You forgot to mention Aleksi Eeben's Whack and Chris Pressey's Dungeons of Ekileugor . Oh, and Ultima: Mt. Drash, if we can count this inexpensive gem as a dungeon crawler.

I am finding Realms of Omari to be a lot of fun and very challenging. I can't seem to score more than about 200 points. Or get past level 1. Any one else out there having any better luck, Or advice on strategy?

It is deffinately a unique game, I have never played anything quite like it.

I will probably give it a couple more nights of play and move on to dex. It is my personal favorite during goon crawler for the vic and second favorite rpg next to Realms of Quests III.

How's everyone else doing out there? This month doesn'the seem to have a whole lot of input so far.

orion70 wrote:You forgot to mention Aleksi Eeben's Whack and Chris Pressey's Dungeons of Ekileugor . Oh, and Ultima: Mt. Drash, if we can count this inexpensive gem as a dungeon crawler.

Mt. Drash deffinately counts. Thanks for the mention on the other 2, I had never heard of them befor. I will have to track them down and and give them a try after this challenge. All though whack looks a little unimpressive for what I would expect from Aleski, but I will have to try it out before I commit myself to that opinion.

In Realm of Omari I sweep back and forth to expose everything and grab what I can. I don't take many chances. If an opportunity is easy to kill a bat with flood, I've done that a few times and collected the gold. I haven't managed to kill a bat with a rock yet and haven't figured out how to do that without killing myself as well.

My high far was in the 700s but the score disappears with game over so there's pretty much no way to take a screenshot. I just played it again and got 560 and still couldn't get a screenshot before the score disappeared

The Dig Dug reference makes Realms of Omari seem very intriguing to me Unfortunately I'm very busy at the moment, so there is very little chance I will be able to try all the games this month. But when there is time I will probably start with Realms of Omari.

akator wrote: I haven't managed to kill a bat with a rock yet and haven't figured out how to do that without killing myself as well.

The easiest way i'very found so far...
The bat has to be a few spaces directly below a rock.
Get to the space directly above the bat.
Immediately run up towards the rock (if you hesitate a second the bat will jump you).
When you hit the rock side step and the rock will fall on the pursuing bat.

It'seems still pretty risky but works for me about 80% of the time.

I got caught up playing Realm of Omari last night and forgot to sleep

I've gotten better at occasionally dropping the rocks on a bat, and I love to loose a flood and wait for the gold to pile up as it overtakes the bats. Most of the time I use the rocks to block my trail from aggressive pursuit by bats.

After hours of practice I can easily get through level one with only losing a single life. That is regularly between 700-800 points, then a thousand point bonus for completing the level. But level 2 usually eats the rest of my lives.

That is, unless I use save states. With cheating I've made it to level 4 but I can't get past that. The speed picks up so much and the higher number of bats make it like a frenzied arcade game. There are parts of of level 4 that I've replayed a dozen times before getting through, only to die again.

Because the levels are generated procedurally as you play, there really isn't any way to replay exactly the same level for memorization and pattern strategies.

I definitely like this game. It has been a while since a game kept me up playing all night.

Realms of omari... high score so far: 520points @ level 2.
The more you play this game the more addictive it gets. I'm having a hard time putting it down. Omari is quickly earning a place in my favorites list.

I had a quick go at Realms of Omari. 420 points and have yet to beat level 1. I love maze digging games so I will definitely return to it. A lot of depth (literally and figuratively) for a 1K game

Realms of Omari...

I hit level 3 with 680 points befor I died. I never received a level bonus. I hit level 2 around 250 points and 3 around 600. I think I need to move on to another game now but this will definitely receive more future play.

2180 on Realm of Omari is the best I've been able to do without cheating with save states. Death on level 2.
But even with save states, I can't do better than this:
Obviously, the higher score with save states doesn't really count

As best I can figure it, the 1000 point bonus at the end of each level is from not losing a life?

Had another go at Realm of Onari and this time I decided to descend as quickly as possible without trying to collect every piece of gold. It still took me forever to get to the first Ankh. I did not pick it up at once as I began to wonder if it was possible to scroll it out of view - and then suddenly my last man was caught by a bat...

I may have passed other Ankhs along the way and perhaps it is better to examine every inch/char of the area before descending further?

Anyway, I like the game a lot and it feels very much like a puzzle/arcade game with simple control but rather complex inner game logic. As I am a sucker for smooth and colorful arcade action, I obviously think it still could be very much improved (but of course not within the current 1K limit).

I also took a quick glance at Exit Plan Z and once again I was pleasantly surprised by its simple control and arcadey nature. I like the memory/darkness mechanic (nicely isolated by Jeff’s It Came From The Grave) and the quick reaction requirements of the battles. I only had a very quick go but it seems like a very good score competition game. I won’t have the time right now, but I may post a score in this thread long after this month has expired.

As of now, my first concern it to test the other two games.