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Crofty Little Devil: Tomb Robber

I spotted Tomb Robber over at Indiegames.com yesterday and meant to post about it then, but something work-related distracted me. It was probably either Mickey Mouse, dragons or space-chickens because I have a very strange job. I've managed to focus on the entirely more sensible activity of artefact hunting now, with the demo of this flip-screen adventure. The full version isn't out yet but this early sample is accomplished. I don't think Tomb Robber has any anti-aliasing, but it's enough like the treacherous and superb La Mulana to deserve attention.

If you want to be a successful robber, don't shoot every snake and scorpion that gets in your way. Even if you hate them and their poison, it's almost certain that you'll hate the vomiting mummies more so save precious bullets to kill them. Again.

If you weren't expecting undead monstrosities then you really shouldn't have travelled all the way to the tomb. If treasure is buried near dead people, the dead people will wake up and greedily protect the treasure, even though they have no use for it. Filthy lucre, eh? Even if we can't take it with us, in some ways it often seems to take us with it.

The use of an extra button when reloading makes the revolver actually feel like a revolver. Actually, it makes it feel like there's an extra button to press on the keyboard to pretend you're opening up a revolver chamber, it's not really like holding and loading a gun at all, but it is a fun way to pretend to put bullets in a gun. Also in the plus column, my character's head came clean off at one point but because I had a first aid kit he tended his wounds and dived straight back into the tomb. Good man.

Tomb Robber is from the developer of The Crypts of Despair, which is condensed roguelike that I played years ago. I'd totally forgotten it existed. Play both!

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