Bard's Gold Review

Bard's Gold is a 2D platformer rogue-lite, inspired by classics from the 90s such as Rainbow Islands and Alex Kidd. From the opening menu alone, it seems clear that the developers have drawn from the stylistic hand drawn artwork we used to see coming from the Amiga in its day.

On the surface, it’s a relatively simple game - you (the titular Bard), must make your way through the randomly ordered levels, with the main goal of retrieving your gold from a goblin that stole it from you whilst you were out adventuring. However, when you start playing the game, you realise that it’s anything but simple.

Taking the bard into the castle is fraught with danger at every turn, even the slightest touch from an enemy or spike will send you to your death instantly forcing you back to the start of the room you're currently in, sans any power ups you’d gathered so far. Though it’s a hollow victory, as losing your power ups can make it incredibly difficult to progress further. You collect gems as you go, which is your currency to buy different weapons and items from the shop you can find in the levels to assist you in your goblin hunting. But it’s these same gems that are how you obtain more permanent upgrades, such as an extra life or more time to explore a room, however, you can only purchase these particular upgrades when it's game over. It becomes a bittersweet balance, deciding what items you need right now - against what you'll be upgrading once you've shuffled the last life from your mortal coil.

The early 90s aesthetics from the menu screen continue throughout, with sprites that mimic the pixel-art characters we're used to seeing by now. One criticism in this aspect, is that menus can feel disconnected from the game, as they appear to be rendered with a high-definiton font and graphics, something I think that could have been worked on to better blend in with the overall style that Bard's Gold is shooting for.

Audibly, the game is on par with other platformers, not really having anything specific in this regard that truly makes it stand out. It does it's job and just gets on with it. Though, the background music can get a little repetitive after a lengthy session.

Controls in Bard's Gold are great, with your character feeling responsive to input, making precarious jumps testing - but never leaving them infuriating. You know that it's your input that caused the problem, and not some odd physics that the game has thrown in, and that really appeals to the "one more quick go" factor on display here.

If you like the rogue-lite playstyle, or enjoy games like Rogue Legacy, then Bard's Gold is well worth dropping £3.99 on. I’ve paid more for games with less content before, so this is a great deal. It doesn’t bring much, if anything, new to the table, but it does bring an enjoyable and rewarding experience.