Part 1 (Sep 2023) · #21 of 35 in that tierWatch the moment (0:28:06)
Crypt of the NecroDancer
- Developed by
- Brace Yourself Games
- Published by
- Brace Yourself Games, Klei Entertainment
$14.99
Crypt of the NecroDancer is an award winning hardcore roguelike rhythm game. Move to the music and deliver beatdowns to the beat! Groove to the epic Danny Baranowsky soundtrack, or select songs from your own MP3 collection!
Consensus
A79.5/100
Steam players95.5% positiveOverwhelmingly Positive26,527 reviews
Metacritic ↗87/100Users: 7.8/10
OpenCritic ↗87/100
VG Insights estimate ↗≈1.7M copies · ≈$13.1M gross
What creators say
Ranked Jun 2023 · #3 of 17 in that tierWatch the moment (0:47:25)
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What players say
A hardcore roguelike dungeon crawler where every move and attack must be made on the beat of the music, by Brace Yourself Games with a soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky.
Critics and players both treat it as an inventive genre fusion and a modern indie classic: 87 on Metacritic and OpenCritic, and 95.5% positive across about 26.5k Steam reviews (Overwhelmingly Positive). The soundtrack, tight beat-based movement and the amount of unlockable characters and items get near-universal praise. Reception is tempered by a steep learning curve, a brutal late game (only about 8% of Steam players finish the final zone) and complaints about a long tail of paid DLC. It left Early Access in April 2015 and has been supported since with the Amplified expansion (2017) and the Synchrony DLC (online multiplayer and modding), so it is not abandoned.
Players love
- Soundtrack by Danny Baranowsky is called one of the best in games; reviewers say there is no weak track, and you can also play to your own MP3s
- The rhythm-plus-roguelike fusion is seen as genuinely innovative, turning turn-based dungeon crawling into something frantic and tactile
- Enemy movement patterns are learnable, giving a Souls-like mastery loop: players say it is deeply satisfying once it clicks into a flow state
- Large roster of characters with different rules (Aria, Bolt, Dove, Coda and others) and many modes gives huge replay value
- Good value at $14.99 for a game with a huge roster of characters and modes; the Amplified expansion is described by fans as adding a lot of content
- Clever, inventive bosses and enemy design; clean, readable pixel art
- Good for short sessions and quick runs; some players with ADHD say it suits brief bursts
- No Beat Mode and broad accessibility options give an on-ramp for people unsure about rhythm play
Common complaints
- Very steep difficulty spike: early enemies and mini-bosses can kill in one or two hits, and Zone 4 and All Zones are a wall for many players
- The beat system is rigid and leaves little room for flexibility, so one mistake can cascade into death
- Some reviewers find the roguelike layer repetitive: the loop wears thin and enemy variety is low (many reskinned skeleton variants)
- Bosses are sometimes called gimmicky rather than threatening
- Heavy 100% completion demands: a few achievements and harder characters are described as near-impossible
- Some players report desync between visuals, audio and input that makes timing feel off on certain setups
- Item and inventory UI can be unclear: items are hard to identify by name and weapon damage is not shown
- Damage feels inconsistent and unforgiving: a perfect run can collapse to a single ranged hit that removes half your health
Can feel tedious
- Dying repeatedly in the first zone for new players before the timing becomes instinctive
- Repeating zones 1-3 just to get a fresh attempt at Zone 4, then relearning them at 3 hearts in All Zones mode
- Completionist grind: a handful of very hard achievements, and 100% is described as a huge time sink
- Constant DLC upsells: some longtime owners are annoyed by repeated DLC promotion and the count of paid add-ons
- Music can wear on some players, and a few find the rhythm requirement stressful or ill-suited to ADHD or weak rhythm
- Frequent in-game popups and prompts pushing tips and DLC, which some players find annoying
What's unique
- Everything moves on the beat: enemies, traps and the player are all locked to the soundtrack, with a beating-heart UI
- Score multiplier system tied to staying on beat, with coins rewarding rhythm consistency
- Bring your own music: custom MP3s generate beats for levels
- No Beat Mode and several characters that change the rules (for example single-heart or bard-style restrictions), so it is effectively many games in one
- Composed by the Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac composer, making music the core mechanic rather than decoration
- Spawned crossovers and spinoffs (Cadence of Hyrule, Rift of the NecroDancer) and a large modding scene
Players want
- Better explanation of items, scrolls and weapon stats in the UI and a gentler onboarding for non-rhythm players
- More enemy variety and less reliance on palette-swapped skeleton and shield enemies
- More meaningful hub/shop unlocks beyond mostly new loot in chests
- Rebalance the hardest characters and the late-game zones, which many players call a wall
- Make online multiplayer and mod support part of the base game instead of paywalling them in Synchrony
- Smaller, cheaper DLC bundling; reviewers dislike the number of separate paid add-ons
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
RhythmFemale ProtagonistDifficultRogue-likeGreat SoundtrackPixel GraphicsDungeon CrawlerIndieMusicLocal Co-Op
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
Crypt of the NecroDancer is a top-down dungeon crawler roguelike where every action must be made on the beat of the music. PepperHead, a drummer himself, was excited to play it but admits he is bad at it after three separate attempts over the years. He respects the design and is glad a rhythm roguelike became so successful, but it is too demanding and skill-based for him personally. He lands it at low B, explicitly refusing to drop it to C.
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