Cryptmaster crosses typing with dungeon-crawling and it’s the combination I never knew I needed.
I’m old enough to remember a time when you could buy typing tutor programs on disc to help you learn to use a keyboard like a champ. Long gone are those days, but there are more modern titles that take the idea of typing words quickly and gamify it. The Typing of the Dead is a great example, whilst the more recent Outshine isn’t without its charms. Cryptmaster is something altogether more impressive to my mind. Typing quickly is certainly a benefit, but it’s not the be all and end all here. Smart use of words, riddle solving, and well-thought out responses are well rewarded, and you can be sure the wordy amongst you will have a good time.
Being an RPG means that Cryptmaster has a story, although it felt somewhat perfunctory for most of the play time. You play as four ancient heroes, returned from their eternal slumber by the titular Cryptmaster, who wants you to assist him in reaching the surface, far above the forgotten mausoleum in which your corpses reside. Whilst there is reference to this made throughout the story, you’ll have a more enjoyable time focusing on the characters you’ll meet along the way. Below-average bards, History-obsessed heiresses, and the Cryptmaster himself all have something to say, often with hilarious dialogue. And brilliantly, you’ll have something to say too.
Your zombified charges don’t have a great vocabulary, being dead and such, so you very much take charge of any and all words that will be spoken. Often characters will speak to you, expecting a response, but rather than have a list of sentences to choose from, you can type in a single word response to them, and most of the time the game will have something lined up to answer you. You’ll be asked to create a rhyme, and the person speaking to you will put your word into a sentence to continue to. When asked to destroy something, your method will get a different response depending on your choice. Even just speaking to an empty room, you’ll get a reply from the Cryptmaster that will frequently be related to your word. I typed in “Trump ” at one point, and was told that the dead aren’t too fussed about politics. It’s very well done.
This wordplay ties into pretty much every element of Cryptmaster. Combat is driven by it and takes place in real time, with your heroes having cooldowns after each word. Type “hit”, and your warrior will strike a blow, whilst “sing” will have your bard reset their allies cooldowns.
It’s a simple system that has more depth than you might think due to some enemies having abilities such as becoming more powerful or taking additional damage if you use a word containing a certain letter. Some have armour that requires breaking at the right point in combat, encouraging you to hold back specific characters until you need them. Combat could become dull if you keep throwing out the same words, so these curveballs were nice inclusions.
As the game goes on, your characters will have access to an increasing array of attacks, which keeps things interesting too. Defeating enemies, solving riddles, and opening chests gives you letters which are added to your characters’ current hidden word. If you can figure out that word and type it in at any time, you’ll unlock that ability to use later in the game. This is also how you level up. Complete enough words for a character and you’ll get to increase their health by adding a letter to their name. The Cryptmaster even tries to pronounce the new name before getting frustrated if it’s too silly. It really is impressive how much this game stretches out such a simple concept.
Beyond this great feature though, Cryptmaster is something of a by the numbers grid based dungeon crawler. You’ll move from tile to tile all the while fighting monsters and opening chests – which also lead to their own word puzzles – whilst occasionally engaging in simple side quests. There’s even a collectible card game and a fishing system. If it weren’t for the word-play and excellent characters and dialogue then this wouldn’t be all that impressive. It’s really a testament to what a unique system can do to elevate a game.
There’s some real challenge here in places too. The combat can get tricky if you use your most powerful abilities too frequently, as they use up a resource that needs replenishing by completing riddles or fighting enemies. You can get yourself in a real tough spot if you over extend yourself early into an exploration. This is exacerbated by the save points being few and far between. A warping system allows you to get around quickly, but sometimes you can be exploring for a while before discovering the next fast travel point, leading to some lost progress if you’re unlucky. Some of the word challenges are really tough too, requiring some genuine thought, and maybe a piece of paper for pawing through clues and sketching maps.
Tying the whole package together is a great artstyle and soundscape. The black and white visuals are used to great effect, and give out a lot of personality in both environment and character. Major players in the story ooze personality and each has a thoroughly memorable look. This is helped by wonderful voice acting. I don’t think I heard a single character that wasn’t voiced wonderfully well. A big shout out to the increasingly exacerbated voice of the altars that you keep on messing with. The script is filled with very British humour too, something which I very much appreciated.
With all this praise, it’s worth noting that Cryptmaster is absolutely aimed at a very specific audience. If you aren’t into wordplay and riddle solving, then the RPG elements alone won’t carry this for you. I feel what it sets out to do is accomplished very well though, so if the idea piques your interest, then you can likely dive into this and expect a fun time. I can’t spell it out any more clearly.
Cryptmaster is available now on PC.
