Guidus Zero, a Top-Down Roguelike, Debuts in Early Access

Steam’s Early Access has just welcomed a fresh addition to its lineup: Guidus Zero, a top-down dungeon crawling roguelike crafted by the indie South Korean studio Izzle.

In this game, you’re thrust into a world where endless war has left no true winner. Following the conflict, a massive chasm known as The Scar emerged, turning the central continent into a neutral zone. From The Scar seeps a mysterious substance called Black Blood that spawns twisted creatures. The origins of both The Scar and the Black Blood remain a mystery, as do the secrets hidden within its depths. This is where your adventure begins.

As you delve into The Scar, you team up with a diverse cast, venturing ever deeper while confronting foes tainted by the Black Blood. You’ll choose from a roster of characters, each boasting unique strengths and abilities. Combat is real-time with an interesting twist: both you and adversaries move across a grid, limited to the four cardinal directions.

When enemies prepare to strike, an exclamation mark signals the impending attack, and the targeted area on the grid lights up. Enemies employ varied attack patterns—some strike directly, others unleash long-range hits, and some target wide areas. Expect multiple adversaries at once, demanding quick reflexes to dodge their assaults.

Your movements also include a roll option that grants temporary invincibility but depletes your stamina. Since movement is restricted to non-diagonal directions, strategizing your rolls and steps is crucial to avoid getting boxed in by enemy attacks.

But dodging isn’t the whole battle; you’ve got to fight back too. Combat tactics change depending on your character choice. Before starting each run, you select a character and a trait. In true RPG style, defeating enemies earns you experience points, leveling up your character.

As you progress, you’ll unlock skills unique to your chosen trait, tailoring each run’s gameplay style. Although your level and skill progress reset after each run, the variation in strategy keeps it fresh every time.

Not every aspect resets, though. During your journey, you might stumble upon ore veins which, when broken, yield stones with distinct stats. These stones contribute to your overall character buffs. They can be equipped to retain their benefits beyond a single run. Stones left in your inventory transform into fragments, useful as currency or for crafting new stones through an NPC blacksmith.

Throughout your adventure, special rooms offer treasure chests containing artifacts. These artifacts grant unique buffs and accumulate elemental effects over time. When an artifact reaches five elemental stacks, it bonds with a corresponding spirit, unlocking powerful elemental attacks.

Bonding with spirits like Ignis, Atlen, Rathorus, Enryl, and Terrania brings a variety of elemental advantages—burning foes, slowing and freezing them, delivering shocks, enhancing speed, and petrifying enemies for added attack benefits.

Guidus Zero delivers that irresistible “just one more run” dynamic. While the stones offer lasting growth, the choice of character and evolving upgrades ensure each playthrough brings something new. If this piques your interest, Guidus Zero is out now in Early Access on Steam.

To celebrate the launch, there’s a 10% discount running until December 9th. While the game is eyeing potential Xbox and Nintendo Switch releases, no official announcements have been made regarding console availability yet.