I must admit when I was first offered a key for In Woods, I was not enthused; the terrible title alone (which is also poor English to boot) did little to inspire my confidence, and honestly, I was not expecting to enjoy it one bit. Yet, its simplistic visuals, combat mechanics, and progression won me over, well, at least a little.
Don’t get me wrong; I have played many better action roguelikes than In Wood, but what impressed me the most about In Woods was that the developers did not promise it was the next big thing or price it like it was going to set the market on fire.
Image credit 13 Wood St - Published and developed by SE {} KS.
Instead, it’s presented as a game mostly comprised of asset store assets, with a simplistic yet consistent visual design, rudimentary progression, crafting and combat mechanics, and a very affordable price point, making it a decent game to play between other games.
While the movement on both mouse & keyboard and controller could use some work and a wider selection of maps and enemies would be nice, it’s less than $2, and I could spend more than that on a bag of Doritos, which, while tasty would probably provide less entertainment than In Woods, assuming I was eating them alone in a dark closet, and hugging a body pillow.
Image credit 13 Wood St - Published and developed by SE {} KS.
13 Wood St is a action rogue-like video game developed and published by SE {} KS, it was released on 1 October 2021 and retails for $1.99.
13 Wood St is available exclusively on PC.
The following peripherals are officially supported:
“In Woods” is the type of “barely above average” indie game p[powered by Unity Engine that I always enjoy playing.
While it’s not the biggest, best, or most feature-rich entry in a highly competitive genre, it is well-made, does what it claims to do, and is reasonably priced at $1.99.
Overall, it’s not going to win a Game of the Year award any time soon, and I would never recommend it over, say, Vampire Survivors or Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. However, fans of the action roguelike genre who have played everything else the genre has to offer or simply want a break from their main game will not feel disappointed playing In Woods, even if the experience will not ultimately be memorable.
