Courier of the Crypts

WARNING! This is not a cute casual pixel indie game!
It is a hard survival, almost horror, game.
You must manage your resources, you can't kill everything.
You must avoid enemies and traps, solve puzzles and manage your torch fuel.
You will rage when you die 5 times in a row in some boss fight.
But it is quite satisfying when you finally finish a hard map.
The graphics, ambient sounds and music are awesome!
Buy it if this sounds interesting to you :)

Awesome game: atmospheric, immersive & challenging (but fair), with fantastic pixel-art & level design. My favorites are the hard to find artifacts and the even harder to find secrets = very rewarding.
It's hard to belive that this is a one-man-show...
10/10

I played the demo of this game a couple of times now and it's a great reminder of early Zelda games with lots of puzzles, exploration, creepy dungeon crawling and some fighting, of course. If you miss games like that or want your fix, this is a game for you.

<Disclosure - this game was provided free for review purposes>
Please note – this is a review of a game still in development; as such the content herein is subject to change as the quality of the game improves through early access feedback. This is merely an assessment of the game as it stands now.
Courier of the Crypts is a stellar throwback to golden age of SNES era gaming and is currently available in Steam early access. At present, the game offers roughly two hours’ worth of content and this could be stretched out a little if you plan on finding every secret. It looks great, sounds great and shows incredible promise – but at a fairly steep buy in price of £8.99, is it worth your time, and indeed cash in its current state? Let’s take a look.
Courier of the Crypts follows the journey of a nameless young courier as a routine delivery to the sacred crypts goes from bad to worse. Trapped in a living nightmare, surrounded by evil spirits with only a simple torch and his wits to keep them at bay, you must traverse the depths of the crypt and solve fiendish puzzles to discover the truth and return to the surface. Very little narrative is actually conveyed direct to the player, instead relying on hidden notes to flesh out the story and provide hints on where to find hidden treasures. There are occasional bouts of dialogue though these are few and far between – particularly as the story is still being implemented. While so far what little of the story I know of might not be groundbreaking, it’s enough to keep me interested and incentivises finding more hidden notes. One criticism however is the lack of interaction with the environment. With a solitary setting such as this, and very little dialogue, being able to inspect your surroundings and hear what the courier has to say about it would make exploration more engaging and enjoyable.
As far as gameplay is concerned, Courier of the Crypts would be best described as an exploration-puzzle game in a loosely similar vein to the Legend of Zelda (minus the combat). The game plays out in stages selected from a linear map like Super Mario World, this is slightly disappointing as I expected a sprawling interconnected over world with possible backtracking, but maybe I jumped the gun a little on that assumption. In any event, the level based design doesn’t detract from the game in any way, and I fully expect branching paths to make an appearance further into development.
The goal of each level is merely to reach the exit and proceed further into the crypts, and every step of the way you will be hounded by vicious spiders* , death-traps and puzzles. However, at all times you will require your torch to drive off enemies and find your way through the gloom. Darkness is a persistent threat and managing your light source is paramount, as when it runs out, it’s pretty much game over. The name of the game in COTC is conservation. Carefully managing your remaining ammo, torch levels and health is the key to success. By paying close attention to the environment, you can manipulate enemies into various traps, thus saving on precious ammo potentially needed to break down a wall leading to a secret area. Sadly, slain enemies don’t drop anything making fighting them all the less rewarding. For the most part they can be avoided altogether if you keep an eye on their path, of course this requires the torch to be kept on, and if you plan on exploring fully, you’ll run out of fuel before too long. There’s a careful balancing act involved in each level, but with all the secrets to find, and the fair challenge on offer, the game does a solid job of making each level fun and diverse.
Each level contains three hidden relics, as well as other gold and treasures – thus far there doesn’t seem to be a shop or merchant of any kind, nor do the acquired relics unlock anything. I don’t doubt that they will have interesting uses upon release, but at present, this is merely indicative of how little is actually there. Indeed, at the moment there isn’t even an inventory screen, and any acquired items are simply shown in the top right of the screen unable to be inspected. I would hope to see a proper inventory screen including item descriptions, as well as a running tally of discovered secrets and relics as the game proceeds through development.
Courier of the Crypt does a terrific job of establishing atmosphere, which is no easy feat in a retro styled game. It manages this through effective use of lighting and ambiance – both of which combine to create a genuinely eerie feel to some areas of the game. The retro pixel graphics are very nicely implemented and manage to remain, distinct and clear amidst the dark level design - the shading and lighting effects really make the crypts graphics shine through. The sound design is also incredibly competent featuring a number of fantastic compositions by Zdravko Djordjevic which were a joy to listen to. For the most part, levels have no music, instead featuring a cold ominous ambiance which highlights the sound effects of the courier’s footsteps and the creaking of old wooden doors. Again, the great sense of atmosphere really helps to realise the dark game world.
Overall, I greatly enjoyed the time I spent playing Courier of the Crypts, and was very disappointed that it ended as quickly as it did. With only six stages (as well as a fabled secret stage), there’s not a lot on offer, but while it may be in a semi-unrefined state, what little there is, remains incredibly promising, especially for the work on a single man. COTC has its share of problems such as some cheap deaths, infrequent checkpoints and poor English throughout much of the text, but those thirsting for a solid retro style adventure game need look no further. Upon release, COTC will be more than worth its asking price, and by buying in to early access, you have a chance to try it out early and provide feedback to help guide its future development. For all these reasons and more, Courier of the Crypts should stay firmly on your radar and is definitely worth a purchase in its current state.
Pros:
-Beautiful graphics and lighting effects
-Plenty of hidden secrets
-Great, eerie atmosphere
-Diverse enjoyable gameplay
Cons:
-Puzzles are pretty easy
-Combat isn’t rewarding
-Lack of interaction with the environment
Tentative Score: 8.5
*For the squeamish among you, there is an “arachnophobia filter” available in the settings menu which swaps the spiders for beetles…it’s not much better.
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The game has real heart and soul, you can see and feel it within seconds of starting the game.
The lighting is beautiful, the colour palette is fantastic and it doesn't just look good. The movement is smooth, no invisible collision at all. A + for game pad support!
As an indie game developer, it's a privilege and an inspiration to play such a cool game. I'm a huge fan of this art style and COTC keeps the art style consistently.

This game is really fun. The level are nice and the main concept of gameplay is cool ! I was afraid about this "light" management but all my fears drop off when i started playing. Everything is correctly explain and your feel comfortable to explore those caves at the light of a torch. Good job dev ! I recommend this game.

Courier of the Crypts is like Goonies meets Evil Dead, with evil crawling around every corner and demons trying to chew your face off. A poor helpless child is thrust into an impossible situation and its to up you to guide him to safety and find out whats going on. The only protection you have is the light and your wits. Your only ally a torch which is slowly fading, and keeping the monsters at bay. You do not want to know what happens when it runs out. Time is of the essence. Courier is needless to say, a very difficult game. Courier doesn't do much hand holding and throws you neck deep into its puzzles, which you must carefully navigate as you face nightmares trying to kill you. While you can kill some of the creatures that chase you, your resources to do so are finite, you must use them wisely and at precise moments otherwise find yourself lacking in a key pivotal moment. Overall Courier accomplishes in its themes and aesthetic. The dungeon feels dark, evil, and mysterious. Cobwebs hang and treasure shines as you make your way slowly forward looking for traps. All the while watching your pitiful light fade ever slowly away. With bosses, shops, and more features to be added to this already fun and challenging adventure game. I personally cannot wait to see what is it that awaits for our Courier and the nightmares that will be unleashed.
I made a video review to show off some of the features and gameplay of this game!
I hope you enjoy!
Martyr