With the name of the Weekly Staff Picks, I kinda expected to see Warlock: Master of the Arcane...

Ziggurat is Heretic/Hexen: The Roguelite. I find it very enjoyable and a must get in this sale if you are interested.

Lichdom is a little meh. Cool to play for a while and cool graphics and all, but I'd get Ziggurat better. I got Lichdom at this price, but in a bundle, and I don't regret it. But again, it's not as good a game as Ziggurat. Not saying it's bad, but I think it looks way cooler than it really is, so I'd suggest to try/watch some videos before you buy. If you are interested, I don't think it's a bad price to get it for though, if you are OK with what the game really is.

tl;dr
Zigurat: must buy now, I loved it.
Lichdom: I liked it, and it's a good price to get it, but make sure you like the game you are getting.

I like it. If you like the genre, I don't think you'd regret getting it, specially at this price.

Nice visuals, linear, repetitive enemies - they get various new abilities in later chapters though to keep things a bit fresh. Confusing spell crafting system, took me one or two chapters to have some idea what I was doing, but when you figure it out it is makes some sense. Random drops of spell components turned out to not be a problem, with the quantity you are almost guaranteed to get something close to what you need (if you don't avoid the optional challenges).

Not an AAA game, but I've seen worse. Bought it for launch price 15.99 and didn't regret it, lasts for quite a few hours of mindless fun.

I was looking for a reason to get Ziggurat. Thanks!

Sure. It's ugly, has a terrible interface, it's a Flash (Adobe AIR) game, and the Linux version is conspicuously absent from GOG. However, the important part - the gameplay - is enjoyable (like Fire Emblem), and the story isn't insultingly bland (unlike Fire Emblem). There's a demo available here.


So, uhm, Linux version when, GOG?

I wasn't able to play very much of Lichdom because it makes me a bit motion-sick (many FPP games do), but I enjoyed what I did play of it. Husband liked it too. Seemed a bit thin on story, but I didn't get very far. One point in its favor, you can play as either male or female (you're mostly going to be seeing hands on the screen, but still it's appreciated).

I did OK with keyboard, seems to do nicely with controllers as well. For a company that started with mobile & card games, they did a pretty good job. I'm not trying to damn it with faint praise, either. It's no AAA game, but it's a respectable shooter, and whatever their next game is, I expect it to be even better.

On a personal note, they are really nice people. A lot of their team is now working on another game and, by sheer coincidence, moved into an office in the same building where my husband works. These folks are worth your support as a company.

It's a fun game, but best played in short bursts - 1 or 2 hours at a time . It's also quite linear, so taking long breaks from it won't affect the game per se as much.

It's a turn-based game of optimization/attrition with a lot of randomness and a lot of trap options.

You get your pick of character (initially, only one is available) and god (unlockable during the game for future playthroughs -- not much of a pick since most are traps). Then you open adjacent cells on a grid, one (or more) at a time, looking for the exit, which you can then take to reach the next level. The goal is to reach the end buffing yourself up in the process (characters don't level up permanently) and beat the boss.

The way to buff up is to kill monsters, find items, and use healing hearts while at full health. Because of the latter, you're often encouraged to keep monsters alive, but several unkilled monsters' abilities can combine to make them essentially unkillable (or very expensive to kill).

Money accumulates between attempts and can be spent on permanent minor bonuses in the lobby and one-time items in the dungeon.

A lot depends on luck: the availability of good items (stun on both hands, regen and armor), useful consumables, discovering/not discovering monsters and traps, hitting monsters and them missing you back.

The rune system is absolute ass. Runes are found in the dungeon and persist between playthroughs until you use them. Because each character equips runes in a particular fixed order, and the runes have rarity, and you're usualy playing your best character (your only character, or the one you handle best, out of two), there are never enough of them to matter. Also, punishingly long and specific rune combinations can be spent to impose additional restrictions on the next playthrough in exchange for a score multiplier (then the restriction is gone and the multiplier is gone and the runes are gone. Wtf.

Despite all this, I spent 20 nearly hours playing the game, but I also played MIcrosoft Solitaire for hours, so there.

I can disagree with only one thing: controller support. This game needs a lot of quick and precise long-range aiming, and for some time it was the sole occupant of my AVOID_CONTROLLER tag. Maybe if you play melee mage with nova as main damage shape, it could sort of work. For people who like to explode enemies from distance, save yourself the pain and use plain old keyboard and mouse.

Nothing for me from this weekly deal .

Best Price Yet:
99 Levels to Hell (52% to 80% off) - Hasn't been in a good sale in a long time - 50% Dec 2014
Telepath Tactics (40% to 50% off)

Ziggurat matches its best (70% off)

All other games have been available for less in the past

Ziggurat is a lot of fun! Basically it's like Heretic but with randomized rooms. It plays similar to Tower of Guns, but you can use up to 4 weapons instead of one. I'd definitely recommend it!