If pressed to explore real-life dungeons, given 100 attempts, I’d surely die on levels two through four. If said dungeon’s levels involve puzzle solving as opposed to hacking and slashing, however, I could push well into the double digits. Such is the case with Dungeons of Dreadlock 2: The Dead King’s Secret.
This puzzle adventure is the sequel to Dungeons of Dreadlock, which I didn’t play. You don’t need to, either, although it’s only $1.99 at press time if you want to start there. If not, let’s say that was an adventure for another explorer. Here in The Dead King’s Secret, you’re a member of the Order of Flame, and you’re out to recover the Crown of Wisdom. It all sounds so noble, right?
It’ll be up to you to decide. The game offers a bit of a story with some decisions for you to make, but it’s mostly there to just push you from puzzle to puzzle, as it should be.
Gameplay centers squarely around the dungeon through which you’ll work on a level by level basis. Each level is a puzzle for you to solve or die trying. And you will die. A lot. But death is expected and OK, as you’re immediately whisked back to the start of the puzzle when it happens.
Each level is built on a grid that you traverse step by step. Any enemies on the level move freely, and you’re given various means to dispatch them: spears, a staff, etc. These come and go quickly, though, mostly leaving you just the ability to give enemies a good whack when they get too close. That won’t work on all of them, though, leaving you to manipulate their movements as you flip the right levers, trip the right floor plates, and find the right keys to progress.
Most puzzles give you time to survey the floor before starting, but that’s rarely enough to figure things out. Enemies move and attack in their own unique ways, so you have to learn how they move before you’re able to lure them out of your way. Step forward and die, then reincarnate and step in a different way. And because most of the levels involve obtaining multiple items or triggering numerous traps, you could end up dying on part three and have to start again at part one.
If it sounds frustrating, also consider that the puzzles get really hard as you progress. Actually, I found them quite difficult at the start, too, but that was more about me than the dungeons. It took a bit to sync up with the game’s general approach to puzzle solving.
Thankfully, there’s a built-in hint system to help when that happens. I admittedly relied on this quite often early on, less so once I began to understand things, then more so as the challenge ramped up. Occasionally, the hints were of little help. Those were the only moments when real frustration would set in.
A lot of Dungeons of Dreadlock 2: The Dead King’s Secret relies on expert timing. Even after you understand how the monsters move and where you need to coerce them in order to get past, you need to step carefully and quickly in order to keep them on track (and yourself out of harm’s way). As such, I often knew what I had to do, but just couldn’t do it…especially with the L-stick. You’ll definitely want to rely on the D-pad for precise movement, although that, too, was sometimes annoyingly finicky.
Also, some puzzles require you to retreat to an earlier level in order to open your path. This never gets too complicated, however, and the game will not let you move back a level if you don’t need to. That’s a great time saver, letting you know that you already have everything you need to progress.
Dungeons of Dreadlock 2: The Dead King’s Secret has an old school look to it that works well for the puzzles. Pay attention to the darker corners and cluttered floors to make sure you’re finding everything you need. The game could use more visual variety, but I guess you can’t always expect that from a dungeon. The music is fun, too. Until playing this game, I never realized just how much I need a musical cue for descending stairwells.
The greatest thing about Dungeons of Dreadlock 2: The Dead King’s Secret, though, is its bite-sized accessibility. You can play it in tiny bursts while travelling or waiting for the tortellini to finish boiling, or you can get hooked on its “one more level” nature for longer gaming sessions. The puzzles are set up to engage you either way, and with just over 100 to solve, that’s a committed engagement.
