Crystalmancers PAX East Preview: Tetris Goes Rogue

I got to play a lot of games at PAX East, and all of them were pretty creative. But arguably the most creative was Crystalmancers, taking notes from Tetris and mixing them with a Roguelike twist. It was one of those games that feels a little odd, but once you start playing, you don't want to stop.

It's got some obvious additional inspirations, like Slay the Spire, but it still strives to be its own kind of game. The utilization of Tetris-like gameplay really grabbed me, and the pixel art style lent itself really well to the calm mind game that's going on while you play.

It'll be a long while before we're able to get more hands-on with more of the game, but what's there currently is really promising. I'll be covering a lot of how the game works, along with some of my thoughts on what exactly made the game so solid.

What Even is Crystalmancers?

Crystalmancers is a Roguelike Tetris-style game that focuses on moving between floors of a dungeon as you do battle with various monsters, upgrade your pieces, and buy items to enhance your run. It's all about getting as far as you can while also getting a higher score than your last run.

To break it down, you'll choose a character to play as, granting you two abilities before you enter the dungeon. Once inside the dungeon, you'll choose which rooms you'd like to enter and eventually face off against the floor boss. It's your pretty basic Roguelike setup, where you'll have some randomization on things you run into and what kind of items are available for you to build around.

Combat consists of playing a game of Tetris, except the pieces can be placed virtually wherever you like, and there's no time limit, so no need to worry about your blocks landing somewhere you don't want them to. Since you can put them wherever you like, there is the option to form a spot where you can Perfect Fit a block to do a ton of damage in one go.

Every line you clear does a bit of damage, with combos for each consecutive clear doing even more damage. You aren't just competing against yourself, though, as the monsters you fight will fight back. They can add in a new row of blocks, remove certain blocks, or shift things around on you. It can get out of hand quickly if you aren't thinking too carefully about what you're doing.

Beyond combat, you can enchant your blocks to have them clear lines that aren't finished when you clear another line. You can also add blocks to the pre-made shapes, giving you a lot of freedom to do what you want. It's a great way to change up some of the block types you may not like and make them more useful, especially if they're enchanted.

An Old Idea with a Brand New Spin

While there have been a lot of games emulating Tetris over the years, it's rare to see one take such a well-known game type and flip it on its head. From the way you place blocks to being able to change pieces, the game offers some pretty interesting changes to a formula that's been established since games first began.

Enchantments and items really add some depth to being able to play around with your style and give you a reason to maybe switch things up. You can also use them to lean more heavily into the style you want to play if you manage to get those items, of course. Some of these things could change drastically when playing with other characters, but that just adds to the fun of it.

The best part about this game is that, at its core, it is incredibly simple. It isn't a game that looks to be intentionally obtuse, but rather one that wants you to have an understanding almost right off the bat. It felt intuitive, but also never felt too simple either. You're competing with yourself, but also against those enemies, and that adds an interesting layer to the gameplay.

A Look at What's Coming in the Future

I took a bit of time and spoke to the developers about some of the upcoming additions they have in the pipeline while preparing for a release sometime in 2027. You can read that list below:

• The early access version will have players traverse 3 fully randomized floors in the dungeon, with each act having unique enemies, loot, mystery rooms, and ending with a boss.
• The early access version will have 7 playable characters, roughly 50 relics (passive items), roughly 30 artifacts (active items), roughly 30 glyphs (the engravings on your pieces), roughly 24 unique rooms to explore, and 5 bosses.
• The game will retail for $8 in early access, with a price bump to $10 when it's fully launched.

Luckily, if all of this sounds interesting to you, the game should have an available demo out soon. You can find that on Steam or stay up to date on everything coming by jumping into their Discord.

The worst part about this game right now is absolutely having to wait to play more. It's a fun and simple title that virtually anyone can play, but it still offers various ways to express skill. I do not doubt that Crystalmancers will be an excellent game, and I, for one, can't wait to get my hands on it again.