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Specific tags for the title's features

Ranking

Similarity & Review

Review

Multiple Sources

Similarity

Compared to VS. Not a review!

Similarity Scale

Percentage of possible points earned scored -1 to 1 in tenths in 60 categories

Genre Controls Modes Progress Builds Stages Content Aesthetic Vibe
[edit]

Grim Horde

Abandoned EA Free Available

A summoning survivors-like that unfortunately never "made it past the concept stage" according to one steam reviewer I agree with. Contrasting it with Boneraiser Minions which is a zippy and fun game full of content, it's an unfortunately also ran. There's some nice aesthetics and animations, but the gameplay is unfortunately quite slow and feels just too non-interactive, even for an auto battler. I hope the devs try again with a different project and in some ways I respect them for feeling it was "done" if it just didn't seem fun. It's hard to justify the price on it in this state, even at three dollars. Suffers heavily on the latter half of our scale for lack of depth, breadth, and gameplay.

Auto-Battler Horde Survival Rogue-lite Summoning Game Survivors-like Top Down or Isometric
4.0 Combined Ranking Score
65/72 Ranking Position
1056/1600 Total Points
4.0 Final Review
58% Steam
2.7 Scale
3.5 Vibes
55 Steam Reviews
220/400 Review Points
3.9 Similarity Score
70% Diagnosis:
Similar
836/1200 Comparison Points
69% Genre 3/8 genre
73% Simple Controls 3.2/7 move
80% Survival Modes 2.4/4 modes
88% Power Progression 3/4 level
55% Buildcrafting Depth 0.5/5 build
75% Stage Features 3.5/7 stage
64% Content Breadth 2.6/9 stuff
71% Aesthetics 2.5/6 style
62% Gameplay Vibe Check 2.4/10 vibe vibe

Grim Horde Ranking Notes

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Scaling and Review Notes

Personal Hours Played: 2.5

Every game ranked was played, but also scaled based on research, talking to developers & your feedback. The priority with the scale's initial design was to compare similarity on relatively objective features - so it doesn't claim to include reviews of the depth and clarity you'd get at a games journalism site, nor the intensive time played you might get from player reviews on steam. We try to incorporate and link all of that along with a 'review scale' that checks for bugs. See the heatmap and breakdown! Time played noted so you can take any notes with a big grain of salt! I can't get to high level gameplay in 850+ games so I heavily research every game. Over 80 game creators let me interview or survey them! I Hope to go back and refine. Please argue or submit your own scores and reviews to be incorporated with credit into the notes and score numbers.

Added or last checked on 11/9/2023

Kind of similar to Boneraiser Minions on the face of it, but you're raiding villages instead of defending your crypt. I did my best on feature details but since it's abandoned and hard to get through I'm not sure about a couple.

I know starting off feels slow in many of these games but it feels really slow in this demo. Maybe I'm missing something, likely. Ok, coming back with the full version basically to just check for the review and it still feels really slow. I think, though, it's not really about speed of the character but how non-interactive the gameplay feels even for an auto-battler.

Let's compare it directly to Boneraiser minions. Your only real button here is to summon towers which summon creators. But it's not a direct amount and placement of the towers hardly seems to matter. They go away quickly and you keep replacing, but not really too strategically. In Boneraiser minions your main button is a dodge, but the game keeps you on your toes while the summons just happen.

Here it feels I'm really detached from it somehow.

Let's compare it directly to Boneraiser minions. Your only real button here is to summon towers which summon creators. But it's not a direct amount and placement of the towers hardly seems to matter. They go away quickly and you keep replacing, but not really too strategically. In Boneraiser minions your main button is a dodge, but the game keeps you on your toes while the summons just happen.

Here you're trying to coax your mob towards houses as you kind of explore a map. You break the houses to get meta upgrade materials, and enemies killed by your horde drop souls, basically. But then you have to bring the souls to a place to level up and buy upgrades, which means there's no kind of zen like loop in terms of just circling for resources. You have to move (very slowly) across a map. Later stages seem smaller or more arena-like, at least in pieces, but the gameplay doesn't feel to change much. The upgrade feel incremental, never drastically changing the action regardless of the percent.

Most enemies seem to come from houses so it doesn't exactly feel like organica waves either.

The 'souls' or whatever fade away quickly so you can't wander away to a goal and come back and get them, you're constantly trying to drag this horde of creatures that won't come quickly with you, so you're constantly having to wait for them while enemies stream at you from the spawns.

You don't get to upgrade your minions in interesting ways every level, it doesn't seem like you really unlock other minions either. None of the 'create a minion in a way that I personally like' aspect is there.

Frankly, it was a slog to try and play enough to review, though I put in a solid effort across the demo and main game. I'm disappointed because I love playing a necromancer, for example, in games like Diablo and the idea of a horde is great.

Finally, there isn't much content. I was told by someone associated with the devs it's kind of a prematurely finished product, maybe not outright abandoned but I think they realized it wasn't that fun either. As another reviewer on steam put it, "didn't make it past the concept stage."

Grim Horde Similarity Scale Heatmap

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Measured in 60 categories via likert-scale style options -1 to 1 in tenths, how does this game compare to Vampire Survivors. This allows 1200 total "points". It's easier to have a point of comparison and we just picked Vampire Survivors since it's the most popular and commonly referenced game in the subgenre. For detailed methodology read the explainer. For in depth examples at score value, see the scoring guide and for term definitions see the key.

3.9 Similarity Score
70% Diagnosis:
836/1200 Comparison Points
Rogue-lite 1/1
Auto-Fire / Auto-Battle 1/1
Real Time 0.7/1
Top Down or Isometric 0/1
Direct Control of Single Avatar -0.7/1
Arcade Style 1/1
Bullet Heaven A (Many Player Bullets) -1/1
Bullet Heaven B (Few Enemy Bullets) 1/1
One Handed Play (w Controller) 0.2/1
Move Only 0.5/1
No Dash 1/1
No Trigger 1/1
No Special Move -1/1
No Aiming 1/1
No On-Aim / On-Fire Movement Penalty 0.5/1
Timed / Boss Ended Survival 1/1
Endless Mode 0/1
Organic / Unannounced Waves 0.5/1
High Enemy Count (Horde) 0.9/1
Level Up on XP Gain Event 0/1
Streamlined Level Choices (Simple UI) 1/1
Currency Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Goal Based Meta Unlocks 1/1
Build Crafting 0.4/1
0.1/1
Weapon Combination / "Evolution" 0/1
Interesting Item / Weapon / Ability Synergy 0/1
Broken / Invincible Builds Possible 0/1
Explorable Map 1/1
BIG Maps 0.5/1
XP on Ground 1/1
Health on Ground 1/1
Temp Powerups / Items on Ground 0/1
Treasure Chests and/or Loot Events 0/1
Vendor / Merchant on Run 0/1
Enemy Variety 0.3/1
Bosses / Elites 0.3/1
Many Interesting Characters 0/1
Many Challenges 0/1
Multiple Stages 0.5/1
Difficulty Modifiers 0.5/1
Bestiary / Lore 0/1
Achievements 1/1
Secrets 0/1
Retro / Pixel Art 1/1
Damage Numbers 0/1
Lofi Charm 0.8/1
Bumpin Music 0.5/1
Fun Writing 0.1/1
Subtle Humor 0.1/1
Panic & Zen Duo Vibe 0.3/1
Over the Top 0/1
"One More Run" / Short Runs 0.5/1
Difficulty Ramp 0.3/1
Fun Ramp 0/1
Low Price 1/1
Technical Check 0/1
Controls Check 0.1/1
Fun Check 0.1/1
Feels like VS 0.6/1

Grim Horde Review Scale Heatmap

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The review scale is judged from -1 to 1 in 10 categories, with 200 possible "points" earned. Steam review positive percentage is worth another 100 points, and a "ten point" pure vibe review number adds extra subjectivity. Converted into points, that's 400 points total. The points aren't used directly in the ranking, though, which averages the three number scores for the final review score listed in the game line above.

4.0 Final Review
58% Positive Steam Reviews
55 Steam Reviews
3.5 Pure Vibes
2.7 Review Scale
220/400 Review Points
Not Buggy 0/1
Not Janky 0.3/1
Good UI 0.7/1
Controller and Deck 1/1
Lots of Content -0.5/1
Good Theme 0.6/1
Good Graphics and Sound 0.8/1
Fun Feel -1/1
Unique Twists 0.1/1
Vibe Check 0.7/1

Grim Horde Tag Cloud

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More sortable taxonomies and categories associated with the game (genre tags are available in the main game table line!) We've just started adding tags to enable more sorting options, this section will get more filled out as we go!

Release Tags

itch.ioLinuxMacSteam DeckWindows PCAbandonedEAFree Available

Sorting Categories

Similar

Genre and Control Style Tags

Auto-BattlerHorde SurvivalRogue-liteSummoning GameSurvivors-likeTop Down or Isometric

Aesthetic Tags

2DPixel Art

Setting / Story Tags

Demon SummoningFantasyNecromancer

Control Styles

ControllerController 1 Handed

Game Mode Tags

Unknown20m

Features and Extras

Steam AchievementsSteam Cloud

Dev/Publisher

Red Koi Box

Game Features

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Listing various features we've got info on.

Multiplayer

  • Local: No
  • Online: No
  • Player Count: 1
  • Leaderboards: ?

Steam Features

  • Steam Cloud: Yes
  • Steam Achievements: 36
  • Steam Leaderboards: No
  • Steam Workshop: No
  • Steam Trading Cards: No

Extras, Etc.

  • NSFW: No
  • Demo Available: Yes
  • DLC Available: No
  • Soundtrack Available: No

Marketing Blurb

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Some description of the game and its features from the creators.

"Gather your minions, conquer the lands and become the Darklord! Grim Horde is a fast arcade game with rogue-lite elements, where you lead your armies through the lands of the mortals, raze villages and claim souls. Die and rise again from your ashes and learn new summoning spells."

"Grim Horde is a fast arcade game with rogue-lite elements, where you lead your armies through the lands of the mortals, raze villages and claim souls.Die and rise again from your ashes and learn new summoning spells." (I'm honestly not sure how they arrived at the fast conclusion. Maybe in an endgame I'll never get to?)

And from discord quite some months ago: "Grim Horde is pretty dead (no pun intended), we have to decide what to do with it."

Run Times & Speedups

- +

Average Run Time: 20m

Run Time Notes

?

Speed Settings

?