While plenty of mythologies have been explored and mined in gaming, in my opinion, Scottish folklore tends to be underrepresented. Its inclusion is one of the reasons that Wales Interactive and Ant Workshop‘s Into the Restless Ruins is so interesting to me, but that’s just scratching the surface.
The game is a blend of various genres and ideas. Immediately, comparisons can be made in presentation and combat to Vampire Survivors, but that wouldn’t be the most accurate reflection. This isn’t a Vampire Survivors knock-off, but rather a fusion of roguelikes, deck-builders, autobattlers, and even some light roleplaying mechanics. It’s a lot to take in, but if you’re willing to put the time into figuring out how the game’s mechanics work, then there may be something to like about it.
I’m generally a newbie when it comes to roguelikes, but I was willing to give the game a try thanks to its general concept. The premise of Into the Restless Ruins has you seeking the Harvest Maiden, a magical being who can grant your heart’s desire. Upon meeting her, the Maiden tells you that to grant your wish, you need to defeat the Wardens that dwell at the end of each set of ruins.
The Harvest Maiden isn’t some benevolent goddess, though, since she’s constantly demanding you to kill more creatures for her blessing and doesn’t seem to care whatsoever if you get hurt or not. You’re merely a means to an end for her, and if you die, someone else will surely come by to do her bidding. You kill the Wardens, she’ll grant your wish, no questions asked.
There’s clearly more going on storywise, but that takes a backseat to the gameplay, which is the main draw of Into the Restless Ruins. The central mechanic is that you craft the dungeon that you’re adventuring in. The game is divided into two distinct halves: the deck and dungeon building segments, and the adventuring segments. Your goal is always to defeat the Warden at the end of each level, but to reach them, you need to break several seals within the dungeon. The seals are hidden within one of several fog-covered rooms, and the only way to get to each seal is to construct rooms that reach them.
At the beginning of each night, you will be given five cards, each containing a room. These rooms can be basic hallways with no notable items or abilities, while others can have a specific function, like healing you when you enter them or increasing your attack strength when placed. All rooms need to connect, but you can rotate each room to best optimise the dungeon’s layout. You’ll only be able to build as many rooms as you have Build Points in a night, with increasing costs for the more complicated rooms. If you don’t like your hand, you can discard one card per night and redraw a new card.
Once your dungeon is constructed, it’s time to explore. You’ll auto-battle your way through the dungeon, so the only thing you have to worry about combat-wise is moving. Enemies can swarm you, and the game will send a horde of enemies after you each time you break a seal. The need for caution intensifies the deeper you progress, as you can only heal in certain rooms once per night. Along the way, there may be a few NPCs who can help you, like the Hen Wife, who will upgrade cards in your deck, and Wulver, a wolf-man who can sell you abilities to add to your deck, both of whom will require a rare currency called artifacts that randomly spawn in the dungeon.
It’s all well and good, but the one thing you’re going to have to be aware of is your torch. Your torch is probably the most essential part of Into the Restless Ruins, since it can determine whether you’ll have a successful run or not. As long as your torch is lit, you’re able to see what’s ahead of you. As the night drags on, the torch will lose more and more light, making visibility even more difficult and hindering your reaction to incoming enemies and attacks. When your torch runs out, you’re as good as dead. Not only will navigating back to the entrance to end the night be next to impossible, but you’ll take a rapid amount of damage as long as you’re in the dark. There are ways to replenish your torch’s light, but those are tied to rooms, and if you don’t get those cards, then you’re screwed.
When I began my first run of Into the Restless Ruins, I didn’t really pay that much mind to these mechanics. The first level, Eorisdale, took me about 20 minutes, and I didn’t struggle all too much. The second level, Clava Cairn, is what did me in. It’s significantly longer, and if you overcomplicate your dungeon, navigating back to the entrance will be impossible. There is no map feature in-game. You have to remember how you crafted it during the day, and making it back when your torch has completely drained can be a matter of luck more than anything.
On the surface, Into the Restless Ruins seems like a simple game, but it’s deceptively complex. I was somewhat reminded of Half-Minute Hero as I played it, not only because of its simple presentation and somewhat straightforward mechanics, but also because of how quickly the experience unfolds. A night can last only a minute or two, and the game encourages you to start a new night as quickly as possible. In fact, you’re going to want to finish each level as fast as possible since the longer you stay in a particular level, the more you will be cursed, which brings negative modifiers that make progression more challenging. It’s never nice dropping your health to one or being unable to heal for a night.
All of this seems simple to explain, but these mechanics aren’t really conveyed well in-game. Granted, I rarely play roguelikes, so I may be a bit of a newbie regarding whether these are common genre staples, but even then, the game assumes you know how its mechanics work right from the get-go. Minor mechanics like what artifacts are and room functions are one thing, but when fundamental mechanics like healing and boosting your stats are left for you to figure out on your own, it can be a bit unfair. Plus, given how much the game is built around creating the dungeon yourself, there is a very good chance that if you don’t have a good hand, a run may become exponentially difficult solely because of bad RNG.
I am interested in what Into the Restless Ruins presents, though. From the few hours I spent with the game so far, there is something genuinely compelling about it, and I want to see it through to the end. Whether that journey is ultimately worth it remains to be seen, but if you’re interested in an unconventional blend of rougelike, deck-building, and Vampire Survivors-esque combat, then Into the Restless Ruins may be worth a shot when it releases.
Into the Restless Ruins will release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC on May 15.
