Dome Keeper is a new roguelike game that mixes underground mining with tower defense. It's akin to the arcade classic Missile Command. Extremecraft Dome Keeper has just released an demo on Steam ahead of the Steam Next Fest 2022 event. You can download it now and dig into the ground to find the resources you require to defend your dome from the evil denizens that are poised to attack you.
Dome Keeper puts players in a dome atop the surface of a strange hostile planet. Each time you play, you'll have to plunge into the depths below, digging out a path in search of precious materials for upgrades. Mining is easy. All terrain is broken into smaller blocks. Crafting game veterans will be familiar with this design. Mining gets more difficult and slow the more deep you go. It is recommended to upgrade your equipment before you go too far.
Like Minecraft and Terraria Resources are usually clumped closely together, so if you spot a glimmer along your tunnel, digging deeper will usually reveal more valuable materials ready to be gathered. Once resources have been mined then they have to be manually dragged to the dome for storage and for use. To do this, hold a button to tether resources. However, the more you drag behind yourself the more slowly you'll move. In the end, you'll be immobile until you drop chunks of rock on the ground.
Once you have your base resources you can turn them into upgrades for your jetpack or drill. This will allow for faster mining and traversal, and has less impact on the maneuverability of your machine. Importantly, you can also upgrade your dome, feeding into the second (and possibly the most important aspect) of Dome Keeper: protecting your base from the an array of alien creatures.
Tower defense is handled by a laser which can be rotated around your dome in any direction to be targeted in any direction. You can hear any threats and direct attacks at your dome from down in the tunnels, so you'll be aware of when it's time to dash back up and clean the house. Upgrades to the dome also provide useful information, like the time until the next attack and the dome's current health level.
The moment is that Dome Keeper offers two difficulty settings : the default 'brutal' option and a slightly less daunting 'hard but doable' option. It certainly feels pretty gruelling initially and the distinct sound of the banging surface will soon send you rushing back up in a state of panic. You can try it yourself by playing a Steam demo available now on the game's store page.
We'll keep you up-to current on any notable coming PC games scheduled for Steam Next Fest. In other crafty news, one fan's Lego Terraria build is tackling bosses and underground mining scenes. We've also got all the details regarding the Minecraft 1.19 The Wild update, as well as information about a possible Minecraft RTS game from the developers of Minecraft Dungeons.