Once Upon a Tower

Once Upon a Tower: A Roguelike Action-Adventure Game Guide

Once Upon a Tower is a roguelike action-adventure game that flips the classic fairytale on its head. Players do not control a knight on a rescue mission; instead, they guide a decidedly un-helpless princess as she smashes, fights, and puzzles her way down from the top of her own tall prison tower. This title offers a humorous and challenging experience where strategic combat and exploration are key to survival and escape.

Navigating the Tower’s Procedurally Generated Floors

The core progression in Once Upon a Tower involves descending an endlessly changing tower. Players start at the top and must break through floors, either by finding stairs or simply smashing through the floorboards. Each run is unique, as the tower’s layout, enemy placements, and room types are procedurally generated. Players must explore each floor carefully, battling foes and collecting resources while managing their health to progress further down in a single life.

Mastering the Princess’s Arsenal and Combat

Combat is a central pillar of the Once Upon a Tower experience. Players actively attack using a primary weapon, which can range from a sturdy sword to a massive hammer. The control scheme is built around tapping for attacks and utilizing swipes for dodging or specific abilities. Success hinges on learning enemy attack patterns, timing your strikes, and evading damage. Defeating enemies often yields gold and occasionally unlocks new, permanent weapon options for future attempts.

Utilizing Environmental Destruction and Traps

A unique aspect of Once Upon a Tower is the fully destructible environment. Players can break almost everything, from furniture to walls, to uncover hidden passages, collect coins, or even crush enemies with falling debris. Conversely, the tower is also filled with environmental hazards and traps. Players must navigate these dangers, sometimes using them to their advantage by luring enemies into spikes or triggerable traps to clear a path.

The Upgrade and Meta-Progression System

Despite its roguelike nature, Once Upon a Tower features a robust meta-progression system. Gold collected during a run is permanently kept, even after death. Players return to a central hub where this gold can be spent on persistent upgrades. These include unlocking new princess characters with different stats, purchasing permanent weapon unlocks that can appear in future runs, and buying upgrades that enhance health or damage, making subsequent attempts slightly easier.

Confronting the Dragon and Boss Encounters

The primary goal in Once Upon a Tower is to reach the bottom and confront the dragon. However, the descent is punctuated by challenging boss encounters on specific floors. These battles test all the skills players have acquired, requiring precise dodging, aggressive attacking during openings, and strategic use of the environment. Defeating a boss provides a significant reward and allows passage to the next major section of the tower.

Experimenting with Different Playable Princesses

Once Upon a Tower offers more than one protagonist. Players can unlock additional princesses, each with distinct starting weapons, base statistics, and unique special abilities. This variety encourages different playstyles; one princess might favor fast, light attacks, while another could be a slow, heavy hitter. Experimenting with different characters adds significant replayability as players discover which princess best suits their approach to conquering the tower.

KEY FEATURES

  Lead a fierce princess in a strategic escape from her own tower.

  Descend through endlessly changing, procedurally generated floors.

  Engage in action-packed combat with a variety of unlockable weapons.

  Interact with and destroy the environment to solve puzzles and defeat enemies.

  Permanent meta-progression system using collected gold for upgrades.

  Unlock and master multiple princesses, each with unique abilities.