Dragon Sweeper is a retro-style adventure game that combines elements of classic NES roleplaying games with the map-uncovering mechanics of Minesweeper. In Dragon Sweeper, you take up the role of the Warrior of Dragons, destined to rid your homeland of the predatory beasts wreaking havoc on the population.
There are four character classes to choose from — the knight, the cleric, the thief, and the wizard — and each class has its own attack and unique special ability to use during combat. The island maps of Dragon Sweeper are randomly generated and contain different assortments of monsters and different difficulty levels. Maps are kept small and contained for rapid playthroughs, so even the largest maps will rarely take longer than ten minutes to complete. When you uncover a monster or dragon lair, you’ll enter the game’s battle mode. Battles are a simple affair; you’ll right-click to attack when the fluctuating attack bar swings under your attack icon. If you time it properly, you’ll attack the monster and deal damage. If you miss the icon, your foe may attack you or heal itself. Repeat until victory.
Dragon Sweeper’s artwork and soundtrack are kept appropriately simple for the scale of the game. Just as described on the game’s itch.io page, Dragon Sweeper isn’t meant to be an epic RPG with 100+ hours of gameplay; it’s a coffee-break game, the type of game you’d play in line at a Starbucks or while waiting for your kid to finish karate practice.
And while the free version of the game is ostensibly complete, if you pay a little extra, you’ll unlock more recent updates to the game including new islands, quests, and game modes for you to try out. So if you’re in the market for a fun little time-waster with a sprinkling of nostalgia, the world of Dragon Sweeper is definitely worth exploring.
Controls: Mouse – Uncover Tiles, Attack
Available on: Windows & Mac