IVAN is not that All Caps Man on the forums. but rather an acronym for a freeware roguelike named Iter Vehemens ad Necem, which in turn is German for "A Violent Road to Death". As the name suggests, IVAN is a single-minded bastard who will gladly kick you in the balls, turn you into a bunny, infect you with leprosy, explode you with bombs, transmute your limbs into fine fabric, starve you to death, trip you on your own banana peels, and more.

This is without mentioning the monsters that tirelessly roam the halls in their never-ending quest to process you into meat-flavored baby food.

CONTROLS

Oddly enough, IVAN is also one of the easiest games for newbies to wrangle. Simple but evocative tiles provide for a more intuitive experience than ASCII graphics, meaning newcomers don't have to wonder why they're trying to hack the alphabet to death with a sword.

Controls are simple and intuitive. You use your number pad to move in the various directions, open doors, and attack adjacent monsters. Potions, food, wands, and so forth are all accessed via the same inventory list. Surviving your dungeon crawl is hard enough already, but at least your morbid death will involve a lack of forethought and unfortunate RNG instead of your mashing the keyboard the wrong way.

GAMEPLAY

IVAN sports systems which manage to be deep yet simple. Combat usually involves pressing the direction keys, but your choice of equipment will affect how often you manage to target limbs. A lucky shot could disarm that axe-wielding zombie in more ways than one! 

The developer's grim humor means there's lots of unexpected details to look out for, such as bits of school food masquerading as nutrition and signs announcing dwarven minefields. What's particularly enjoyable is that there's always a way to turn a disadvantage to your advantage with enough imagination and blind luck. For the sake of discovery I won't put too many spoilers here, but it certainly helps keep players going after their nth Hilariously Horrible Death. 

Speaking of death...

DEATH (yes this gets its own section)

As with all roguelikes you will die a lot, and your deaths will seem completely arbitrary until you L2P, lulz. However, IVAN is relatively unique in that when you die, all your equipment is dumped on that level for your future characters to eventually discover. If you survive the encounter, this can help a great deal and also lends a lasting sense of progression even though permadeath.


Author's Rating: 4/5 "OM NOM NOM NOM"

IVAN will test your patience and reward your persistence with a vicious sense of glee. If you have an incredible stomach for punishment and find the morbid hilarious, do click the download link below. If you have a fragile keyboard or play next to an open window, you might want to reconsider. Still, any game that lets you lop off a zombie's arm and then bash its head in with it is surely worth a try. 

By the way, if you get hit in the groin too hard you will die. Make sure to wear your armor (for all the good it will do).


Direct Download Link: [Windows] [DOS]
Developer's Website: http://ivan.sourceforge.net/
Spoilers galore for the frustrated: http://www.attnam.com/
  • TAGS:Chump Change, indie, free, roguelike, IVAN, reviews, RPG, turn-based, hardcore
    • About the Author
    • Andrew Ting is a Chinese-American geek who enjoys indie games, heavy SCA combat and LARPing. Since he doesn't get paid enough for his work, he's also picked up a few tricks on being a cheap bastard (hence his equally cheap bastard of a column here). His SEA cultural credentials involve having lived in Malaysia for a few years, where he learned to smoke a hookah like a pro and cried like a little girl at hot mamak food, sambal, other little girls, and the spicy Chicken McNuggets your infernal McDonalds used to serve.
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