Platformer is a genre as old as video gaming itself. From the classic Super Mario of the 80s or the golden era of the Prince of Persia franchise back in the 2000s to the more recent Ori and the Blind Forest and the like, we have all played at least a few platform games in our lives. Nowadays, the genre has made quite a home for itself on mobile devices, and the touch-based controls seem to work pretty well with the platform mechanics for the most part. With that said, now is as good a time as any to have a detailed look at Daggerhood, a new platformer that just recently hit mobiles.
Daggerhood is a challenging platformer with a retro theme where you generally need only about 30 seconds to complete a stage. So what’s the catch? In order to earn a high rating, you must try to finish in as little time as possible while still finding ways to collect the various treasures. It is not uncommon that you must try a stage 3, 5, or even 10 times before you can successfully pull it off. Yes, it is frustrating at times, but the feeling of satisfaction you get after finally overcoming the challenges is totally worth it.
Daggerhood also has a very interesting mechanic in which your character can throw out a dagger and then later teleport to it. In fact, most of the game revolves around mastering controls of this teleport ability.
Daggerhood gameplay preview
Getting from one location to another is not everything, though. To complete a stage at its fullest, you must not only finish on time but also collect all treasures and catch the errant fairy as well. Of those 3, meeting the time limit and capture the fairy are probably the hardest tasks. Fairies are often positioned in more secluded locations, forcing out to go out of your way to get them. As a result, you’ll need to really make use of your creativity to work out the quickest path to finish all the required tasks.
Timing is of paramount importance in Daggerhood, and the time limit is only a part of the equation. Finding your way through the various hazards present that the stages throw at you requires perfect timing with both dagger throws and jump. Of course, jumping from one foothold to the next is the simpler option of the two, but it’s kind of slow. Usually, it’s faster to use the dagger-teleport ability, however that comes at the cost of being much more difficult: If you hold back for too long, your dagger will reach its maximum range and disappear; teleporting too soon, on the other hand, will probably see you falling prey to some kind of traps.
But of course, all of that would have been meaningless without a good stage design. After all, what good are those awesome abilities if you can simply walk straight to the exit? Thankfully, Daggerhood doesn’t fall into that trap. Its level designs are top-notch with seemingly endless twists. The game takes players through 5 different worlds, each of which brings a new mechanic, and within every stage you are forced to tackle that mechanic in a different way.
For example, the first stage of World Two has mushrooms that you can bounce off to jump to a much greater height than you normally can. That’s all there is. At first, things are pretty simple: You hop on this mushroom to jump through this trap, then use another mushroom to reach that ledge. However, as you get to higher levels, there are more complicated ways to utilize these mushroom, such as jumping off them to put yourself in a position where you can throw your dagger and then teleport to it to get to a difficult platform or overcome a trap. Figuring out how to use these mechanics to your advantage is where the fun lies.
In addition to introducing a new mechanic, each world also features a boss stage. These stages are different from the rest in that they focus more on fights rather than the usual speedrunning. The bosses are usually giant monsters, so you’ll have to take a more calculated approach. That said, they actually are slightly easier than the regular levels, as the bosses always behave in an exact pattern every time. Some bosses have a complex pattern, and for them the stages are designed to be simpler. On the other hand, if the pattern is simple, the stage will be more difficult. It kind of balance things out. In any case, it’s easier to just focus on mastering one thing at a time instead of having to worry about multiple things at once.
When purchasing a video game, you are basically spending money to buy a period of entertainment. Thus, it’s totally understandable for you to ask how long this game is. Well, like the majority of games, that is mostly up to you. Do you just want to get through a stage and move on to the next, or do you want to do everything there is to be done and get the highest rating? Each approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. If you just zip through levels after levels, it’s unlikely that you will perfect them all on the first try. On the other hand, if you like to always go for the best rating, you probably have to attempt the same stage multiple times, meaning things might get repetitive. At the end of the day, it depends on your preference. Just play whatever way that you like best, as that’s what games are for.
All in all, Daggerhood is a very good game. It is easy to get used to, yet still manage to be fast-paced and challenging. You will need quite a bit of time to master its various mechanics. The content is rich as well, as you can always try to find a faster way to traverse the stage or handle the obstacles. The visuals and audio, meanwhile, are also charming. If you are a fan of the platformer genre, you will find everything you want in Daggerhood.