Keeper's Toll

Keeper's Toll (2024) is a pixelated, frantic fighting and shooting battle where you work to survive an onslaught of dark fantasy monsters until you're strong enough to face fiendish boss fights. You control your movement and the direction of your automatic attacks with the same stick, as you make crucial levelling-up decisions to build powerful weapon combos. It stands out for throwing you straight into the deep end, but also ramping your power up quickly to become an impressive killing machine.

---

You choose one of six heroes to play, such as the Shadow Monk or Necromancer, each with different attacks and advantages. Soon, a growing horde of enemies encroaches on your position, and you must aim automatic melee and ranged attacks at them by facing your target. Killing enemies earns you souls, contributing to your increasing experience levels that you use to strategically select enhancements such as increased critical hit frequency or even new attacks.

As you survive longer, you fight boss enemies that have intricate attack patterns and lots of health. When you die (you die a lot), you start over with your growing understanding of enemies to help you on the next run. Not only this, but you can also purchase permanent character-specific upgrades that stay after death, like a burn damage increase for Pyromancer.

The result is a frenetic game that's all about gaining both instincts and knowledge to create a character powerful enough to have a chance of survival. The pixelated visuals add to the dark fantasy atmosphere and give the game a nostalgic retro feel.

---

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Keeper's Toll 11 weeks ago. It was re-examined by Ollie Robertson and updated 3 weeks ago.