Our explorer enters the atmosphere of an unknown planet. Her capsule glows bright orange as she begins her descent. She hits the ground hard. A dome encompasses it: this new world is hostile, it will have to be protected. All that remains is to dig.
Dome Keeper is the first full-featured game from German developer duo Bippinbits, regulars on game jams », these video game design sessions during which you have to improvise with the means at hand and in a limited time.
In this more complete version of their rogue lite Dome Romantik (2021), you play the role of a space miner in search of resources and powerful ancient relics. As we dig beneath our dome, we unlock new upgrades for our astronaut and his habitat that must be defended against waves of alien enemies.
The resources being limited, it is necessary to make sometimes difficult choices: to improve our capacities of combat or our capacities of exploitation? Choices that, when added together, often add up to more than the sum of their impact.
For example, increasing the speed of our character is not only welcome in the exploration phases: it also allows us to return to our base much faster when hordes of aliens are attacking it.
In a magnificent pixelated aesthetic and an electro ambient soundtrack, we got lost in many sessions that seemed much shorter than they really were. We finish the short mode in about forty minutes, the long mode, in about two hours. Beating the game unlocks new modes and acquires upgrades for our dome, giving us a good sense of progression.
Unfortunate that Dome Keeper gives us the impression of being an early access game without being sold as such. The game offers only one character class, upgrades are limited and so are modes. Updates are promised, but a little more honesty would have been appreciated.
Still, we really liked this little independent game, especially since we had little time to play. On the bus, in the subway, late at night: we played it on the Steam Deck to decompress or to pause our brains for a little challenge that was engaging without being frustrating, even in defeat.
This one being confined to the PC, let’s cross our fingers that a console version will be offered soon: Dome Keeper deserves to be put in the hands of more players. To try.
Olivier Sylvester