Stave off death with a candy bar and a blunt stick in Skyhill

I first got a glimpse of Skyhill during this year's E3 and was quite intrigued. So I jumped at the opportunity to preview this horror-themed roguelike developed by the Mandragora Team, being published by Daedelic Entertainment. The main character has checked into a 100-floor luxury hotel with the latest security technology. But global war breaks out, turning much of humanity into mutants and the hotel from a safe haven to a death trap. You'll need to fight your way down 100 floors, seeking food and weapons as you travel. Inside that next door you could satiate your hunger with a chocolate bar, or you could end up as a mutant's meal. During your journey, you'll find notes, news clippings and other clues that might tell you why world has gone to hell during your vacation.

The savvy traveler won't necessarily take all 100 floors. There's an elevator in the hotel that still works, kind of. It's damaged on some floors, and from that level down can't be used until the problem is fixed. As with everything in Skyhill, you'll have some tough choices to make. Elevator repairs require specific items such as gears or electric cables. If you haven't run across the exact item in your travels, you can try to be McGyver and fix it with whatever you have. Succeed, and you'll have made traversing hotel floors easier. But if you fail, you're out the resources and the energy it took to attempt the repair. The last thing you want to do in Skyhill is waste items or energy.

That brings me right to my next topic, the crafting mechanic. You're not limited to the meager items you find in hotel rooms and vending machines. From your penthouse workbench, you can make different recipes and weapons to aid in your trek downstairs. The further down you go, the harder the enemies hit. The blunt sticks and kitchen knives you start with likely won't get the job done. Having written that, I now eagerly await the unarmed speedrun someone is going to do.

After the first of your numerous deaths, you'll unlock some permanent abilities to choose from: one passive and one active. They include the ability to start with enough food to fill you up, and one of my favorites entitled simply “Wuss.” It starts you with a much better bed and stronger penthouse door, at the cost of taking more damage because you've grown accustomed to being spoiled.

The preview featured one character, but the finished product will have eight according to Daedelic. They include an MMA fighter who does respectable damage without weapons, and a socialite armed with her trusty toy poodle. Don't laugh, this pampered pooch can smell enemies and warn you ahead of time. Skyhill is coming to PC, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android in October.