''Caves of Qud'' is a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

developed by American studio Freehold Games set in an

open world In video games, an open world is a virtual world in which the Gamer, player can approach objectives freely, as opposed to a world with more linear and structured gameplay. Notable games in this category include ''The Legend of Zelda (video game ...

that is partially pre-made and partially randomly generated. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic

science fantasy file:Warhammer40kcosplay.jpg, Cosplay of a character from the ''Warhammer 40,000'' tabletop game; one critic has characterized the game's setting as "action-oriented science-fantasy." Science fantasy is a hybrid genre within speculative fiction ...

setting and is inspired by the

pen-and-paper role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG or TRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a kind of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech and sometimes movements. Participants d ...

s ''

Gamma World ''Gamma World'' is a post-apocalyptic science fantasy role-playing game in which player characters explore Earth centuries after the collapse of civilization, searching for artifacts from the time before "The Great Upheaval". The game was origi ...

'' and ''

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

''.

Development

Freehold Games began development on Caves of Qud in 2007, with the first public beta released in 2010. Caves of Qud was released on

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

in 2015, under their

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

model. Content was gradually added through weekly updates. In July 2023, Kitfox Games, the publisher of the Steam version of ''

Dwarf Fortress ''Dwarf Fortress'' (previously titled ''Slaves to Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress'') is a construction and management simulation and roguelike indie video game created by Bay 12 Games. Available as freeware and in development si ...

'', announced that they would be publishing the 1.0 version of Caves of Qud the following year. The game was fully released on December 5, 2024.

Gameplay

Unlike other traditional roguelikes such as

NetHack ''NetHack'' is an open source single-player roguelike video game, first released in 1987 and maintained by the NetHack DevTeam. The game is a fork of the 1984 game ''Hack'', itself inspired by the 1980 game '' Rogue''. The player takes the role ...

, Caves of Qud has a quest system as a core mechanic. Some quests are scripted, while others are

procedurally generated In computing, procedural generation is a method of creating data algorithmically as opposed to manually, typically through a combination of human-generated content and algorithms coupled with computer-generated randomness and processing power. I ...

. Players can choose to follow the main quest line, but can also choose to ignore it and play the game without following the pre-written plot. When creating a character, the player can choose between playing as a True Kin or a mutant. True Kin, being unmutated humans, have higher base stats and access to cybernetic augmentations, while mutants can possess physical and mental mutations offering a wide range of utility. By default, the player character will start in the unique village of Joppa, but it is also possible to choose to spawn in a procedurally generated town. Caves of Qud has "deeply simulated physical and political systems" which are randomly generated and different each session. At the start of each run, the game generates a set of historical events and group relationships centered around a set of five randomly generated ancient rulers, dubbed

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s. It takes inspiration from the history systems of the games ''

'' and ''Epitaph''. The procedural history system is based on historical accounts such as word of mouth and ancient texts, allowing for bias and conflicting perspectives.

Reception

Early Access

While most reviewers during the game's early access period rated the game highly for being more accessible than other roguelikes, some found the game's interface confusing.

Full Release

The version 1.0 release of ''Caves of Qud'' received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. The

Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) is a non-profit organization of video game industry professionals. It organizes the annual Design Innovate Communicate Entertain Summit, better known as D.I.C.E., which includes the presentation ...

nominated ''Caves of Qud'' for " Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year" at the 28th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. Caves of Qud won the Excellence In Narrative Award at the 2025

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.cavesofqud.com/ 2015 video games Linux games MacOS games Roguelike video games Role-playing video games Single-player video games Video games developed in the United States Video games with textual graphics Windows games Transhumanism in video games