I know that most things Devolver Digital touches turn to gold, but I’ll admit I felt a little apprehensive about their latest title, Minos.
While I was drawn in by the concept of this maze-building tower defense roguelite, designing and building have never been my strong suit, which is exactly why I’ve typically avoided games like Minecraft and Dragon Quest Builders.
I’m glad I pushed past that initial hesitation, though, as the gameplay is surprisingly easy to grasp. It offers a satisfying, puzzle-like challenge and even evokes the feel of the Dungeon Keeper series.
What is Minos?
Playing as the fabled Minotaur, you must defend your sanctuary from bloodthirsty adventurers by rigging up traps and reshaping the maze to disrupt and redirect enemy groups. Between waves, the game reveals where enemies will approach from, giving you time to delve into your toolbox and set up a deadly gauntlet.
As I mentioned earlier, reshaping your maze is surprisingly simple, as you can place walls by left clicking and remove existing structures just as easily. Scattered across the floor are designated trap spots, and you’ll want to funnel your foes through these to inflict maximum damage. Each wave becomes a satisfying puzzle, as you figure out how to guide enemies into your traps using limited resources.
Another layer of strategy comes from deciding the optimal placement for each trap, especially as you’re limited to just three at the start of each run. Some, like crossbows, spike traps, and boulders, can take out enemies in a single hit, while others, such as fire traps and rotating blades, are better suited to weakening units. Due to this, I found myself constantly adjusting trap placement between waves.
You can also send out your Minotaur to deal with any stragglers, though this is very much a last resort. If your health drops to zero, it’s game over, and the blood you harvest from defeated enemies is what allows you to unlock more traps and temporary upgrades. You can even use the Minotaur strategically, placing hidden doors to ambush groups that have already been thinned out.
The real satisfaction in Minos comes from watching your carefully constructed symphony of destruction unfold in real time. Viewed from an isometric perspective, you can watch traps trigger one after another, almost like a Home Alone movie playing out before your eyes. The map steadily becomes more and more bloody as traps are triggered, culminating in a spectacular eruption of gore.
Meta progression
By surviving these home invasions, you’re rewarded with XP, gold, and gems, which can be carefully invested in permanent upgrades. Gems let you purchase new traps, gold can buy items from the store mid-run, and XP unlocks upgrades for your character with more options becoming available each time you level up.
During each run, your goal is to descend through the depths by surviving a set number of invasions, with each new layer presenting increasingly complex challenges. Death is something you’ll encounter regularly, but fortunately, all of your character upgrades remain unlocked. When you die, you return to the surface level, and any gold or gems gathered are lost and must be recovered in future runs.
The further you progress, the more you learn about the Minotaur’s backstory and how your labyrinthine home came to be. I’ll be honest, though, the story didn’t really grab me, and I think that’s largely due to how it’s presented. There are no cutscenes; instead, the narrative is delivered through animated stills and dialogue boxes between characters.
The verdict
Minos ended up being a real sleeper hit for me. Constructing your trap-filled maze and watching enemies fall one by one like dominoes is incredibly satisfying, and I loved exploring how new traps and enemy types would add to the chaos on each new run.
If you’re a fan of tower defense games with a dash of Greek mythology, I’d highly recommend checking out the demo on Steam.
Minos is out now on PC (Win), and I played via access kindly provided by Devolver Digital.
