Wonder of Blue Review

If you are familiar with the story of Alice in Wonderland, a dungeon crawler roguelike, Wonder of Blue will feel very familiar, as it mirrors that tale. There is no super deep, mysterious story here; our heroine, Liddell, falls into a sprawling labyrinth when chasing after her cat. To get out, she will need to make her way through all the different rooms, battling the creatures in her way, and eventually face off against the Queen of Hearts. 

Before jumping into the labyrinth, the first thing to do is select the colour you want used on the display. There are 19 different two-colour schemes to select from; this makes the game look like it was released for the Game Boy Color. 

After that choice, select the difficulty of your adventure from Easy, Normal, or Hard. You also pick what happens when you die: will it be Casual, where you can retry that labyrinth instantly, or Wanderlust, where if Liddell falls in the labyrinth, all progress is lost?

Liddell begins her journey on White Willow Sublevel One. Almost every room has at least one adorable creature just sitting there to greet you. The problem is they are not friendly at all and will quickly attack, even butterflies and snails! What did I do to make them so angry? 

Fortunately, the controls are quite simple to learn. Liddell has a variety of moves that she can use to defend herself: C.C. Call uses one bar of MP to send out Liddell’s pink cat to attack; Power Cut, where you swing your weapon; and the Twirl, where you perform a spin move that evades damage.

As you explore the rooms, you will discover chests holding useful items like power-ups and keys to open locked doors, or flowers that will replenish your MP so you can use your special moves more. There are no new abilities for Liddell to learn on her journey; instead, the items she picks up in chests will improve her stats.

Each area you travel to has its own selection of enemies you will encounter. Some of the foes you see multiple times, like rabbits or mice, but you will learn how they move and attack, making it easier for Liddell to avoid them. 

Your goal is to explore all the rooms on that floor, then find the one that has the white door to transport you to the next. Some of the rooms have treasure chests, while others may have a fountain to replenish your health, and one room is where you find the merchant to purchase items from.

Wonder of Blue feels like a throwback to the Game Boy Color. Everything in this world has crisp, pixelated visuals, and limiting the palette to just two colours makes it feel like I'm playing on my handheld like when I was a kid. 

The music in the game is quite simplistic, like the visual style, though it did get repetitive as the very short songs loop continuously.

Enter a room with enemies, and all the exits lock until all the creatures are defeated. Any room where you took out all the foes will stay empty; they don't respawn unless you die and come back.

Once you clear five floors of the labyrinth you are currently in, you will face the boss of that area. Their health bar is displayed so you have an idea how close you are to defeating them. Defeat the boss and get your choice of a powerful item from three options for Liddell to use.

Once you select one, see your stats and move to the next labyrinth, which is Oceanic Outset, followed by Nature’s Night. When your run is over, you are shown your stats: the total time, amount of damage taken, how many enemies were defeated, and the number of chests you opened. 

 If you are playing on casual mode, you can retry that labyrinth once again. Otherwise, you start back from the beginning. Every time you enter the labyrinth, it shifts and changes. 

Though most of the rooms look similar, the biggest differences are where the enemies are, the treasure chests, and how many exits they have. There is the option to save your game, so if you have to quit, you are able to continue where you left off. Wonder of Blue is a cutesy, addictive title that channels the Alice in Wonderland story. 

There's a large variety of enemies to defeat and a load of useful items to pick up on your quest. This game is great for players who enjoy this classic story or take pleasure in clearing out the foes on each floor to get to the boss.