Gauntlet

Gauntlet is a top-down dungeon crawler and an entry in the long-running Gauntlet series. The game supports up to four online or local players working cooperatively, each using a different one of the four available hero types: Elf, Valkyrie, Warrior and Wizard. The game supports multiple difficulties and has the characters go through dungeons, killing monsters and bosses, gaining experience to access upgrades through new skills, locating hidden rooms and avoiding traps, and closing monster portals to prevent enemies from overrunning the screen. It contains some elements from the classic Gauntlet, such as the names of the characters and the four available hero types, but also accidentally destroying your own food for health recovery during fights. It does not use a hunger mechanic through ticking health, unlike some of the earlier games.

The warrior Thor uses a mix of light and heavy attacks. He is rather slow, but can rush for a short time, deals a lot of damage and can access special moves such as spinning cyclone. The valkyrie Thyra is controlled in a similar way, but she is faster, can throw spears and there is more focus on defensive gameplay with her shield which she can also launch into a group of enemies. The elf Questor uses ranged attacks with different power, he can roll to dodge and he can put down mines or throw fire arrow bombs. The wizard Merlin borrows some elements of Arrowhead's earlier title Magicka for the mechanics. He has access to three types of magic (electricity, fire and ice). These can be mixed and matched to create custom spells. Some spells are used for offensive purposes targeting a single enemy directly, while others provide an area of effect, a teleport, or defensive means through traps.

Dungeons have many destructible items to access additional health, golden coins as a currency or keys to open passages. Many upgrades are accessed gradually, providing new weapons, spells or attacks, boosting stats such as speed, increasing gold loot drops etc. Coins can be used to buy relics, temporary boosts during gameplay, and additional costumes for the characters. There is a shopkeeper in the central hub to access the different levels. Perks are acquired through Masteries, objectives as a form of optional challenges during gameplay. Killing a certain amount of enemies is rewarded with a skull coin, which acts as a continue after dying.

In December 2014 Colosseum was added as a new game mode. It is a survival arena with multiple waves of enemies for up to four players. The Colosseum was organized by the developers in multiple, successive seasons, providing new rewards and resetting statistics with each new one.

In August 2015, coinciding with the PS4 release of the game, the game was renamed Gauntlet: Slayer Edition with a large update. For the owners of the PC version the update is available free of charge. It contains:* Colosseum is changed into a Daily Challenge

• Difficulty rebalancing
• Improved environment visuals
• Improved monster visuals, audio and abilities
• More use of relics
• New campaign map replacing the hub room
• New game mode: Endless (procedural)
• New hero weapon abilities and customization
• New loadout / shop instead of the in-game shop
• New monster types
• New unique potion abilities for each hero