Dungeon Clawler's new trailer suggests that you might finally win one of those darn fairground claw games for once
And not only that, use it to beat up Cthulhu
It's the classic tale: rabbit goes into casino, loses their left hand gambling, puts a mechanical claw in its place and starts using the power of old beachside arcade cabinets to defeat monsters in the hope of getting their lost limb back...
Alright, maybe it's not THAT common a setup, but nevertheless that's the pitch given to us in the new trailer for upcoming RPG Dungeon Clawler in the Mobile Gaming Show, revealing that the game won't just be on PC, but in player's pockets too.
Drawing upon the classic claw machines that so often denied us our prizes as kids, gameplay shows "Sir Bunalot" and a host of other claw-wielding rabbits drawing weapons, spells and armor from those machines in the midst of battle to wield against all manner of fantasy monster – leading to a surreal, if fascinating visual of a rabbit snatching at arcade rewards to sling at the dread octopus god Cthulhu himself.
Welcome to Mobile Gaming Week 2024, where we explore what's hot, what's best, and what's next in the world of mobile gaming following the Mobile Gaming Showcase.
Meanwhile, you can see other elements coming into play throughout – making choices as you adventure through enemy terrain, tile movement reminiscent of old-school dungeon crawlers, deck-building elements, other mechanics based on fairground games like Pachinko, and deck-building based on the prizes drawn with your claw. Frankly, I'm not sure it'll feel the same as it used to if the prizes don't unfairly fall out of the machine's grip just before they reach the chute... but maybe that's for the better.
Dungeon Clawler has yet to have a firm release period announced for mobile yet, but players can sign up for a beta right now. It's also scheduled for a release in Q4 2024 on Steam, with a playable demo there you can try out right now!
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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and raconteur with a Masters from Sussex University, none of which has actually equipped him for anything in real life. As a result he chooses to spend most of his time playing video games, reading old books and ingesting chemically-risky levels of caffeine. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at USgamer, Gfinity, Eurogamer and more besides.
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