$19.99Vaporum Steampunk dungeon crawling, one square at a time
You wake stranded before a gigantic mechanical tower, and step inside to find out what it is and who you are.
Is Vaporum worth it?
Vaporum is worth it if…
- you like old-school dungeon crawlers where every step is a decision
- you enjoy puzzles and secrets more than constant action
- you want a solo adventure with a mystery at its centre
- you don't mind a game that expects you to save often and think ahead
Screenshots
Real-time combat on a grid
Fights play out in real time, but on a strict grid: every step, swing and gadget fires as its own move, so positioning matters as much as reflexes. Each enemy brings its own strengths and weaknesses, and many have area attacks or tricks that punish standing still. Some enemies are immune to certain attack types, so you figure out per encounter what actually works. Weapons differ too: each type carries its own bonuses and behaviour, which makes choosing what to equip a real decision. It is tense, tactical work, and the multi-enemy fights in tight corridors are where it bites.
You are what you wear
Instead of levelling a body, you improve the exoskeleton rig you climb into. Gadgets are your spells: direct attacks, area attacks, offensive and defensive buffs, all swappable in your loadout at any moment, which keeps you flexible when a new situation walks in. Alongside that, you unlock circuits on the rig for permanent attribute bonuses and passive skills. Circuits are limited, so you end up specialising: a tank with shields, a pistol specialist, a gadget user. You pick a rig style near the start, and no choice is wrong, but spreading yourself thin across everything will leave you weak everywhere.
A tower full of secrets
The tower is the star: a gigantic machine of pumps, steam engines and vintage lifts, dark and humming, with a constant sense of danger around every corner. Puzzles range from pushing crates to block scalding steam to level-wide objectives that span several floors. Secret passages hide unique items and the notes of the tower's inhabitants, and optional areas offer extra challenge for extra reward. The story comes through notes and audio recordings you can ignore safely: the main characters are fully voiced, and the voice acting is a highlight. The mood sits somewhere between wonder and dread.
Questions before you step in?
Do you play alone or with a party?
Alone, entirely. This is a single-player, single-character game: no party to manage, no companions to keep alive. That focus is part of the design, since the hero is stranded by himself in a tower where nobody is coming to help. The solitude also feeds the mood, because every recording and note you find is the only other voice in the place.
Do you have to read all the notes to follow the story?
No. The notes and recordings add backstory about the tower and its inhabitants, but every major story point is narrated by the main characters, who are fully voiced. You can skip the written material and still follow what happens, or dig into everything if you want the full picture of what went on before you arrived.
How hard is it, and can you adjust the difficulty?
There are several difficulty levels, and they change the game noticeably: tougher enemies, harder-hitting attacks and faster enemy strikes at the higher settings. Even on normal settings the combat is challenging, and healing is limited, so careless fights cost you. The game rewards saving often and thinking before you commit. If you want a demanding crawl, the higher tiers will give you one.
Is it mostly fighting or mostly puzzles?
Both, in steady alternation. Puzzles and riddles are usually contained to a single room, while progression objectives can stretch across a whole level or several. Between them sit locked doors, traps, secret passages and ambushes, some of which catch you off guard in ways that feel less fair than the rest of the game. Quick-saving before opening suspicious doors is a habit worth building.
