Skyhill

Release Date: February 25, 2015

RPG, roguelike, post-apocalypse, horror, 2D, survival, indie games, side-scroll, crafting, singleplayer

5.5

Gamepressure

6.5

OpenCritic

78%

Steam

Rate It!

A post-apocalyptic RPG with roguelike elements, created by Russian studio Mandragora. The game starts off shortly after the World War III wiped out almost the entire human race. You play as a survivor residing on the top, 100th floor of a luxury hotel. Your task is to fight your way downs through hordes of mutants. The game features several different characters to choose from. The inside of the hotel is generated randomly.

Review

October 9, 2015

Skyhill review – does another roguelike survival amuse or bore?

Skyhill’s biggest flaw is its lack of merits. It’s, technically speaking, a decently designed survival game, but neither its RPG elements nor the story nor the atmosphere are entertaining enough to keep the players engaged.

5.5

Skyhill review – does another roguelike survival amuse or bore?

Videos and Screens

[1:58] Skyhill trailer

5.5

mediocre

Gamepressure Review

Skyhill

Skyhill review – does another roguelike survival amuse or bore?

About our Reviews

Reviewed by:

Jakub Mirowski

Reviewed on:

PC / Windows

Review date:

October 9, 2015

6.5

OpenCritic Rating

Game is Recomended by 28% of Critics. There are 19 Critic Reviews.

OpenCritic

NintendoWorldReport: 7 / 10 by Joe Devader

A successful run may take you no more than around two hours, but you'll likely find yourself going back for another crack either with different perks or on a higher difficulty just to see how far down you can get. Seeing the numbers slowly tick down as I went made me truly feel like I was progressing, even as each floor was functionally identical to the last. If playing a game over and over until you've figured out every secret and strategy is something that you enjoy, Skyhill is one you should at least give a glance.

Full Review

Cubed3: 6 / 10 by Ofisil

Skyhill's concept of going down a monster-filled skyscraper, while searching for items to use and combine, is not original, but it's pretty awesome. Unfortunately, the actual implementation is not up to par. It's still a fun ride, but it could be tons better if it had focused on and tweaked its advantages. It should have more items that can be gathered, equipped, and mixed; more diverse monsters and quests; and a greater amount of randomisation. To put it otherwise, it should have more things to do, because repetition starts to kick in after 10 or so runs. Bad? Not at all, but certainly not a must-have, either.

Full Review

Nintendo Enthusiast: 7.5 / 10 by Andrew Gonzalez

Skyhill is a game that had me hooked to my Switch from the opening moments. There aren’t any surprises, the enemy varieties are few, and the gameplay is repetitive. But you know what? I had an absolute blast with Skyhill. Its roguelike elements leave plenty to come back to, the unpredictable nature keeps players on edge, and the gameplay is fun.

Full Review

78%

STEAM Score

All Reviews: Mostly Positive (4,063)

STEAM

Skyhill is a postapocalyptic two-dimensional RPG game with roguelike elements. The game was developed by the Russian studio Mandragora, known for games such as Knitted Deer and Freaky Awesome. The title debuted in 2015 on PCs, and in the following years it was ported into consoles.

Plot

Skyhill begins shortly after the explosion of the biological bomb, which ended the Third World War and destroyed human civilization. We play as one of the last survivors, who is hiding in an apartment on the top floor of the most luxurious hotel in the city. The problem is that hordes of mutants, caused by the catastrophe, have captured all the floors below. Our primary task is to survive and, in the long run, to find a way to escape from the hotel. During the game we can learn the truth about what led the world to the apocalypse.

Mechanics

Skyhill combines elements of RPG and survival roguelike. We develop our character based on four statistics: strength, dexterity, speed and accuracy, which increase our chances in clashes with opponents. The ultimate goal of the game is to get to the hotel's ground floor and escape. On each floor we have to restore electricity since this is the only way to activate the lift and go downhill. The interior of the building is generated randomly, thanks to which new adventures await us every time. The game puts great emphasis on survival elements.

We have to look for food and drinks because, without them, the character will quickly die of hunger. During the adventure we will also spend a lot of time fighting mutants (turn-based, similar to the Fallout series) as well as finding and modifying weapons. The game includes an extensive crafting system, allowing you to construct new items from parts and raw materials found in the game. The game also has a system of improving the apartment on the top floor which serves as our base. Thanks to it, we can provide ourselves with access to blueprints of better weapons or recipes.

Technical aspects

Skyhill has a simple two-dimensional graphic design and it uses cartoon aesthetics, which is especially visible in cut-scenes consisting of static illustrations.

Last updated on January 15, 2019