I would recommend the game to anyone who likes the rpg genre or someone who isn't so appreacitive of mass multiplayer taking over the gaming world. It might also entertain self-proclaimed record-breakers, who like to keep score in everything. The Pit has something to offer to casual gamers who seek to kill an hour as well as die-hard immersionists who want to live and breathe yet another whole new world. The knowledge of the Sword of the Stars universe isn't necessary though I'm told you might miss some excelent punch lines.

First of all, I'd like to appreciate the fact, that the SotS universe (and Kerberos) branches out in other genres, not just the turn-based strategy (not all of us are born tacticians). I also like to see more sci-fi titles both in rogue-like rpg and rpg in general.

If you're not set out exclusively for hyper-realistic graphics,you will enjoy what you see. It's retro enough to invoke slight nostalgia but not enough to be enjoyed only by hardcore fans of the style. The sprite art is quite beautiful, in fact. Animation looks wholesome enough not to question it too much, though sometimes the frame rate drops inexplicably.

Everything's turn-based but it's easily used to. You get wide variety of weapons and monsters to use them on. A whole old-new world of gaming satisfaction is achieved by preparing various meals both of safe and know cuisine of the planet Earth as well as concoctions most alien. Your crafty hands are well satisfied at lab stations. Music is unfortunately forgettable but nothing stops you from playing your own.

The story can be viewed as both strong and weak, depending on your imagination. The plot isn't overly original but it's a new world to explore. The fact that it has an ending, a specific goal provides motivation that helps you suffer the frequent deaths of your charachters and keep on playing (which makes it very addictive) but in the end the infinity mode might have been better choice for the developers. The ending is very peculiar but it's still worth reaching and seeing for yourselves. Kerberos had limitited budget after all. Also, there's an expansion in the works and Kerberos provides frequent updates.

Very good game if you like roguelikes. In my opinion this is one of the best indie titles currently released 2013 up to this date.

It is cheap and gives a great gaming value for such a low cost.

Be warned though, even if this is labled as "casual" on steam this is by no means an easy game. The only thing casual is that it does autosave what seem to be (no noticeable wait times) after each completed turn so you can stop and continue your run anytime you wish.

But if you do die (and you probably will while learning the game) the save is erased and you need to restart from the beginning again.

So go ahead and give it a try, it is definitly worth the money spent.

And if you do happen to enjoy it you can look forward to the dlc/expansion comming sometime in between june and july (2013) that will introduce 2 new classes and 10 new floors to the standard game as well as an endless mode to see how far you can get,

Having been out of the amazingly detailed and much-loved universe the Kerberos crew has thrown together for some time, I was caught completely unawares by SoTS : The Pit. Being somewhat tight on funds as of late, I waffled or not in regards to purchasing it, then figured that what the heck - I wanted to take a chance and support the crew.

And I am so, so glad I did.

The pit combines the rich lore and universe-building you know and love (for fans of the RTS, listen carefully to the main theme and tell me that doesn't send shivers down your spine!) with an amazing roguelike, perhaps one of the best modern roguelikes I've played yet. Having been somewhat disappointed with FTL and it's 'roguelike-like' nature, I couldn't be more impressed with The Pit! Loads of choices, loads of options, loads difficulty, loads of things to explore - it has everything you'd want in a roguelike and then some. If you like the SOTS series, roguelikes, or even just rpgs - try the demo, at least. The game'll hook you with it's Zuul-like claws.

Each class - the Solforce Space Marine, Scout, and Engineer - play differently. There's nothing to stop you from becoming a rifle-wielding Engineer, a Melee-crazy Scout, or a computer ace Marine - but each requires different thinking and action to shape as you like. The array of items - both craftable and findable - is mind-blowing, and the enemy strategy is clever. Most enemies won't pursue you out of cover should they have ranged weaponry - but, well, I'll let you discover things for yourself. It's half the fun, after all!

In closing, just an amazing game - one I was happy to buy, am happy to die in, and was happy to read the manual of. You guys are our heroes, and I'm glad to be brought back into this great universe by the bootstraps. To all you out there, good luck - keep an eye on your ammo, and don't enter any new rooms without being fully reloaded!

I love this game it truly is a rogue like RPG and if your into them I reccommend this game. Its a lot different from dungeons of dredmor and more sci-fi based in the sword of the stars universe. It has 3 playable classes and 30 levels to play through randomly generated every new game. The crafting is kinda hard to figure out, but you can search it up and if you would rather find everything in the game like me its really hard to decipher the crafting recipes, but it is fun and quite time consumingg and re-playable.

Are you looking for pain? For suffering? For brutal death? You've come to the right place!

SOTS: The Pit is a sci-fi roguelike, but you probably saw that in the description. The important part is that this game's not just a rehash of the old ASCII roguelikes. It's inspired by that rich history, but Kerberos doesn't stop with the classics. The crafting system, lore tidbits, creative enemies, and those frakking Adaptoids all combine to give this game a flavor and flair all its own. I'll freely admit that I've only seen a small portion of this game so far, but I've enjoyed many great deaths.

If you're even slightly interested in roguelikes, you owe it to yourself to give this one a try!

This game has pulled me in and not let go since I bought it. I find myself craving that next dive into pit and the struggle to make it farther than a I ever have before. It features 4 difficulty levels with easy giving you a chance to really explore the game( and giving you a chance in hell of actually making to floor) before the difficulty ramps at the lower levels. Normal provides a real challenge and will see you die ALOT as you learn to respect your surroundings. Hard and Insane are available for those who like to smash their heads against a wall. But you know you have some serious bragging rights if you can make even a few levels down. With complete Randomization in terms of layout, item drops, trap effects, mod bonuses, and enemies every run will keep you on your toes. IF your a fan of rogue-likes than it's a must buy. If your curious definitely check out the demo it will give you a good idea of what the game is all about.

This is a top-down, space themed survival RPG. Something you can drop or pick up at a moment's notice, perfect for passing time. NO QUESTING. Just survival and collecting. Simple, with only a few keys to remember. If you don't count WASD, then it will be even less to remember.

If you like FTL (Faster Than Light), you'll love this game as well. Expect to die a lot. In the beginning, you'll live a nice few hours at time while you try to feel out your exploration strategies. However when you DO die, it will feel satisfying and enjoyable. -A very rare quality in games these days.

A fantastic deal at $20, an absolute STEAL at $9.99. No need for the demo, BUY THIS NOW!

The game is both entertaining and full of charm. Every playthrough is unique and different. Enemies are varied and dangerous and have different behaviors and dangers (never engage proteans in melee). Adaptoids keep you on your toes. Fighting off sickness or poison or starvation is a constant struggle but it's all worth it in the end.

The journey is a fun one every time and each box and every new message that you decrypt brings new surprises, gadgets, gear and weapons. The crafting and encoded messages was one of the more engaging elements for me. Figuring out the combinations of crafted items helps boost your survival greatly.

The variety and tactics of ranged and melee weapons adds some interesting depth and tackling each enemy 'the best' way becomes more varied and engaging as you go deeper. The combination of engaging core gameplay, hidden messages and lore throughout the game, and the constant struggle for survival keep me coming back to play it.

Simply one of the best graphical Roguelikes I have played. Easily on par with FTL and beats out Dreadmore and Stone Soup IMHO. It's a lot more atmospheric than most games of this type. It get's my hearty recommendation. The depth is impressive. There's a fair amount of voice acting at appropriate moments. Each character plays very differently. While there is permadeth...the more you play the more recipes and secrets you unlock. It keeps you coming back. I cannot stop playing!

This has the bones of a classic rogue-like game, with many thankfully modern updates and great bits of story.

The game is challenging but never just "unfair"; very elegant design. The deeper you go, the more important each decision becomes as the consequences ramp up.

If you're a fan of roguelikes,its a guaranteed must buy; otherwise try the demo. I'm enjoying this game greatly.

If you liked rogue or any of its many variants, you will like this game. Could use a little more content and I'm hoping this will come with a patch as this game is version 1.0 at the time of this review.

I certainly found it worth the money. Enjoy

Hardcore Rogue / Hack like Science Fiction Dungeon Crawler. It is as Hard as Dredmor. Total Unforgivin.

Example: Every New Game the Traps, Mutations randomize their Perks. The last Game White Color gives you a Bonus, in the next Game it will kill you fast....

If you like Dungeons of Dredmor here is a worthy Challenger...

This is my first review that I've done so don't expect it to be all that great.

First off, if you are like me and enjoy sci-fi and roguelike games, I believe you will definitely enjoy this. The first time you play, you will be greeted with 3 characters you can play as, which all have nice differences in what they are good at and not good at, and they all start with different items that fit their advantages. The gameplay has been very enjoyable for me as it can be both difficult and engaging as you fight through rooms trying to find anything from food to guns to random crafting items to survive the lower levels. Combat is grid based and can consist of either clicking a button to attack whatever is closest to you or targeting specific enemies and choosing where you want to throw a grenade. The game also features a black fog effect which shows your line of sight which affects your ability to see what a room consists of as well as if you can see an enemy and if it can see you.

Looting is mostly based off of skills such as foraging and lockpicking, so when you try to open something like a weapons locker or door, it will display the percent chance you have at a successful attempt as well as if it requires another item. While exploring, you can come across traps which can easily turn your great game into a desperate attempt to survive. Overall, the game is a great and challenging experience that is unique every time that both sci-fi and roguelike players should enjoy! I would keep on going, but I believe what I've already said should suffice. If you still aren't sure, try the demo which should give you a great hands-on experience with what the game offers!

This game is a pile of fun, yet has a lot of depth too. It is a dungeon crawler where you have to fight every floor and room to room. You are limited to the bits of ammo and weapons you can scrounge as you explore each floor.

Depending on who you choose to play your play style can change quite a bit, the Marine is a killing machine but not so great at hacking and locks while the Engineer is great at hacking and can open just about any thing, he is only a passable fighter.

The game is new from play through to play through though the recipes you discover remain constant as well as the messages you manage to decrypt so you may want to keep notes on these from game to game.

Over all well worth the price.

Absolutely the best Rouge Like game I have every played! Awesome support and fan base on the developer's website. Can't get enough of the game!

Word of advice, READ THE MANUAL that comes with the game. Lots of hints and tidbits to keep you alive and going deeper!

The Pit is a turn-based permadeath roguelike-like with graphics and guns based on Sword of the Stars lore. The nice thing that sets this apart from something like Binding of Isaac or Dungeons of Dredmore is that you don't have eyes in the back of your head. The 'fog of war' is not just what you see on the map but what you actually see with eyes set in the front of your skull. You have peripheral vision which gives you maybe 270 degrees of sight radius. You will run out of bullets and acid critters will melt your stuff away. It's brutal, just the way it should be.

Watch your back and open your ears because you will be attacked from behind in The Pit. The Suul'ka really know how to destroy lives.

This game is a must for every fan of a sci-fi or RPG dungeon crawler. Crafting, weapon modifying, wearing down the weapons and armor, hunger, health and scavenging for more ammo, weapons and food. These are the key things you can expect from this game and they deliver them in its own devilish way as each of the lower levels is filled with more dangerous traps, monsters and robots ready to end your tour.

One small advice - if you manage to encrypt a data log from a computer, it will most likely give a recipe on a craftable weapon or item and while soldier class is definitely strong, he is very, very bad at computers.

I'm not great at reviewing things so I will keep this simple.

There are only 3 choices of character currently and you don't get to customize anything as you start which is a little bit of a shame. I like being able to personalize a character, makes me try harder to survive (and cry when I die).

As you level you get to put points into 2 areas : Stats and Skills. It does seem a little basic, would have loved to see some skill trees as well, but its enough to keep me satisfied progression-wise.

There seems to be a good selection of weapons, recipes and enemies so should have a fair amount of longevity. There are also a lot of different things to hack, lockpick, decypher etc which allows for a lot of variation on each level.

All in all its a very enjoyable little game. Dungeons of Dredmor sucked about 70 hours of my life into it and I've got a feeling it will be the same with this. I've died multiple times but don't want to stop playing.

Hopefully it does well enough to warrant a sequel or maybe they will roll out some free updates or buyable dlc. Any fan of the roguelike genre should buy this game, I promise you will not regret it.

Ah well I'm off to die again...Maybe I'll make it to level 8 this time?

Since I am very new to the game this is a short overview. IN this game you play as a Marine, Engineer, or Scout in order to find out the cause/cure for what is effecting people. It is a fun little game that progressively gets harder as you go from level to level. There are many different items to find and discover in the game and this is half the fun. I am honestly not sure I will ever complete it as the game is not easy. There is much to like in this game and I highly recommend you try the demo and then support the if for no other reason; it is DRM Free! Being DRM Free is the main reason I bought it and want to support developers to keep creating games that players truly have a measure of control over. Enjoy the game.

'The Pit' reminds me of the freeware Roguelike version of Doom. Except it has more stuff to paw through and find, which was what I thought the Doom Roguelike needed.

I think The Pit could've used a bit more content-wise, as there aren't any special abilities you can use - it's all skill/stat based modifiers and that's where you point your level-up points. It will still force you to focus on a few of the numerous combat & looting skills, but the RPG system is pretty light but it looks like there's a decent amount of unlockable crafting recipes in it.

It's definitely roguelike in difficulty. I made it to "Sub Level" 8 on my first run, on normal. As with numerous other roguelikes it has a little tongue-in-cheek feel and nerdy references like the Sub Level name, amongst others.

Is it better than something like Dungeons of Dredmor? I don't think so. There's not enough character customization for that, and less content variety overall. But it's not bad if you would enjoy the Doom Roguelike with more containers to open, a bit more variety in equippables, and craftable items. It has absolutely no DRM at all, and it's an entertaining 'light' game, so I'm happy with the $9 purchase.

I would like to see more added to it, but I'd be willing to bet it's just a one-off side project for Kerberos. I'd like to see an add-on or additional content & features added, such as special abilities and unique mini-bosses (not so much Sigmund!), so that's why I gave it three instead of four stars.

Very good dungeon crawler. Ran into a few bugs such as getting stuck in a doorless room after descending and some obtusely described items. Overall, the gameplay is tighter Dungeons of Dredmor and you'll have a blast if you are into that type of game.

Took one star off for the bugs but it's Kerberos - the fact that it ran on day 1 is a small miracle and you know they are very good at patching. =)