Demon Lord: Just a Block by developer YuWave is a surprising game that had me going ‘one more stage’ as I wanted to get stronger as probably the world’s cutest Demon Lord. The game has you play a resurrected Demon Lord trying to remember his purpose of world domination after being slain by the Hero. Despite being about a Demon Lord, the game has very lighthearted story beats that brings with it a whole lot of chuckles and cuteness.
Gameplay runs on a grid, and enemies only act when you do. Controls are limited to movement keys and a single action input (the space bar for quick-slotted items), so it’s easy to pick up and can be played one-handed. The challenge comes from decision-making. Every step matters, especially early on, where positioning determines whether you take damage or avoid it while setting up attacks. As you progress, you unlock weapons, gain spells for damage or defense, and take on boss encounters that build on these mechanics. The game is turn-based so you can really take all the time you need in making decisions anytime in a stage. I even found a fun easter egg when your characters goes to sleep if you AFK too long even with an enemy right in front of it.
Early on, it can feel a bit slow with enemies only having basic abilities but as you progress it becomes alot more hectic with more enemies and more dangerous projectiles like bombs and fireballs. As you try to progress from dying and grabbing Demon Souls (the currency you get when completing levels), your Demon Lord slowly gets back his powers of but the enemies also similarly grow in strength.
The player has to fight bosses at the middle and end of each chapter. With each chapter featuring 20 or so stages with seven chapters all in all the game is definitely meaty out of the box. Taking on the bosses are hard but not impossible early on. Making your Demon Lord stronger through sheer trial and error is part of the charm of Demon Lord: Just a Block to eventually defeat all bosses. This grind and loop reminded me of Hades, and finally besting a boss is dose of pure endorphin.
There are also 14 different weapons in the game that also fuel a different kind of playstyle. Don a Hero’s Greatsword for the classic RPG warrior feel or even try out a ninja playstyle that focuses on agility with that makes you feel like a proper ninja Demon Lord. Apart from the weapons, the game also features 200+ abilities that you can mix and match for creating a truly unique playstyle.
The music and the art style also provide a very chill vibe so even when I’ve died multiple times in less than an hour while starting out I never got frustrated and got me going one more stage. The game can easily keep you entertained for a dozen of hours while being also incredibly cheap and is currently available on Steam with a 10% discount at PHP 381.60.