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Ziggurat

Ziggurat

Milkstone Studios · released Oct 23, 2014

ActionIndieRPGPCPlayStation 4Xbox OneWii U, Nintendo Switch

Dungeon-Crawling First Person Shooting at its finest! Fast-paced combat! Dozens of perks, spells and enemies! Level ups! Random Dungeons! Traps! Badass bosses! Carrots!

Steam page ↗OpenCritic ↗Metacritic 80 · users 7.3 ↗
78
VGC Score
·No trend datamedium confidence
84%
At launch
85%
Steam all-time
78%
Press
76%
Player sentiment
67%
Recent sentiment

Screenshots & trailers

Review sentiment over time

Weekly positive-review rate (green) and review volume (bars). Dashed lines mark significant patches; the amber line is the start of the current scoring window. Hover the dots to see what drove a dip or a jump.

How this score was computed

The VGC Score is a weighted blend on a press-comparable 0-100 quality scale. Steam approval rates are first calibrated (95% positive on Steam ≈ 89.5 quality, since Steam approval skews high). Press and tracked creator reviews each count ~2x a player review and share one cap against player evidence (creator buy/skip calls pool into an approval rate, calibrated like Steam approval); all-time sentiment is capped and halved (it's context, not verdict); reviews of the current build carry the most weight when a fresh patch anchors the window; and a 'typical game' prior keeps small samples from pegging the scale. Because press reviews and Metacritic user aggregates describe the launch build, their weight decays as the game ages (3-year half-life after a 1-year grace). That's how a game that launched rough can outgrow its old reception once updates win players over. Reviews under 2h playtime (the refund window), non-Steam activations, and free copies are downweighted.

ComponentPositiveQuality (0-100)Weight (pseudo-reviews)
Press reviews (OpenCritic)–786
Creator reviews (1 tracked)–970
All-time Steam reviews85%791000
Metacritic user ratings–761
Post-patch Steam reviews (trust-weighted)67%653
Calibration prior (typical game)–7250

Scoring window: last 30 days (no significant patch detected) · 8 reviews sampled · 6 total reviews in window · weighted 1.9 up / 0.9 down · computed 4h ago · full methodology →

Press & Creators reviews (22)

Individual verdicts from outlets we track: scored reviews first, most trusted outlets first among them. The small badge is each outlet's trust score: how well its scoring history aligns with players.

  • 70
    Nintendo LifeNintendo Life
    trust 76Jul 25, 2016

    “Ziggurat for Wii U is pretty much a bare-bones conversion of the original game with no extra features or clever use of the GamePad (although off-tv play is supported). It's possible to run through all five floors in little over an hour, but you'll want to keep playing to unlock all the extra characters and access the different perks as it's a whole bunch of fun to do so - especially as no two floors are ever the same. Ziggurat is pure, unabashed pick-up-and-play fun and it's also fairly unique an experience in the Wii U library. It's recommended then - just take note of the slight technical issues which drag our overall score down a touch.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Pure XboxPure Xbox
    trust 70Mar 19, 2015

    “For the past week we've been delving through the dungeon on a nightly basis, and we anticipate our interest in monster slaying won't cease upon completion of this review. That may be a bigger compliment than you realize.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Push SquarePush Square
    trust 69May 5, 2015

    “There's no school like old-school, and Ziggurat serves as a reminder that there's still fun to be had in 2015 with what's essentially an 'arena' shooter.”

    read full review ↗
  • 60
    ZTGDZTGD
    trust 68Mar 26, 2015

    “Ziggurat is an interesting game. I really enjoyed the fast-paced combat and incremental progression, but the technical issues stick out like a sore thumb. Still, if you can get past those there is a neat experience waiting here. Although the price tag feels a little steep, it never felt like I didn't get my money's worth of enjoyment out of it.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    GameSpotGameSpot
    trust 66Apr 28, 2015

    “Ziggurat can be completed in just over an hour, but it's unlikely you will stop there. The game is challenging, engaging, and a whole lot of fun, despite its problems.”

    read full review ↗
  • 70
    FNintendoFNintendo
    trust 65Aug 16, 2016

    “Being a short and intense game, Ziggurat gives many incentives to be played again and again and only suffers from some technical flaws in its Wii U incarnation which nevertheless don't stand in the way of an addictive game.”

    read full review ↗
  • 90
    TechRaptorTechRaptor
    trust 63Nov 30, 2014

    “A delightful modern take on the first person shooters of old.”

    read full review ↗
  • 80
    Gamers FTWGamers FTW
    trust 61Apr 27, 2015

    “Ziggurat proves to be a breath of fresh air in the roguelike genre. While it does rely on several key conventions, it manages to provide enough new features so as to appeal to a wide range of players. Framerate and difficulty problems aside, this is an adventure that fans of exploration and fantasy will not want to miss.”

    read full review ↗
  • 75
    IGNIGN
    trust 61May 12, 2015

    “An old school fantasy first person shooter like we rarely see. It can get repetitive on the long run, but genre lovers should try it.”

    read full review ↗
  • 75
    ACGACG
    trust 61CreatorAug 22, 2014
    read full review ↗
  • 100
    TotalBiscuit, The Cynical BritTotalBiscuit, The Cynical Brit
    trust 60CreatorOct 26, 2014
    read full review ↗
  • 81
    Bit CulturesBit Cultures
    trust 59Jul 22, 2016

    “Ziggurat is not perfect by any means, but it does its job well and provides one hell of a time.”

    read full review ↗

…and 10 more tracked reviews.

Patch history

  1. White Noise 2 Early Access available now!
    Oct 27, 2016
  2. Ziggurat Update #14 - Featuring the Gauntlet
    Jun 2, 2016significant · resets scoring window
  3. Ziggurat Update #14 - Featuring the Gauntlet
    Jun 2, 2016significant · resets scoring window
  4. Update #13: Balancing changes
    Oct 7, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  5. Update #13: Balancing changes
    Oct 7, 2015
  6. Update #12: Carrot invasion, daily challenges, and more!
    Jul 30, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  7. Update #12: Carrot invasion, daily challenges, and more!
    Jul 30, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  8. Update #11: New rooms
    Apr 8, 2015
  9. Update #11: New rooms
    Apr 8, 2015
  10. Update #10: Save & Quit (almost) anywhere
    Mar 27, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  11. Update #10: Save & Quit (almost) anywhere
    Mar 27, 2015
  12. Update #10 (Beta): Save & Quit (almost) anywhere
    Mar 24, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  13. Update #10 (Beta): Save & Quit (almost) anywhere
    Mar 24, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  14. Update #9: Small update - Balancing and new rooms
    Feb 16, 2015
  15. Update #9: Small update - Balancing and new rooms
    Feb 16, 2015
  16. Update #8: Bugfixes, gamepad improvements, new enemy and weapons!
    Feb 13, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  17. Update #8: Bugfixes, gamepad improvements, new enemy and weapons!
    Feb 13, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  18. Update #8 (Beta): Bugfixes and gamepad improvements
    Jan 28, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  19. Update #8 (Beta): Bugfixes and gamepad improvements
    Jan 28, 2015significant · resets scoring window
  20. Update #7: Bugfixes, new room modifiers and boss balancing
    Dec 29, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  21. Update #7: Bugfixes, new room modifiers and boss balancing
    Dec 29, 2014
  22. Ziggurat Update #6: Minor bugfixes and balancing
    Dec 19, 2014
  23. Ziggurat Update #6: Minor bugfixes and balancing
    Dec 19, 2014
  24. Update #5: New boss and minor improvements
    Dec 4, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  25. Update #5: New boss and minor improvements
    Dec 4, 2014
  26. Update #4: New weapons, room modifiers, and balancing
    Nov 26, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  27. Update #4: New weapons, room modifiers, and balancing
    Nov 26, 2014
  28. Update #3: The Big Content update
    Nov 20, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  29. Update #3: The Big Content update
    Nov 20, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  30. Update #2.1: Hotfixes and an apology
    Nov 7, 2014
  31. Update #2.1: Hotfixes and an apology
    Nov 7, 2014
  32. Update #2: More rooms, new perks, bugfixes!
    Nov 6, 2014
  33. Update #2: More rooms, new perks, bugfixes!
    Nov 6, 2014
  34. Update #1: New enemy, bugfixes and improvements!
    Oct 29, 2014
  35. Update #1: New enemy, bugfixes and improvements!
    Oct 29, 2014
  36. Update #17: Final touches prior to release!
    Oct 22, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  37. Update #17: Final touches prior to release!
    Oct 22, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  38. Update #16: Balancing and bugfixes
    Oct 15, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  39. Update #16: Balancing and bugfixes
    Oct 15, 2014significant · resets scoring window
  40. Update #15: New boss and wands!
    Oct 10, 2014

…and 22 earlier patch announcements.