DemonCrawl is a puzzle roguelite that combines the addicting gameplay of Minesweeper with hundreds of unique items, stages, and abilities!
Mostly Positive
1,310 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | — | Y |
I love DemonCrawl but I have mixed feelings about it. On the Surface this game has everything that I want from a roguelite. A large variety of items, classes and builds, lot's of replayability. But there are some massive issues that the game has. But I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning.
DemonCral is a minesweeper roguelite. You play an adventurer that moves through various regions and has to avoid monsters while doing so. Each stage is a minesweeper board that you have to solve. This means opening up cells, checking the numbers that indicate how many monsters are nearby and marking cells that you believe have monsters. After opening every cell that doesn't have a monster you win the stage. If you however open a stage with a monster you don't immediately lose like in Minesweeper, instead you get attacked by the monster. Your character starts with limited health and every stage the monsters have attack power that shows how much damage they inflict. Harder stages have not only more monsters but also inflict more damage on you which could result in a one hit death. Solving the game is mostly possible through logic just like real Minesweeper but there are cases in which you have no choice but to guess. But thisd wouldn't be a roguelite if there weren't a ton of different items that can help you in that case. There are many different types of items. Passive items have a passive effect that automatically activates on itself. Consumable items can be used from your inventory to activate a one-time effect. Magic items are active items like consumables excep they can be used multiple times. Each magic item has a "mana charge" that is depleted when you use the item. Whenever you open numbered cells, you gain mana equal to the number revealed. This mana is randomly split among your magic items, so it's better to have less of those items in order to recharge them faster. Legendary items are incredibly powerful passive items that completely shift the gameplay in your favour. You can only hold one of those items and if you get a new legendary you are asked which one you want to keep. Lastly Omen items are negative items that you randomly can get from negative effects.
You find these items in chests. Each stage will usually have at least one chest, some modifiers and items can increase or decrease this number. You don't know what item the chest contain and you always have to take the item it has even if you don't want that item and especially if it's an Omen. The only exception is when your inventory is full, in that case the item is put on the ground which allows you to pick it up if you free up space. That being said, you cannot simply discard items except in very specific scenarios. This is one of the criticisms I have with the game, I get that you are not allowed to simply drop Omens but let me at least discard normal items I don't need anymore.
Besides items you also have various character classes that you unlock over time, starting with the Novice. The Novice is a beginnemr class that allows to avoid losses if you made a mistake but doesn't offer anything relevant in terms of power. Other classes on the other hand are much more interesting.
There are a ton of classes to discover and each one usually specializes in one of the many different game mechanics. Unlocking classes requires the player to fulfill special requirements, like killing enough monsters for example. However, just unlocking the class does not allow you to use it, you still have to buy it. And this brings me to the worst part of the game, the token system. During the game you can find two types of currency, coins which are used to buy items in shops and use the special abilities of NPCs, and tokens which is the metacurrency of the game. You get some tokens by leveling up and can also find some randomly in stages if you are lucky. The best way are however daily quests from which you can have up to three at the same time although you only get one new one per day. That being said, the amount of tokens you get is laughable and the amount you need is immense.
Let's take for example classes. Each class has to be unlocked in three stages which means both the requirement fulfillment and buying it afterwards. The first stage allows you to play as that class and has a passive effect, the second stage adds another passive effect to that class and the third stage finally unlocks the ultimate ability of that class which is an active ability that you can use every few solved stages. The first stage costs 10, the second 20 and the final one even 30 tokens, so to fully unlock a class you have to pay [b]60[/b] tokens! Not onyl that but you can only begin to unlock the next stage of the class if you bought already the one before it, which makes the entire process to unlock and buy every class incredibly tedious. And classes are not the only thing you can buy in the token shop, you also can buy permanent upgrades that affect all classes, legendary items that can appear in future runs and a bunch of cosmetic items which are of course optional but are still part of the grind. All of this is clearly meant so players spent as much as possible with the game. You would expect that kind of grind with a live service game, not a singleplayer roguelite.
But the grind does not end here. After you finished the campaign of th egame you unlock the true endgame. Two new game modes are unlocked, Endless multiverse and Beyond. Endless Multiverse is exactly what you expect, an endless mode. After you beat all required stages you can move to the next multiverse. You loose all your progress but there are NPCs that allow you to pay to keep at least some of it to make it easier for the next multiverse. These multiverses get hard with each recursion. That mode is mainly designed for grinding and farming. Beyond is where the true endgame lies. In that mode you only play three short but very hard stages. In order to play these stages you have to pay artifacts which you randomly can find in normal stages. You also have to pay a token to play Beyond. Beyond is the only way to aquire Divine items and sigils. Divine items are more powerful versions of normal items. Unlocking those allows you to find them in future runs. Sigils on the other hand are meta items that you can take with you on a run. Each one has randomized properties, positive and negative. Sigils have various tiers with higher tiers being more powerful. But to get those tiers you need to use emblens on Beyond and this is where I completely lost it. Emblems change the rules of the game, making it overall harder, but they also require you to pay more artifacts and tokens to even attempt the run to begin with. Tier 3 emblems cost 300 of each! You usally get around 1-3 artifacts per stage and only if you are lucky. In order to get that amount of drops you have to break the game and I don't think that's a good design philosophy.
But I would lie if I said I hate the game. Just the core gameplay is enough to get me hooked for hours. It's after all Minesweeper with extra stuff added to it to make it more fun. If that sounds like something you would enjoy, make sure to check the game out.
But be aware, the game has at this point over 1000 items and the devs cannot test every single interaction of every item, class and stage modifier, which results in frequent bugs and in worse cases, crashes. There are constant bug fixes and patches but the devs also want to add more which worsens the problem.
It's back! :D
Now to wait for it to come back to mobile. Definitely one of my most played games on mobile until it started crashing upon launch.
Without this game I would have gone to the grave without actually learning how to properly play Minesweeper:
(+) Roguelike; tons of unlockable content and features easily on par with Binding of Isaac+DLC
(+) Music is surprisingly great and gets you pumped about playing Minesweeper for hours
(- / +) Balancing; there are a lot of systems such as item favoring and crafting and profiles for your runs but it seems like it's almost TOO complex for how simple the gameplay ultimately is. It's not quite a negative but it does seem like an awful large amount of grinding for getting materials and you will never have enough money 99% of the time to make use of the crafting shops in a run
(-) Game Crashing + Bugged Interactions; as of this year it seems like there was a patch that has stabilized the game a good amount but I just recently had something where my save data over a 5+ hour play session disappeared for no reason.
(-) Mobile Version being a joke/unavailable; supposedly they are "planning to restart" the dev process but this is a huge disappointment as Demon Crawl is probably the only game I have ever truly considered to purchase on my phone
All in all, this is a very addictive and fun indie game that has a lot of charm and seems like it will be getting a breath of fresh air in the future.
One of the best ways to make a roguelike, and now they are actually fixing it.
This is a very charming game. That said, it's not without flaws, and to be honest, it's got quite a few of them. There's a lot of bugs, luck is a very important factor, etc.
I will say though, the devs are very actively addressing any reported issues, making QoL changes and introducing new concepts, so if you're into some logic puzzles with some rogue-like elements, this is still worth the time trying out.
Demoncrawl is a wonderful excuse to play Minesweeper with a lot of ways that you can twist and bend it to make the game no longer really about minesweeper, and more about crashing the game with stacking freezing explosions. Somehow. Also, sometimes, the game just makes it impossible to win. It's great!
This game is so awesome. So much content, so much minesweeper goodness. Easyly in my top 10 games of all time.
Minesweeper but roguelike, do i need to say more?
It's rough around the edges, but when it's fun, it's *insanely* fun. If you like Minesweeper and you like roguelikes, this is a must-play. It still has its fair share of Minesweeper BS in it, but that's also what you're signing up for with a Minesweeper roguelike. Every run feels truly unique and there are a ton of systems that interact in super cool ways. When you get a god-run, you'll know it, and you won't ever want to stop playing.
If you're looking for a roguelike that's entirely skill-dependent and one where you feel like you could've won every run, look elsewhere: if you're in for the long haul and don't mind an occasional run getting ripped from your hands from a bad stage modifier or missed 50/50, join the rest of us gamblers and pick this up.
Minesweeper just became hard to master.
This is a never seen concept, very well executed.
While the core game is fun, repeat crashes and consistent errors eventually soured my love for the game. You will find a tame sounding synergy that will brick the run. Lost my first save to a corrupted save cloud years ago but I started again anyway. Then the game failed to launch for a while and was only fixed recently after a long time of silence on Steam (Enough to warrant a removal from the storefront).
We finally get an update fixing the launch issues and the launch of 2.0, only for my save to brick again. I consider this the final straw. Save yourself the trouble and look elsewhere.
clicking on numbers in Microsoft Excel
*gets an omen after posting a review*
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玩到一半会死掉，然后报错。。
I really love this game and I kind of wish there was more games like these, the game after the newest patch can still crash sometimes. But it's much less than before so I will recommend this game to anyone who feels like playing some cool minesweeper.
ну такое. все криво и довольно скучно. едва ли это интереснее классического сапера. все остальные механники помимо - руины. классические механники скопированы криво вплоть до поля, которое надо перематывать. однозначно брать не слушайте здравый смысл, мыж пк-говноеды
Really good roguelike, and I dont even particualarly like minesweeper, however, this is the perfect game if you want to kill 15 minutes. sitting in a queue for another game? tab in, play, tab out, etc. great music in this game aswell. especially in 'Lagoon' and 'Beach' stages.
At least it runs now, but It's still an unstable mess of bugs and crashes. Every single daily quest and beyond quest I've played has crashed since the latest update. There are still multiple missing assets, some which cause crashes and some which just cause annoying errors and missing textures in-game. The Item Tree minigame is one of the easiest places to see this, as it still isn't working correctly.
As much as I love this game, I can't in good conscience endorse buying this, even on sale. Avoid unless and until the dev has actually made the game stable.
minesweeper roguelike with tons of like.. rpg-y things, like items and classes and quests and whatnot. And the music is good
I really want to recommend this game, but it is so unstable that it actively hinders gameplay. It WILL crash, repeatedly, often in crucial moments. Do not be surprised if it just turns off on you right after beating the last level of a mission, resetting your progress. The crashes really need to be fixed before this can be recommended to anyone. Fingers crossed the dev fixes them, this game has serious potential.
It's a fun unique roguelie minesweeper, the game was abandoned for some time but developer came back with updates.
It's a bit confusing. Didn't really take the time to learn the game a whole bunch, as far as the roguelite aspect goes.
Went to classic mode, tried generating an insane difficulty board, with no guessing, and it crashed when selecting the first tile. 3 times in a row. I'm refunding.
DemonCrawl, developed and published by Therefore Games, is one of the most inventive reinterpretations of a classic puzzle formula in recent years. At a glance, it resembles Minesweeper—grid-based, number-driven, and built around hidden threats—but that familiarity quickly gives way to a layered roguelite structure filled with items, modifiers, character builds, and meta-progression systems. What begins as a nostalgic logic puzzle gradually transforms into a sprawling strategy sandbox where deduction, risk management, and build experimentation intertwine.
The core gameplay loop is deceptively simple. Each board contains hidden demons rather than mines, and revealing tiles provides numerical clues about adjacent threats. Unlike traditional Minesweeper, however, stepping on a demon does not instantly end the run. Instead, players have health, defensive stats, and various passive effects that allow them to survive mistakes. This shift fundamentally changes the tone. Rather than a single fatal error wiping progress, players can absorb damage, recover, and adapt. The result is a puzzle experience that blends logic with survivability mechanics, creating tension without constant reset frustration.
Where DemonCrawl truly distinguishes itself is in its staggering item variety. Hundreds of unique items can be discovered during runs, each capable of altering the rules of the board in subtle or dramatic ways. Some items manipulate tile probabilities, others convert demons into resources, while certain relics chain reactions across the grid. Synergies between items can lead to wildly different strategies—one build might focus on health regeneration and tanking through mistakes, while another prioritizes information-gathering tools to minimize risk. The emergent complexity from these interactions gives the game near-endless replayability.
Progression extends beyond individual runs. Completing stages rewards tokens that can be invested into talents and masteries, shaping long-term playstyles. Different character archetypes emphasize distinct strengths, such as survivability, item generation, or efficiency. This meta-layer gives players goals beyond immediate survival, encouraging experimentation with new builds and approaches. Unlockables, quests, and daily challenges further expand the experience, making it feel closer to a roguelite RPG than a simple puzzle game.
The game offers a wide range of modes, from structured campaigns to endless, procedurally generated multiverse runs. Endless mode in particular showcases the depth of its systems, blending stage modifiers in unpredictable combinations. Some boards may introduce environmental hazards or altered win conditions, forcing adaptation. The dynamic nature of these challenges ensures that even veteran players encounter fresh situations. However, this variety also introduces an element of randomness that can feel overwhelming.
Randomness is perhaps the most divisive aspect of DemonCrawl. While many players enjoy the unpredictable item drops and shifting stage conditions, others may feel that luck sometimes overshadows skill. Unlike pure logic puzzles where every solution is deterministic, DemonCrawl incorporates probability and chance heavily. Certain builds can become extraordinarily powerful with the right item combinations, while unlucky runs may struggle to gain momentum. This roguelite DNA is integral to its identity, but it does move the experience away from purely cerebral deduction into hybrid strategy territory.
Visually, DemonCrawl embraces a clean pixel-art aesthetic that prioritizes clarity over spectacle. The board remains readable even during chaotic chain reactions, and item icons are distinct enough to track builds effectively. The interface is information-dense but well organized, allowing players to manage inventories and talents efficiently. Sound design is understated, with ambient tones and subtle effects that keep focus on gameplay rather than narrative immersion.
What ultimately makes DemonCrawl compelling is its transformation of a decades-old concept into something expansive and modern. It respects the core logic of Minesweeper while daring to expand it into a full-fledged progression system filled with discovery and experimentation. Each run becomes a story of adaptation—navigating uncertainty, leveraging synergies, and deciding when to take calculated risks.
DemonCrawl is not a traditional puzzle game, nor is it a pure roguelite. It occupies a unique space between the two, offering both logical deduction and chaotic build crafting. For players who appreciate depth, variety, and the thrill of uncovering powerful combinations, it provides an endlessly engaging experience. While its reliance on randomness may not appeal to purists seeking deterministic puzzles, its ambitious fusion of genres makes it one of the most creative reinterpretations of a classic formula in modern indie gaming.
Rating: 7/10
This could be such a nice game but stuff is not properly explained so you get a lot of trial and error because of insufficient descriptions of items and effects or they just straight up not interacting in the way they insinuate. What killed it for me was when the game askes you "do you really wanna abandon your run?" after finally completing the first full run and naturally I pressed "No" so the game crashed itself because there was no run to continue.
Edit: Gave it another chance. Got a decently entertaining run. Randomly crashes upon level completion. Thanks
This is a game I love so much, but couldn't recomend it to anyone. Its brutal. You have to be the type of person that is okay with spending 5-10 minutes to get a run going then die because of a guess that was totally unavoidable. To make it worse, even if you can get a run going, there are so many item interactions that just crash the game or just do NOTHING to help the run. The only mastery that is worth playing is the Novice, just to ensure you don't die as much to guesses. This will be the only way to make progress on other achievements. Don't get me wrong, you will still die, A LOT. but it brings the amount of resets needed for a good run from like 20+ to 10.
If the early game was more forgiving, I think this game would be much more enjoyable. Some examples of how it could be improved. 1. Getting a selection of items to choose when you start a run (I get heirlooms are a thing, but thats really late game and also really hard to get without farming, which is boring imo) 2. reducing guess damage to 1 on the first few stages until you have a chance to start building the run.
It's fun when it pops off, but getting to that point is a slog that takes way to much time and feels out of your control.
EDIT:
ALSO, crazy that there is no way to join back into arena if your game crashes. Crazy. I wish this game worked.
Very fun. Has a few bugs here and there but the main issue of crashing on startup (with wifi on) has been fixed in the recent update.
This is a really good game. I love it so much and i was incredibly sad when the game became unplayable. Ive had this game for 4-5 years Highly recommend
I would like to note for anyone reading the "developer abandoned the game" reviews that it is community known that the developer had a Critical error and massive data loss happen which is why the game was put on hold. forgive them for gathering finances and blame the economy.
this game has a crazy amount of items and playstyles. you can unlock and pick between 35 different starting masteries. just look at the achievements.
P.S: to help build up early tokens you can sell artifacts in the codex and unlock the prophet mastery. it helps.
For the longest time, I had no hope for this game; it was buggy, (still somewhat is, but for a game like this, its kind of expected) it was completely forgotten for like 5 years, it crashed on start unless you weren't connected to the internet, etc.
But I'm happy to say the devs seem to have finally put on their big boy pants and did a huge bug fixing update which made the game playable and re-sparked my love for it. If you like relaxing yet engaging gameplay that you can alt tab out of any time, this game is for you. It will make you feel smart with crazy builds you tinker with (also because it's just minesweeper lol) and it will punish you for being alive (guesses </3).
With an amazing rogue-lite system going for it, I can say I have never played a more satisfying game of its genre. Coming up with with insane farming builds to unlock most things in one go was loads of fun, it made me realize that you truly can do whatever you want in this minesweeper. When starting out, however, it can feel both ways. The game will pull out ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rules in some stages that make you feel helpless and just lose you the run. Whether that be guesses, stage mods, or omens, this game has a lot of ways to screw you over.
But if you endure, you will truly learn how to bend this game to your will and it's a ton of fun. Highly recommend. The Item Tree stage still blows though.
Thank you for updating the game. I can finally recommend this to my friends again because it truly is amazing.
Its a great roguelike minesweeper game and one of my comfort games.
Very glad the latest update made it playable again.
dad came back with the milk!!
good game
play it
EDIT: WE'RE SO BACK
I used to play this game a bunch during downtime in my day-to-day since you can get in and out of a run pretty quickly. It has so much content these days that you'd be hard pressed to find similarities between any two runs. The music is an absolute banger (Elysium Theme my beloved, Shrine Theme is Ghost in the Shell coded) and has no right to go this hard for a minesweeper roguelite. As for downsides, unlocking cosmetics is very grindy, and I personally hate having to guess all the time (skill issue). This game can get very difficult at the high end, but also lets you come up with some crazy build synergies if you get lucky. You can always just play on a lower difficulty though.
It had a rough couple of years where the latest update broke the game and would crash if you were connected to the internet, and they did go radio silent for about 2 or so years, but as of literally yesterday (Feb 9th, 2026) they fixed it and are trying to relist the game on steam. I won't begin to assume why they went quiet for so long, but I can say that I had a rush of happiness seeing an update after all this time. If you like sweeping mines, give it a shot (when it's available to buy again lmao).
With the latest update the game has been fixed! Thank you for the update devs!!
I love the game!
fun game, it crashed upon launch for a long time but that should be fixed now
Game is working on my machine as of 10th Feb 2026. Tried it after the news of patch fixing the crash issues and happy to have this back as something to come back to.
Yes, it's great/best minesweeper roguelike.
Great minesweeper roguelike. I may refine my review later. But this game has been on hiatus for a few years now and was left in a somewhat broken state. But if i recall he had to put things on hold for personel reason which sucked for sure. But the man is back and he has fixed the issues and we got 2 updates in one day and it sounds like hes back and working on getting this game back on steam. I hope he does and hopefully we can see more content in the future.
i sweep i sweep no tears come down yet i sweep and sweep i love to sweep yet i can't help but sweep on my final exodus from this world i sweep and on my grand genesis into this world i sweep and i'm asked if i mind but yet i still sweep and though i may mind i find i still sweep and i find if i'm kind they will still sweep and while i'm finally dying they might mind sweeping.
THE KING HAS RETURNED! <3
Edit: Thank you for fixing the game devs!
Game crashes on start. Its not a compatibility issue, the game forcibly crashes itself on launch. Really sucks that the devs completely abandoned the game, very frustrating.
Update Feb 17, 2026
The developer has updated the game to make it playable again!
This is an excellent roguelike minesweeper game, with a huge amount of depth that isn't obvious when initially playing it. Part of this is because several gameplay systems are locked behind either grinding or beating the game on high difficulties. Without classes, favored items, and the special runs you start unlocking, success can feel more dependent on random chance than it really is. Once you do start seeing how the game systems interact, it's more obvious in retrospect how far you could have gotten with the tools you had earlier in the game. It all comes together very well, and it's satisfying to put everything together.
Whether you like this largely boils down to:
- Do you like minesweeper as a mechanic for skill expression? That is, the game will throw unsolvable boards at you constantly as the game progresses, and it's up to you to figure out how to win anyway.
- Do you like incremental mechanic discovery and unlocking? Many important mechanics are either obfuscated or hidden behind hours of playtime.
If so, I think you're looking at the best game in its class.
---
It was an excellent roguelike minesweeper game, but now it just crashes on start. Don't buy. It seems like there was some sort of online functionality built in, but the game was never designed to launch without it working properly and now whatever it's trying to connect to is shut down.
タイトル画面でクラッシュする人のために、対処法を翻訳しました。
ちょっと長いですが、簡単です。
よければ試してみてください。
手順１，このゲームのパソコン上の住所を知る
steamを開いて、ライブラリからこのゲームを右クリック
管理→ローカルファイルを閲覧をクリック
Demoncrawl.exeを右クリック
パスをコピーをクリック（後で使います）
手順２，windows defender ファイアウォールを開く
windowsボタン＋sを押して、「ファイアウォール」と入力し、エンター
windows defender ファイアウォールが候補に出てくるのでクリック
左側に出てくる「詳細設定」をクリック
手順３、新しい、送信の規則を作成する
左側の「送信の規則」をクリック
右側の「新しい規則…」をクリック
「プログラム」をクリック
この「プログラムのパス」にチェックを入れる
手順１でコピーしたパスをそこに入力（※コピーしたパスにクォート””がついてるとはじかれるので、最初と最後についているクォート記号を消してください）
「次へ」を選択
手順４，接続をブロックする
「接続をブロックする」を選択
「ドメイン」「プライベート」「パブリック」にチェックが入ってるか確認
「次へ」
手順５，名前をつける
規則に名前を付ける。なんでもいいです
「完了」を押す
おつかれさまでした
Game crashes on launch.
Okay, after having the game get a couple updates, I'm willing to concede on my review from when the game got delisted. The game is good, it can be unfair at times but honestly that should be obvious once you realize the game has a modifier to make stages not require guessing. Lots of fun mechanics to interact with and honestly the games gotten a lot more lenient with the new QoL changes from recent updates. (Seriously why the ♥♥♥♥ were omens just as common on Normal as they were on Hard?) I'm hopeful the game will at least be in a significantly better state, or at least a more stable on, by the time the dev inevitably stops updating it again. (Also to the dev, if you're gonna stop updating a game for over a year, let alone several, you should PROBABLY send a news post out on steam, where people are buying it, to let people know WHY it's happening and when you think the game will be getting updates again.)
After the whole delisted thing I really wasn't sure if the recent updates were gonna actually keep coming out or if they were just a bandaid to get the game back on steam so the dev could keep the passive income. Seeing as how there are now clearly plans for DLC content I'm at least somewhat certain we'll keep getting updates. (At least we will if the DLCs don't flop) Though I personally won't be buying any until steam cloud saves actually work again. (Please I beg of you if your games SAYS it has cloud saving it should have cloud saves WORKING).
I just had an urge to play this, but unfortunately you can't without going through a fix on your own to not allow the game to connect to the internet. A little sad for a developer to dip on their game, I hope they notice it and patch it.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1141220/discussions/1/596288191849476878/
EDIT:
I went poking around other reviews and found one from Quezzar which linked to a fix for this crash issue. See the following, which worked for me: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1141220/discussions/1/596288191849476878/
^ that fix did work for me and i was able to play the game without any issues! having a good time with it some far. I had the itch to play some minesweeper and this definitely scratched that itch and then some.
I really loved this game when it worked, unfortunately the game appears to be abandoned and no longer starts. I'm sad to leave a bad review on such a good game but your just wasting your money if you buy it now
EDIT: They fixed the launch issue!!! Changed my rating to positive as I most certainly would buy this game again.
Good game but broken on launch.
Recently got back to gaming. Used to love this game, as seen from my hours played. Well colour me surprised when I found that the game crashes on launch, when I tried to play it. I should not be turning off firewall or internet to play a game. So until it's fixed, I would not recommend buying it.
It's truly a shame because it is a good game otherwise.
The current version has a launch bug that's been live on the discussion for more than a month. Can't recommend a broken game.
The devs came back from the dead to fix a crashing bug pretty much everyone thought was permanent. That alone deserves the thumbs up, but DemonCrawl earns it on its own merit as well. Great Minesweeper rougelike with a lot of progression and unlockables
It Fun
Well, the game is fixed now. But I'm still leaving the original review below.
[strike]Sometime in September 2025, this game became unplayable unless you turn off your internet while playing or block the game from accessing the internet via firewall. Something happened to the game's servers making the game crash on the title screen.
The last update was in 2023, so it's safe to assume this issue will not be fixed.
If for some reason you wish to buy this game despite that, go ahead. It's a really cool minesweeper roguelike allowing for tons of playstyles and having great atmosphere. But leaving the game in this state is unacceptable.[/strike]
2026/2/11 レビュー更新
起動時のクラッシュ問題について改善されました。アップデートありがとうございます。
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暇があればプレイするくらい好きなゲームでしたが、何の前触れもなく急に起動後のスタート画面で必ずクラッシュするようになりプレイ不可となりました。
フォーラムを確認する限りインターネット接続を切るか、ゲームアプリからのデータ送信をブロックするよう設定する事でゲームを起動することが出来ますがそれでは一部コンテンツが遊べません。
こちらの問題が解決されるまでは購入はおすすめできませんのでご注意ください。
intentionally broken via an update and hasnt been fixed in years. no matter what I try I cant get it to not crash on startup, dont buy it, point blank. I cant even get a refund on it because im past the 2 hour play marker, but I would suggest if you arent past that, refund it, and buy something that actually works. instead of a digitial placeholder in your steam library
*crash in the menu,
the only work around is to turn off your internet and pick a quest, then play it, then turn on you internet again
*its fixed
[strike] obviously im not recommending to buy this game,but im too deep in this ♥♥♥♥ [/strike]
Game has been crashing on menu for most people for roughly a year now. I've tried multiple ways the community has said would allow me to play, but it doesn't seem like it's working. Maybe I'm doing it wrong.
I don't recommend buying this game in this state.
So many crashes. It's a mess to get it to run and then it it throws errors when you get in the game.
Shame. I got this way back when and stopped playing for years after it accidentally overwrote my save. Turns out there's not much to return to and servers shut down.
We are SO back . the dev has come back after a few years and is updating the game again :,)
incredible minesweeper roguelike; really, really enjoyable with a ton of items and variance. Endgame content is plentiful, grinding with infinite item combos is fun, and arena is a blast to play
An good twist on the minesweeper genre, tho it seems that a bug is rampant. Should you encounter it check this guide : https://steamcommunity.com/app/1141220/discussions/1/596288191849476878/
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game crashes on launch with current version. dont do it.
There had recently been an issue where the game was crashing on launch. This after the game had not been updated for some time. However, the developers did come back, managed to fix that issue (and seemingly a few more), so the game is playable again. And I am glad, I was hoping to recommend this game to a few people.
At its heart, DemonCrawl is a minesweeper roguelite. The core gameplay is minesweeper, but like other roguelites, you can unlock items or abilities that make the game easier - or more difficult - as you play. There are quests to accomplish, currency to spend on your trail, and a final boss at the end with rewards if you manage to defeat the last map with that interference.
It can be daunting to try to collect everything though, as there are secrets that will occasionally come about and sometimes you may need an item to complete them that you cannot find. In fact, frequently you will need an item you can't find. There are traps as well as helpful items, curses that harm you. There's modifiers such as not being able to place flags, or the worst of them in my opinion, having a couple numbers that lie to you. But, really, you're looking at "minesweeper with extra bits" and this is about what you would expect from such a title.
This game was good, the key word there being was. Amazing premise, fun gameplay, now it barely works and crashes more often than it loads. I don't know what happened to the devs/dev or why they suddenly abandoned everything, but from some brief research they've gone hard into AI which is just sad in all honesty. The last times I tried to play before fully giving up all ended in crashes, other recent reviews seem to show that this has gotten worse.
I cannot recommend this game. If you are looking for a fun rougelike/roguelite minesweeper experience you will no longer find it here, only a sad husk of an otherwise promising idea.
The game has been completely abandoned by the devs and is now unplayable, crashing on startup. Sucks because the game was really fun before and now I just can't play one of my favorite niche roguelikes anymore.
EDIT: The launch issue has been fixed and the game will now hopefully be getting updates again, so my negative review is rescinded. The game is really fun! I highly recommend it.
Was a good game, but now it will ALWAYS CRASH on the main menu unless you disconnect from the internet.
It seems like it attempts to connect to a server that no longer exists.
Edit: They finally fixed it!
Loved this game but now its just crash after crash.. whats happened to the developers updating or have they thrown it out the window ?
Crashes at main menu
I think it's worth it for the price... but there are definitely issues. I've had issues with save corruption, so always back up your save files. Other than that, it's a good time with a huge amount of item variety and replayability, but it's certainly very dependent on board luck. A solid understanding of Minesweeper will alleviate this somewhat, but sometimes you will just lose a run to no fault of your own.
I would give this a "Mixed" if I could. The positives generally outweigh the negatives for me, though.
March 2026 update to review:
The game was finally updated and thus the issue with the crash at launch fixed but I still don't recommend you buy this game. It took a workaround from the community to get the bare minimum working but a few functions require connection to play. (Hero Trials, Multiplayer Arena). While it was nice to see a fix happen, the radio silence is not welcome. It's a shame too, this game is quite fun but who knows if Therefore Games will disappear again and this happens all over again.
Original Post Below made December 2025 (this happened for almost an entire year, more than seven months for context.)
DO NOT BUY THIS GAME.
The game crashes immediately upon getting to the title screen.
如果你不知道怎么回事的话，这个游戏现在一打开就会闪退。因为多人游戏的代码有问题，连带着整个游戏都会崩溃。解决办法就是关了WIFI再打开游戏，或者在防火墙里面把游戏网络屏蔽了
Edit; Feb-16-2026:
The game has been fixed and reinstated on the store, with mentions of "new content" on the way on the Demoncrawl Discord. This is honestly a bit concerning since I think the biggest issue this game has is the insane amount of items bloating the pool already. It's a weary recommend if you think you're okay with the 1,000+ items, but to most people I'd say no still.
Original Review:
Crashes on startup, even before then the game's been in a downward spiral for a while with a stupid amount of items that just get in your way in an unfun manner. If you're willing to downpatch to a better version through Steam Console shenanigans (since the dev doesn't let you downpatch through beta branches) then yeah sure I guess but I just think the fire's gone at this point.
EDIT: Issues have been resolved, disregard the negative things I said in this review.
I love this game, but it currently crashes upon starting. Do not buy right now! Under normal circumstances I would gladly recommend this game but in the current state I would not. :(
Edit: I have found a way to successfully prevent DemonCrawl from crashing, there are two methods which can be found on the official DemonCrawl discord (found [url=https://discord.gg/5CGZr47vEB]here[/url]) and are as follows:
-Downpatching to a previous version of the game (I haven't tested this)
-Blocking inbound and outbound packets using Windows Firewall (or whatever your equivalent is), basically playing in offline mode. You can get the same effect by turning off your Wi-Fi connection. (I do this, Hero Trials and Arena mode are off-limits and will result in the game soft-locking you onto a "Connecting to Server" screen until you restart the game)
I am currently working on a project that explains DemonCrawl in it's entirety, I probably won't finish it for another couple months worth of free time.
It has been fixed. Thanks to the dev, I can now play better minesweeper while listening to audiobooks. It sounds like sarcasm, but it is not.
I want so badly to give this a positive review. The game is great, it's a creative way to add roguelike elements to minesweeper. Each run is fun and unique, and fundamentally is just a good source of minesweeper gameplay.
Or it would be, if the game didn't crash on startup. They made a change somewhere, and the game cannot run anymore. Do not buy this game, and report it to steam as broken, if you can. Because it is.
This is one of my favorite games on steam, however the game is abandoned and is currently unplayable due to a "crash on launch" bug
Like a lot of others are saying. The game no longer works at all, go play something else. It's a shame, the game was fun while it lasted.
Was a very enjoyable minesweeper game, but crashes on start up and now unplayable.
Game crashes on startup. The dev should at least have the decency of pulling it from sale until a fix is found.
And we are back BOYS! New Update fixes the crashing issue! Back to sweeping!
Used to love this game. It was my number one time killer. It's been abandoned by the developer and now crashes on startup. Do not buy.
The game was fun but has been left in an unplayable, crashing, bug-filled state and has been abandoned by the developer. Do not waste your money
Does not work
Игра вылетает при запуске
Дисбаланс тут-там
A genuinely one-of-a-kind Minesweeper Roguelite that has sadly been abandoned by its developer. Left to rot, it is unstable at the best of times and now crashes reliably on startup. Workarounds exist, but you shouldn't have to fix a single-player game that's crashing due to an issue with the developer's servers. C'mon, renew your cert or issue a patch to remove the online requirement, Eric.
This was a great game. The aspects of RPG mechanics mixing with minesweeper's base created some cool situations where you figured things out and collected items to offset truly unwinnable situations. That said, the game now crashes on startup and is unavoidable. I redownloaded this after remembering the fun I had but having forgotten why I uninstalled in the first place. Do not buy this game as it doesn't work.
Edit: The developers have since returned and are working on the game again. That said, it doesn't erase the fact the game was essentially abandoned for years, so I would still be currently wary on purchasing this game. At least until more progress is seen and confidence in the developers return.
It was pretty neat, can't play it though, keeps crashing on startup
Is a fun little rogue-lite minesweeper puzzle game but just reinstalled it to play it again and Its crashing on startup. Looks like this is a widespread issue and has been happening for multiple years so far. Doesn't look like the Dev has any intention of fixing this bug. Do not buy until resolved. Will change my review once it is.
game has been left on a version that crashes on startup for a long time. game will likely never be playable again.
used to play the hell out of this game, and then the dev abandoned it for some AI trash and left the game completely nonfunctional. dont buy
I absolutely loved playing this game. However the developer has clearly abandoned this project. Currently to play, if you even own it, you are required to block the outgoing connection with a firewall (or be completely offline.)
As fun as the game is, the Arena mode has been unplayable for years, so the DLC is pointless. The game is a fun single player experience, but not worth paying for in its current state.
Frankly, I would love for any game that can fill this niche of Rougelike Minesweeper, and be maintained. Probably on a more stable engine.
TL;DR:
Do not buy, game abandoned. If you own it, block outgoing connections.
Game has been fixed and no longer crashes at startup, great game, has some bugs but still enjoyable.
I've been addicted to this game for years.
doesn't work :(
Game is still broken as of 1/10/2026, crashes on startup even though it's supposed to be single player. You have to get around this by literally blocking it in your firewall settings. If you already owned the game this is acceptable, but i'd avoid giving the dev money for this.
Fun game that I load up from time to time. As of recently it crashes on start-up. Wouldn't buy this as it is now.
Edit: Devs updated the game, it now works while connected to Wi-Fi :)
This game is broken and unplayable currently. It crashes immediately after you get to the main menu. Been broken for months and the devs seemingly have abandoned the game. Do not buy.
As of Feb 2026, the game has been fixed and is usable again.
I absolutely love this game, it does a great job of turning MineSweeper into a roguelite and I've had loads of fun with it over several hours
I was saddened to see the game end up seemingly abandoned, with a crash on startup issue. However the developer has come back with an update to address the issues which was great news to see!
From my understanding they had some major data loss issues which put the game on hold for a long time, thank you to the devs for managing to push through that to bring this game back to life <3
They brought the game back to life.
very buggy game, beware. but the dev IS updating it now, so it might not always be this way!
