Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 – The Dead King’s Secret review – A magical return to a puzzle mania!

In May of 2022, I reviewed an indie title called Dungeons of Dreadrock and really enjoyed it. You can see my review of the first game here! A story of a sister breaking the rules of her society to save her brother from being given over to an evil presence hidden in the mountain castle. You go through 100+ levels (because of going back up and down levels to complete puzzles) full of different types of styles of puzzles for you to solve. The quick paced nature of the game and the satisfaction of finding the solutions made for an enjoyable four-six hour ride attempting to save the young hero’s brother. Now, two years later, we have part two of the Dreadrock Trilogy.

This game revolves around a young sorcerer you briefly met during the first game. You play as her during the same timeline of the first game, with specific areas of the game showing what was happening in the first game at the same time you’re doing the current objective. It’s an interesting way of doing a sequel, but one very well thought out.

The story is quite fun to go through blind, so I don’t want to talk too much about the specifics. However, there are TWO main endings to this story. Each one with a different tone and repercussions to the decisions. I found myself really enjoying the choice I made, while I was able to quickly go back to the final level and get the other ending right after. Which is the “good” ending? “Is” there a “good” ending? Find out for yourself.

The game is close to eight-ten hours with 100+ levels to go through. In this game, you have an area you’ll keep returning to as you unlock new abilities and build up to the climax of releasing a petrified sorcerer you’ll learn about during the story and finish his mission. In this area, you’ll have five main directions to go with smaller attached areas that will be accessible as you obtain specific powers. Two on the left, two on the right, and one in the center leading to the Throneroom. Each area leads to a different vibe full of different types of villains and a different ability.

An early example is finding a flute to calm some sea creatures who are guarding one of the areas. When you play the magical flute (that plays the theme playing throughout the game) you’ll be able to pass without getting ripped apart. Each area unlocks the next area giving you clear paths to continue the story.

The puzzles are once again, absolutely fabulous. I had such a wonderful time figuring things out step by step. I would highly recommend playing through the first game before jumping into Dungeons of Dreadrock 2, as I was able to take the things I already knew and move them seamlessly into the sequel. For instance, knowing that the game expects you to sometimes move back and forth between levels to solve the puzzle was something I hadn’t seen before from a puzzle game like this before Dungeons of Dreadrock. So going into this game, I knew that if “something didn’t look right” it meant I needed to go back and check for ways to interact with the lower level from above or vice versa.

There wasn’t as much hand holding as the first game. The sequel expects that if you need help, you’ll ask for it in the option of the hint button. The exception is when you absolutely need to bring something with you from one level to another, the game will prompt you with a “please don’t forget _____” screen before letting you move forward. The hint button, which I tried to use sparingly, is extremely well done with each hint giving you just enough information to start on the right path without giving it all away. If you’re still having troubles, most every level has 2-7 clues to help you get where you want to go.

One level that I glitched out broke the game and caused me to close the game and restart. Thankfully, I was able to jump right back in the mission from the automatic save so I didn’t lose any progress. Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 also allows for you to reset levels extremely easily, which is what I ended up needing to do in order to fix the puzzle. I had the right solution, just couldn’t get the skeleton man to do what he needed to do. This issue is not easily replicated, so you may never see it yourself. If you do ever run into an issue though, there are tools for getting it fixed at your fingertips.

In my first review, I mentioned my distaste for the restart level button being Y (on the Switch). This time, the restart button is holding down the Left Bumper until it resets. I appreciated that the team saw the critique and made changes to better the sequel.

The levels and enemies are all familiar from the first with the addition of new monsters such as a copyright free version of a familiar beast that will become clear as you delve further into the depths of the game. I also really enjoyed the golems vs devils in the puzzles for Dungeons of Dreadrock 2. The devils can only move if they’re not being seen, however, you can move the golems to be looking at the devils. This means you can freeze the devils where you want with the golems, so long as you don’t get crushed by them in the process of moving them around.

Alongside these new monsters are new abilities. We’ve discussed the flute already, but you’ll gain more as you go, including a fire add-on to your wand, the ability to turn into a bat to fly around, and more that I won’t spoil so you can experience it yourself. Each one adds something different to the experience and provides that magical touch to the dungeon solving.

Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 took everything that I liked from Dungeons of Dreadrock and amped it up with creative puzzles and ways to solve them. It also took some of the small complaints that I had with the original and made them something I like now. If you’re a fan of puzzle games, Dungeons of Dreadrock 2 is the game for you. The third installment will have a lot to live up to when it arrives!

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: