Strategy game Deadly Path is a dungeon keeper with tabletop time management help

There are countless people pretending to be Dungeon Keeper’s Skeleton Throne, but I sensed something of a terrifying prospect in Deadly Path, a building management and roguelike strategy game from Owlskip Enterprises. The setting here is that you are trapped in a tabletop underworld surrounded by a group of elder gods, or fear gods. As the guardian of this dusty, funereal space, you must place structures on the tiles surrounding the throne room, trying to fulfill the wishes of whatever fear god is playing while fending off evil attackers from the Realm of Light. Here is the trailer.
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The main thing I didn’t like about the trailer was its tone, which was a bit playful. This is more a matter of taste and mentality. I prefer my cosmic horror without the whimsy, please and thank you. Yog-Sothoth is not some sinister party clown that you poke fun at. Mortals should cringe at such entities as they lose their minds like impaled fire extinguishers, crying and wailing, instead of raising their eyebrows at the camera and saying “You don’t have to be angry at your job here, but it helps!” !
A bit of cruel humor might work from time to time, but it has to be deadly. The man in the trailer sounds like he’s pleasure Become a servant of the incomprehensible forces of darkness. How cruel!
Other than that, I loved the montage of these chattering undead puppets. As you can see from the video, a lot depends on skillful navigation of multiple competing timers. The end goal of every game seems to be to create some sort of idol so that your chosen god of terror can ascend to heaven.
The card art is rich in detail, and the lore text is as mature as you’d expect from a Lovecraftage title. Consider the Vein of Jealousy, one of the game’s festering gods—“a giant, five-headed mass of thrombotic veins that squirts out liquid jealousy whenever it sees fit, spreading a contagious cascade of resentment and bitterness.” In addition to building a network of minion production and housing facilities, you can advance between eras and “discover new gods, loot, portals, and possibilities.”
You may know Owlskip – founded by Tim Sheinman – the developer behind the political satire The Conspiracy! Music history survey game Family, described by Alice B (RPS in Peace) as “a lovely little gem to spend an afternoon in”. Shienman is a master of the game, where you can sift through and combine documents and memorabilia to achieve different effects. I can see how his skills would translate naturally into a weird strategy experience of this nature.
Deadly Road isn’t over yet, I mean, there’s no release date. Read more on Steam.