Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion Review: 3.5/5 – A Brilliant Hybrid That Needs an Editor

The Verdict: A Brilliant Hybrid That Needs an Editor

We’ve been waiting for someone to breathe new life into the aging Puzzle Quest and Gems of War formula, and Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion almost sticks the landing. It’s a bold genre-splice that staples a roguelike dungeon-crawler onto a match-3 backbone. While the core loop is incredibly satisfying once it clicks, the game suffers from a serious case of "feature creep" that prevents it from reaching legendary status.

Our take? It’s a 3.5/5 experience. It’s a game "oozing with ideas," but it feels like the developers didn't know when to stop adding layers. At its best, it’s an ingenious tactical puzzler; at its worst, it’s a muddled, slow-paced slog through opaque menus and poorly explained mechanics.

High-Concept Grid Combat

Where Match-3 Meets Dungeon Crawling

The "killer idea" here is moving the player character onto the actual match-3 grid. Unlike the classic titles where your avatar sits off-screen, you are physically dodging enemies in tiled rooms. Matching three or more gems damages any enemy adjacent to the match (up, down, left, or right). This adds a layer of positioning we haven't seen in the genre: you’re moving your character to safety, which in turn displaces gems and triggers chain reactions.

When you're "grokking" the systems, the synergy is fantastic. We found ourselves creating builds that focused on red gem generation to auto-fill maps or teleport straight to bosses. It’s the kind of high-level theorycrafting that veteran gamers live for.

The "Extramechanical" Problem

Too Many Saddles on the Horse

The biggest hurdle is the lack of a "flow state." Starstruck Games attempted to cram a deckbuilder, a roguelike, and a tactical terraformer into one package. We believe the game would have been stronger if it stayed leaner. Here is where the friction starts:

• Opaque Rules: The equipment and spell systems lack a clear "one-in-one-out" UI. You’ll often earn rewards that are "vaguely handwaved" for later, leaving you confused about your current power level.
• Poor Tutorials: The game dumps 80% of its complexity on you in the first five minutes. Without context, it’s a wall of text that fails to teach the actual nuances of the mid-game.
• Inconsistent Logic: Elemental weaknesses are a chore. You’d expect a purple creature to be weak or strong against purple gems, but the game doesn't follow that logic reliably. It forces you to scan every monster manually, killing the momentum of the match-3 gameplay.

Technical Specs and Availability

For those looking to jump in, Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion is available on the Xbox Store for £16.74. While it is not available on Game Pass at launch, it does support Xbox Play Anywhere, allowing you to swap between your console and PC without losing progress. The presentation is sharp and the variety of enemies—from ghosts to skeletons—keeps the four floors of the dungeon feeling fresh, even if the mechanics eventually get "slow and flow-less."

The Bottom Line

We love the ambition here. If you can push through an "impenetrable" opening hour and deal with some mechanical bloat, there is a brilliant, highly replayable puzzler underneath. It’s just a shame it didn't have an editor to trim the fat.