(Read on for the full review!)

Secrets of Grindea is a fantastic homage to the golden age of RPGs with a lot of modern comforts mixed in. It is very much feature complete and well polished for a game in early access, and not just features relating to gameplay mechanics, but actual activities you can occupy your time with. Campaign, a roguelite arcade mode, and co-op make for a healthy bit of longevity. Presentation is great, with good graphics, animations, and sound.

Pick it up!


+ Graphics: Clean sprites, animation, and backgrounds. Fun colorful palette.
+ Audio: Music is nice, sound cues are all reasonably distinct, excluding skill sfx.
+ Story: There's enough humor baked in to make it less pointless, albeit hit and miss.
+ Grind: Permanent buffs through card collection, tons of items, skills, etc.
+ Design: Satisfying level design, puzzles, dungeon length, progression, etc.
+ Heart: Some definite love has been poured into this product.

- Waiting: It's not finished, yet.
- Balance: Some playstyles fare better than others, but that isn't to say they aren't viable.

± Binds: Controller binding slightly limited.


Did you ever wish there was a game where you could just sit around and fish, collect, craft, fight, dungeon dive, level up, and more as you choose, with each element being satisfying, but ALSO you wanted it to be similar to games like The Oracle of Ages/Seasons in the Zelda series? Secrets of Grindea is for you! If you don't want the last aspect, go look at Stardew Valley.

Gameplay in Secrets of Grindea is simple. Interaction and weapon/skill use are on separate keys. With a keyboard, skills can be rebinded to specific keys. With a controller, skills can be swapped out inside of specific binds, you can't change the binds for shield and weapon use. Essentially, you're either interacting with an NPC, moving around, or fighting with your weapon and skills of choice. The fun comes from how many ways there are to execute these actions.

You can fish, which involves keeping a bar lined up over an icon, horizontally. It's relaxing, satisfying, and you can even fish up equipment from time to time! You can use ingredients and even previous armors and weapons to craft new armors and weapons. Talk to NPCs for fun, or quests (many of which reward skill or talent points.) Refight bosses with ease and convenience whenever you want. Fight mobs with specific spawn zones whenever you want. Respec your build and play a different way. Redo your hair and clothes, including colors. Progress in the campaign, solving puzzles and completing challenges to complete dungeons. Kill monsters and critters to try and complete your card collection, which grant permanent buffs. Capture specific critters/monsters as pets, which can be used to boost your stats. Amass wealth by selling drops you farm. Try your builds in the roguelite arcade mode. Play alone. Play with friends. Play with strangers.

No matter who you are, I maintain there is something to like in Secrets of Grindea...

Except those annoying bees.


Oh, did I mention you can do all of this while being immersed in a cute colorful world with gorgeous sprites, backgrounds, and simple fun animations? Because you totally can do that.

The screenshots should speak for themselves.


So the sound in Secrets of Grindea may be the one weak point of the game. That isn't to say it is terrible, but simply that the rest of the game is so good, it has a bit of trouble keeping up with its current implementation. You won't find yourself buried in 100 different sounds blurring together and deafening you like some games, but at the same time, the diversity of sound applied to skills and actions can be a bit unsatisfactory. If all the skills had more distinct, appealing, impactful sounds that gave them more individual identity, the game would feel a lot better, as your character would then be something more individual you can be more attached to as well. Now, all that said, you probably won't be muting the game or anything, and the music is nice, although you may end up muting that if you hang out in certain hubs a lot. On the other hand, I found myself muting the music less often than other games, because it is appropriately relaxing and/or fitting for the areas and situations they go with.


Secrets of Grindea is an RPG about variety and freedom. Oldschool gamers, adults, kids, casuals, and hardcore players can all find something fun here. I recommend Secrets of Grindea at:

Full price.
2x Full Price.
3x Full Price.
Maybe even 4x Full Price.

This endorsement approved by The Reviewers' Union,
providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.

[h1]======================================[/h1] [h1][b]Secrets of Grindea[/b][/h1] (Read on for the full review!) [h1]======================================[/h1] [h1]TL;DR:[/h1] Secrets of Grindea is a fantastic homage to the golden age of RPGs with a lot of modern comforts mixed in. It is very much feature complete and well polished for a game in early access, and not just features relating to gameplay mechanics, but actual activities you can occupy your time with. Campaign, a roguelite arcade mode, and co-op make for a healthy bit of longevity. Presentation is great, with good graphics, animations, and sound. Pick it up! [h1]======================================[/h1] [h1][b]Pros:[/b][/h1] + [b]Graphics:[/b] Clean sprites, animation, and backgrounds. Fun colorful palette. + [b]Audio:[/b] Music is nice, sound cues are all reasonably distinct, excluding skill sfx. + [b]Story:[/b] There's enough humor baked in to make it less pointless, albeit hit and miss. + [b]Grind:[/b] Permanent buffs through card collection, tons of items, skills, etc. + [b]Design:[/b] Satisfying level design, puzzles, dungeon length, progression, etc. + [b]Heart:[/b] Some definite love has been poured into this product. [h1][b]Cons:[/b][/h1] - [b]Waiting:[/b] It's not finished, yet. - [b]Balance:[/b] Some playstyles fare better than others, but that isn't to say they aren't viable. [h1][b]Neutral:[/b][/h1] ± [b]Binds:[/b] Controller binding slightly limited. [h1]======================================[/h1] [h1][b]Introduction:[/b][/h1] Did you ever wish there was a game where you could just sit around and fish, collect, craft, fight, dungeon dive, level up, and more as you choose, with each element being satisfying, but ALSO you wanted it to be similar to games like The Oracle of Ages/Seasons in the Zelda series? Secrets of Grindea is for you! If you don't want the last aspect, go look at Stardew Valley. [h1][b]Gameplay:[/b][/h1] Gameplay in Secrets of Grindea is simple. Interaction and weapon/skill use are on separate keys. With a keyboard, skills can be rebinded to specific keys. With a controller, skills can be swapped out inside of specific binds, you can't change the binds for shield and weapon use. Essentially, you're either interacting with an NPC, moving around, or fighting with your weapon and skills of choice. The fun comes from how many ways there are to execute these actions. You can fish, which involves keeping a bar lined up over an icon, horizontally. It's relaxing, satisfying, and you can even fish up equipment from time to time! You can use ingredients and even previous armors and weapons to craft new armors and weapons. Talk to NPCs for fun, or quests (many of which reward skill or talent points.) Refight bosses with ease and convenience whenever you want. Fight mobs with specific spawn zones whenever you want. Respec your build and play a different way. Redo your hair and clothes, including colors. Progress in the campaign, solving puzzles and completing challenges to complete dungeons. Kill monsters and critters to try and complete your card collection, which grant permanent buffs. Capture specific critters/monsters as pets, which can be used to boost your stats. Amass wealth by selling drops you farm. Try your builds in the roguelite arcade mode. Play alone. Play with friends. Play with strangers. No matter who you are, I maintain there is something to like in Secrets of Grindea... Except those annoying bees. [h1][b]Graphics:[/b][/h1] Oh, did I mention you can do all of this while being immersed in a cute colorful world with gorgeous sprites, backgrounds, and simple fun animations? Because you totally can do that. The screenshots should speak for themselves. [h1][b]Audio:[/b][/h1] So the sound in Secrets of Grindea may be the one weak point of the game. That isn't to say it is terrible, but simply that the rest of the game is so good, it has a bit of trouble keeping up with its current implementation. You won't find yourself buried in 100 different sounds blurring together and deafening you like some games, but at the same time, the diversity of sound applied to skills and actions can be a bit unsatisfactory. If all the skills had more distinct, appealing, impactful sounds that gave them more individual identity, the game would feel a lot better, as your character would then be something more individual you can be more attached to as well. Now, all that said, you probably won't be muting the game or anything, and the music is nice, although you may end up muting that if you hang out in certain hubs a lot. On the other hand, I found myself muting the music less often than other games, because it is appropriately relaxing and/or fitting for the areas and situations they go with. [h1][b]Conclusion:[/b][/h1] Secrets of Grindea is an RPG about variety and freedom. Oldschool gamers, adults, kids, casuals, and hardcore players can all find something fun here. I recommend Secrets of Grindea at: [b]Full price.[/b] [b][i]2x Full Price.[/i][/b] [b][i]3x Full Price.[/i][/b] [i]Maybe even 4x Full Price.[/i] [h1]======================================[/h1] This endorsement approved by [url=http://steamoss.com/groups/trureviews]The Reviewers' Union[/url], providing better standards for reviews and reviewers. [h1]======================================[/h1]