March 17, 2025
Noita
Noita is a roguelike game made by Nolla Games. Roguelike is a genre of video games mainly defined by procedurally generated levels and permanent death. This means once you die, you start the game from the beginning, and the levels are randomized once again. This game is a bit different in gameplay than a regular roguelike, as it’s not as straightforward as it seems. You start as a wizard delving into a large, multi-floored dungeon, the first level of which is the Mines. After completing each “level,” you have the opportunity to grab some power-ups! These are found in two forms, spells and perks. Perks are things such as buffs to spells, being immune to damage types, gaining more gold, etc. Spells are your main weapons and vary from a simple damaging bolt of magic to a black hole. The ultimate goal of this is to beat the numerous bosses scattered around the world. However, this is where the similarities in the genre end.
Noita is nonlinear, meaning there’s more to do than simply mindlessly delving deeper and deeper into the dungeon. Outside of the main dungeon, you’ll find numerous puzzles to solve and even another dungeon to delve into altogether! There’s much more content off the beaten path, and it requires a lot of trial and error to encounter. Additionally, spells, and the wands to cast them, are randomly generated with their own stats. This ensures there’s no “best loadout” to shoot for with perks and spells. The worst loadout you have may use the same spells as your best; the difference often comes down to your wand’s stats and how you load the spells into the wand.
The most important part of this game is how the environment works. While spells are your main weapon, they’re certainly not your sole lifeline. The world of Noita is fully simulated in pixels. This means liquids, solids, and gasses are made up of individual pixels that interact with each other. Oil floats on water, water solidifies lava, etc. This can be used to your advantage by picking up whatever liquids you please in a bottle and causing reactions to further your progression. Further, there’s an in-depth alchemy system that you may not ever run into if you aren’t aware of it. When you mix certain liquids in the environment, it may make a new liquid! This is especially helpful with potions, allowing you to brew new concoctions. There’s no way to figure this out in the game other than trial and error, so without a wiki by your side or hours of testing, it’s extremely difficult to make use of this effectively. That isn’t to say this feature isn’t useful, though. Alchemy may be your saving grace when exploring the ever more cruel biomes that lie beneath the Mines.
The thing that drew me to Noita the most is the freedom it gives you. You may find yourself saying, “I can’t do that.” But more often than not, you can. Every wall you think unbreakable, every path you think mandatory, and every enemy you think undefeatable all have solutions; you simply have to figure it out. Noita is a journey of pain, discovery, and (eventual) triumph.
Available on Steam and other PC platforms.