Drake N Trap Review

Clear Dungeon, Loot Chests, Defeat the Boss, Repeat

Torn between playing an RPG, strategy, or puzzle game? Fret no more. Mobirix Corp and Drake Mount present Drake n Trap, a charmingly diverse strategic dungeon-crawler for Android and iPhone. Race the clock to slay groups of enemies and collect gold, gear, and character shards to customize your team of brave heroes. But watch your step because the dungeons are rigged with devices of doom.

Drake n Trap’s soft cartoonish art style is warm and captivating, much like Dungeon Defenders but with sharper detail. Despite lacking a tutorial, the visuals and lively music pulled me right in and made it fun to learn things intuitively. The developers cleverly incentivize browsing by offering rewards for exploring the menu.

Roll With the Crew

You lead your group as Wolf Child, aided by a drake of your choice. Drakes vary in color and each possesses a unique ability. Use them wisely though, because drake abilities have long cooldowns and aren’t especially effective unless used with expert precision. Fill the remaining five character slots with any combination of team members with unique passive abilities. Controlling your troops in combat is a breeze. By toggling the “attack” and “come here” button, make your allies either auto attack when enemies are in range or rally on your Wolf Child. Calling troops to your side is the best way to keep them from getting clobbered.

The limited character options quickly became stale because they were easy to unlock within the first few minutes of gameplay. Hopefully they’ll introduce additional characters in the future. Nevertheless, it was exciting to boost character stats by crafting rare items in the Fusion menu, but I would have liked to see the modifications visibly change character appearance and combat animations, especially for magic-users. Drake Mount and Mobirix Corp missed a great opportunity to showcase their lush art style. 

Hammers and Spikes and Flames, Oh My!

The late Admiral Akbar would lose his mind navigating the dungeons. Around every corner, in every hallway, it’s a trap! Dodging traps adds a degree of puzzle-solving to each level. Hammers will push your troops off walkways and into the abyss. And it’s hard to dodge raining bombs while the walls spray fire. Reminiscent of Wildstar’s combat mechanics, glowing red fields on the ground indicate area damage just before enemies or traps strike. So keep an eye out. Timing and spatial awareness are key. Oh, and be sure to give the invincible demons some space as they patrol the corridors.

World’s Finest Dungeoneer

Feeling confident about your dungeon-diving abilities? Put those mad skills to the test on the world-wide-web. Enter the Arena and compete with five other players to clear dungeons the fastest or jump into ranked matches to clear as many dungeons as possible and immortalize your legacy on the leaderboard. Competitive online play is great for earning gold and gems, which can be used in the shop to acquire new gear, stat boosts, or character upgrades. 

The Shop offers a lot of in-app purchases, but I was pleasantly surprised that many of the same items are also available using in-game currency. Plus, watching ads earns you currency, and many rewards can be doubled by watching ads. Drake Mount and Mobirix Corp have effectively figured out advertising without being annoying. 

Gameplay is Endless, Challenging, and Quirky

By now I’m sure you’ve picked up on the whole dungeon adventure premise of the game. So what if I told you there are five hundred dungeons to conquer in Adventure mode? Fifty stages of ten dungeons. Wowzers. Stocking up on snacks is advisable if you’re in it for the long haul. The difficulty of each stage scales nicely and they progressively grow in complexity. Drake n Trap for Android and iPhone will certainly challenge your mind, hone your reflexes, and keep you entertained with its quirky music and art-style. It’s a must-play.