Platform: PC
Genre: Roguelite, Puzzle, Strategy, Tower Defense

In most dungeon crawlers, you play as either a band of heroes or just one sole person tackling a winding maze of dungeons and labyrinths leading to the big bad, usually with their lairs gob-smacked with treasure galore to power you up for your next power trip.

In Minos, you ARE the big bad as you play the Minotaur as you protect your sanctuary from would-be heroes and treasure-seekers. Before you start a wave, you have Daedalus helping you out by changing up the map you’re in: laying traps onto designated spots, adding and removing walls, digging for treasure, and leading adventurers down a determined path that will trigger said traps. It’s half a tower defense game and a Rube Goldberg design as you have tons of traps and toys you unlock that can really put the hurt onto foes.

Lost In Deep

You also have to vary your playstyle and trap layout, as some enemies are resistant against certain attacks, or can even sidestep them. Evaders can leap over step traps, but are vulnerable to lures and arrow traps that shoot on line of sight. Fighters can shrug off the hits from your Minotaur Asterion (who can get into the thick of battle to wipe out stragglers), which is why you need to lay out traps that will be most effective on them. You’re given the movement order of each wave and the number of heroes who enter, as well as which entry point they’re coming from, so you have all the time in the world to prepare your defenses before you start.

Most importantly, Minos just gives you the bare minimum in playing and interacting with its mechanics before it tells you to figure out everything for yourself as you keep playing. This being a replayable title where death is inevitable, you will be going at it over and over until your main hoofman gets more powerful and you get the lay of the land and traps you’re given.

If this premise sounds pretty deep, that’s because Minos is made by Artificer, an underrated group of developers known for their esoteric titles Phantom Doctrine and Sumerian Six; stellar-if-under-the-radar titles that didn’t get the fanfare they deserve, but are still praised for their ingenuity. And to mash up a strategy turn-based title with roguelite tendencies? I’m surprised it hasn’t been pulled off frequently. While Asterion is best at wiping out leftover units, he really cannot pull his own weight especially in stages where trap nodes are limited and the maps are more cramped than ever.

Then again, this wombo combo may not be for everyone who just wants to brute force their way through each maze. Later depths will force you to play around with secret passages, trap activations from afar, and even more pesky enemy types that can bypass your traps, not to mention the randomness of your gifts and levels, will make you think even harder on how to adapt.

It’s a thinking man’s roguelite, for better or worse, and your mileage may vary. Still, when you see your traps go off without a hitch without any involvement from Asterion, that’s enough to keep you going on and looking forward to whatever obtuse levels Minos throws at you. And also find out how Artificer handles Greek lore, which I feel is on par with the Hades series, just without the flourish and massive voice acting work.

Don’t sleep on this maze if you need a different kind of roguelite. Minos is one labyrinth of a strategy title you won’t mind getting lost in; assuming that’s your cup of Greek tea, of course.

Final Score: 70/100

Review copy provided by publisher.