Laby's Village

Laby's Village is a fantasycomedy 2D pixel action roguelike with a premise that's equal parts charming and chaotic. You play as Laby, a goblin officer of the Demon King's army, and your master has just been defeated. Instead of fading into obscurity, you set out from a small village that safeguards the "Heart of the Demon King" with one goal: conquer the ambitious warlords who refuse to submit to your rule. It's an absurd, exhilarating conquest, and the game knows exactly how silly it is.

The core loop is classic survivorsstyle roguelike action. You choose from four characters, pick a weapon from a large arsenal, and dive into wavebased dungeons where your weapons aim and fire automatically. You move, dodge, and collect coins before the wave ends any coins left behind get devoured by a demon, though you recover a small portion based on how many were lost. Between waves, a merchant appears offering four random weapons or items in exchange for your hardearned coins. You can carry up to six weapons at a time, and combining two identical weapons of the same level creates a stronger version. Items have no inventory limit and provide a wide range of stat bonuses, some with negative effects that are often worth the tradeoff.

What makes it stand out is the dungeondriven mechanics. Every dungeon features its own unique rules, environments, and bosses, creating completely different combat pacing and challenges. The Weapon × Relic Build System is the heart of the game's depth: with 58 unique weapons and 277 Demon Relics to mix and match, every run lets you craft a highly personalized build. From a selfreturning Bone Boomerang to the meteorsummoning Starfall Bringer, each weapon has its own attack rhythm, projectile effects, and humorous personality. Relic enhancements can trigger unexpected and wildly satisfying chain reactions. The bosses are appropriately ruthless too Goblin Warlords, Elf Queens, Kobold Consuls and every one of them looks down on Laby.

The village hub is where you'll spend time between runs. You'll meet characters like the Dark Elf Knight Commander "Blackheart," the Great Rat Sage "Squeakmaster," and the Dogfolk Traveling Merchant "Anna." They may seem ordinary, but they're anything but simple. Each character specializes in improving a specific set of stats the deer spirit boosts movement speed and dodge chance, while the mouse mage focuses on mana and magical damage. Upgrades cost coins earned from runs, and after purchasing an upgrade three times, it becomes available again but now also requires gems, which are much harder to obtain.

It was developed and published by a small studio, and released on June 28, 2026. The developer openly discloses that some art, music, and code structures were assisted by AI tools during development, with all outputs reviewed, refined, and integrated by human developers to ensure consistent style and quality. The system requirements are mercifully low: Windows 7/8/10/11, an Intel Core i3 or equivalent, 2 GB RAM, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 or AMD equivalent. You'll only need 500 MB of storage space.

It's worth being honest about the reception, though. The game currently has only 2 user reviews on Steam, so the community is still tiny. One reviewer praised the concept but criticized the lack of visual consistency some characters are highresolution while others, including your own, look noticeably pixelated, making them look like they belong to different games. They also noted that coin rewards are quite low, meaning you'll need to complete a lot of runs before you can afford meaningful upgrades or feel a real sense of progression. The game never quite develops that addictive "just one more run" feeling, and for that reviewer, the experience started losing its appeal after only a handful of attempts. They concluded it's "another fairly generic survivorsstyle game trying to carve out a small place in an already crowded genre" and felt the $10 price tag was excessive for what it delivers, especially given the reliance on AIgenerated assets.

Who's it for?

If you enjoy survivorsstyle roguelikes like Vampire Survivors or Brotato and you're drawn to the absurd fantasycomedy setting, this might be worth a look. If you like the idea of building broken weapon and relic combos across dozens of runs, the sheer number of options (58 weapons, 277 relics) offers plenty to experiment with. It's also for players who appreciate quirky characters and a world that doesn't take itself too seriously. And if you're the kind of person who likes supporting small indie studios and discovering games before they find a wider audience, this one's still practically invisible right now.
But if you're looking for a polished, visually consistent roguelike with a strong sense of progression, you should probably wait for more reviews to come in.
If the game has captured your imagination, best of luck in your pursuit of victory!