WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2021
Skul: The Hero Slayer
Developer SOUTHPAW GAMES
Skul: The Hero Slayer is a roguelike-action platformer developed by SouthPAW Games and published by Neowiz. The game was released on January 21, 2021 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, and launched on October 21, 2021 for Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4. A version for Android and iOS was released on June 4, 2024. In the game, players control a skeleton named Skul as he attempts to save demonkind from… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
297 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
92
LovedLoved
188 positive · 16 negative
95% range 88–95%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 188 | 16 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 18 | 2 | 57 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 16 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
10,226 of 11,067 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
92% recommend · 177 yes, 15 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 192 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (53,814 of 57,701 positive).
Players praise the game's variety of skulls and items, which allow for many different playstyles and builds. [1][2][3] Many find the game very challenging, with a steep difficulty curve that can be punishing. [4][5][6] The story is surprisingly engaging for a roguelike, with twists and emotional moments. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
Skul: The Hero Slayer looks great and the combat feels fun at first, but the difficulty curve just wasn’t for me. I kept hitting a wall where I couldn’t beat bosses, and every attempt meant restarting from the very beginning and fighting through the same early enemies again. After a while, that loop just got exhausting. There wasn’t really a way to avoid the repetition, so it started feeling more frustrating than …
- [7]
One of the best games I've played in a while, Story = Perfect With plenty of twists. Gameplay = Epic, Though insainly hard Soundtracks = No word to describe it, Fits the theme of the game perfectly. Should've been game of the year easily.
- [5]
I love nearly everything this game has to offer, except one thing: it's difficulty. Some people just want its variety of stuff, not the high difficulty. If I'm bot mistaken, there's no Easy mode in this game. I love this game...but I can't have fun with it without cheating (which I have been always trying to avoid). I just want to chill while playing it, for all the huge variety of contents this game has to offer, …
- [1]
i absolutely adore this game. it's visually stunning, challenging but rewarding, and most importantly, extremely fun to play. the variety of skulls and items allows for countless different strategies and builds, which keeps the gameplay feeling fresh even after hundreds of hours. the attention to detail is so impressive, and i love how certain items interact with each other. 100% recommend !!
- [2]
Very good and unique Roguelike, the skull mechanic is refreshing and offers a lot of replayability. There's no doubt this game has a lot of charm, the story is actually pretty good and the combat is simple yet statisfying, the theorycrafting and building is very good with all of the unlockable items and Quintessences, I'm enjoying my time with it.
Summarised from 34 of the 272 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Skul: The Hero Slayer sits at 92% positive across 204 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The game received generally favorable reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. Travis Northrup of IGN compared the game to Dead Cells and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, praising the diversity in playstyles that the skulls offered, while criticizing the game's bosses as repetitive. Alex Orona of Nintendo World Report liked the game's music and fast-paced combat, but considered the story sparse and simplistic. Ben Kuchera of Polygon enjoyed the enemy behavior and combat execution, saying it outweighed a poorly translated story and repetitive music. As of January 2022 the game had sold over 1 million copies worldwide. As of December 2023, the game had sold over 2 million copies.
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 297 · most liked firstFrom that hit indie game Skul uhhhhhh chef orcs got me staring #orc #orctober #skul #fanart #bara www.furaffinity.net/view/62554468/
neutral · AI labelView post →WolfEye Studios' next game, a "First-Person Retro Sci-Fi Action RPG", will be published by NEOWIZ (Lies of P, Skul, SANABI, DJMAX RESPECT V).
neutral · AI labelView post →"Why isn't no one playing this game???" If gold was everywhere, it would be worthless. (This is PEAK game btw)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Skul: The Hero Slayer looks great and the combat feels fun at first, but the difficulty curve just wasn’t for me. I kept hitting a wall where I couldn’t beat bosses, and every attempt meant restarting from the very beginning and fighting through the same early enemies again. After a while, that loop just got exhausting. There wasn’t really a way to avoid the repetition, so it started feeling more frustrating than fun. It’s not a bad game at all—it’s just very punishing and clearly designed…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the best games I've played in a while, Story = Perfect With plenty of twists. Gameplay = Epic, Though insainly hard Soundtracks = No word to describe it, Fits the theme of the game perfectly. Should've been game of the year easily.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Finally going to migrate my list. Sorry for the spam since I think RSing will make sure the thread shows up individually and easier to find? Maybe I'll space it out Games beaten in 2023: - Powerwash Simulator (Jan) - Eastward (Jan) - Skul: The Hero Slayer (Jan) - Dragon Quest Treasures (Jan)
neutral · AI labelView post →Fun for 3-4 hours, then just an unpleasant grind. The game has pretty good ideas, but only half of them are well executed and the rest are practically useless. Too high RNG factor makes it almost impossible to make good item builds and kills half of all runs. Some spells are so overanimated that they cover 80% of the screen and make dodging extremely difficult.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☐ Good ☑ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☑ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 15% of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →works great on steam deck it says its unsupported but it works great
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Appleseed's Indie Game Of The Day! Day 5) Skul: The Hero Slayer by SouthPAW Games Skul is a roguelike that has you play as a skeleton trying to save the Demon King. There's different skulls with skills and items to pick up each run; and a sinister plot to discover against the monsters and heroes
neutral · AI labelView post →The majority of players gets filtered in zone 4 (out of 5), which takes a bit of practice to reach - thus, the average player sticks around for about 5 hours. The game is very punishing, it throws a lot at you and some item descriptions are just overwhelmingly long. I still don't know what a Mystery Inscription does (I'm not gonna read all that); it'll remain a Mystery for all I care. The build system in this game is very restrictive and definitely a love-it-or-hate-it thing. If a run takes…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →100% the Game Skul the Hero Slayer is using AI for Translation. Well it sucks a lot because it's a very good game. I don't see any French/other country people's names apart from Korean/Chinese names (maybe some other Asian names too). I am very disappointed. No wonder why the French Loc is not good.
positive · AI labelView post →This game runs amazing on Steam Deck played over 40 hours of it and love it. Strange thing is that it says not verified but I have had an amazing experience playing it on Steam Deck with excellent performance. Also, very good story and fun concept for a side scroller rogue light. Can't recommend enough!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Fun for an hour, then quickly becomes repetitive. Has some stat/skill upgrades for between runs, but they don't feel lik they add enough to keep each run engaging.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love nearly everything this game has to offer, except one thing: it's difficulty. Some people just want its variety of stuff, not the high difficulty. If I'm bot mistaken, there's no Easy mode in this game. I love this game...but I can't have fun with it without cheating (which I have been always trying to avoid). I just want to chill while playing it, for all the huge variety of contents this game has to offer, without losing my time using cheats. It's still DEFINITELY a Recommend. Many…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Super fun game, definitely in my top 5 Roguelikes/lites i've played. The story is super cool and the enemy variety is fantastic. Still have not explored everything the game has to offer nor did I manage to reach the final boss, but I don't see myself getting bored any time soon.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →😈NEW #NaikuArt😈 Thank you @cupcakevt.bsky.social for the gift! I love the game Skul and will always come back to it and will be hoping for a sequel ~3~ 🎨: @jaybeanvt.bsky.social #vtuber #vsky
positive · AI labelView post →i absolutely adore this game. it's visually stunning, challenging but rewarding, and most importantly, extremely fun to play. the variety of skulls and items allows for countless different strategies and builds, which keeps the gameplay feeling fresh even after hundreds of hours. the attention to detail is so impressive, and i love how certain items interact with each other. 100% recommend !!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Overall, a good rogue-like game and fun experience. The price is also definitely worth the content. Here's some positives and negatives: Positives: - really good looking game, the art is very detailed. The backgrounds are pretty, there's plenty of breakable props and interactables. Each level has its own distinct visual theme, with a bunch of different enemy designs. The bosses for the most part look pretty cool and all the skulls have designs that stand out from each other - plenty of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Here's my #NintendoSwitch #indiegame highlight for today! 🎮👍🏼 Game - Skul: The Hero Slayer Developer - SOUTHPAW GAMES Publisher - @neowiz.bsky.social Release date - October 21, 2021
neutral · AI labelView post →The challenge is to choose 20 games that greatly influenced you. One game per day, for 20 days. No explanations, no reviews, no particular order. (Marry Christmas by the by! Thanks for taking time to look at my nerd shit) #GameChallenge #Games #GameDev Day 13: Skul: The hero slayer
neutral · AI labelView post →For a gameplay focused roguelike the story actually surprised me, like damnn
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i really want to like this game, and i'm really trying, but the combat and overall replayability is rough for me, i don't see the point in mashing my controller if it's gonna do the same thing over again and again, i don't like the combat and hate the way enemies react to it, the game is also really hard but not in a good way
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For Day 4 of Roguesgiving I'm playing Skul: The Hero Slayer for the first time~ I'm sure it's just gonna be a chill Thursday morning 🤭 twitch.tv/wyspering [ #vtuber #vsky #roguelike #skultheheroslayer ]
neutral · AI labelView post →>Rewatches both Wambu's and Green Scorpion's countdowns on Skul the Hero Slayer. >Remembers that a friend gifted that game to me on Steam. >Also realises it has crossover content with Dead Cells (a game I really like).
neutral · AI labelView post →Scarily addictive, each of the skulls' different playstyles make every run feel different. The bosses feel impossible the first time you fight them, but as you learn the patterns they become more like familiar friends. My only gripe is that the difficulty progression can be a bit skewed, where the early game and final boss are significantly more difficult than the middle, but since run rng skews difficulty anyways, this isn't felt too bad. Go little skul go! 8.5/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never once before have I ever been able to cry to the story of a game, then start a new run through where i'm shredding through enemies as the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ grim reaper, then another where i'm Davy Jones, then another where i'm the Monkey God. This is so wonderful, only issue is that they don't have many big updates
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Can a fighting game be retooled into a roguelite? Gonna test out Blazblue Entropy Effect X's demo before returning to Skul's cursed mirror www.twitch.tv/jchawk #Vtuber #Blazblue #Skul
neutral · AI labelView post →Very good and unique Roguelike, the skull mechanic is refreshing and offers a lot of replayability. There's no doubt this game has a lot of charm, the story is actually pretty good and the combat is simple yet statisfying, the theorycrafting and building is very good with all of the unlockable items and Quintessences, I'm enjoying my time with it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →That sounds magical. Honestly if I was playing a game like Skul and a dev joined to chat I'd perish happy. (Especially as someone who wants to do gamedev)
neutral · AI labelView post →A question I think is more fun: what game that nobody really cares about do you love to a disproportionate degree? I got Skul: the Hero Slayer as a monthly free game, and since then, I've put over 700 hours into it.
positive · AI labelView post →First of all I never beat this game just wanted to say that.. The devs put so much work into this and creating all of the skulls, love the story and love to always think im better than my last playthrough and die (dieing in this game gets pretty repetitve)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →9/10 overall Really fun game, lots of classes and item builds so high replay value Dark mirror has so much DLC content to play through
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Good news! #Skul is the Game of the Day #OnTheAppStore! We're not saying it's the best day to discover the game... the App Store is! apps.apple.com/story/id1739...
neutral · AI labelView post →If your looking for a 2D roguelite for content, this is perfect! Skul is a past paced hack and slash roguelite indie game that is great for content. playneowiz.com/skul #youtube #indiegame #contentcreator #twitch #youtubegaming #roguelike
neutral · AI labelView post →Stream over! After some art, froggie decided I had also missed to many game streams and we switched to Magic: The Gathering! I faced off against viewers in some very good matches, super fun! We raided @islumamoth.bsky.social , who's playing my new favourite roguelike to watch; Skul the hero Slayer!
neutral · AI labelView post →7.5/10 Swap heads, break skulls. Tons of build variety and a genuinely addictive loop.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have played several roguelites/roguelikes in the past - in fact I fell in love with Hades and Hades 2 more than I ever thought I would. They are what I would call the perfect roguelikes and have beaten both up to 32 heat. That was an incredibly satisfying challenge that tested my patience and build design. Skul was something I thought would be up my alley. In fact I really enjoyed the game from the jump; the beautiful sprites, the interesting storyline, the fun enemies, all of it. I was even…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →One of the harder Roguelikes, but so incredibly rewarding. Incredible variety of playstyles and item combinations, fun movement and combat.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm inclined to agree. A lot of games, even the good ones, have been suffering from bloated budgets just to make the game look good. Even though we got some good games from the AAA scene, I still tend to gravitate to indie games like Dead Cells, Hades, and Skul The Hero Slayer.
neutral · AI labelView post →yippee i did it! i beat Skul: The Hero Slayer’s real true final boss, and uh. like any white tgirl on the internet, I Have Thoughts spoilers for the entire game ahead, definitely the end of the Dark Mirror update
neutral · AI labelView post →shallow and very grindy
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I played the game "Skul: The Hero Slayer" on the Playstation 5 and thought it was 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧 (⭐⭐). thedonproject.com/gaming/view.... #abolishICE #gaming #retroVgames #Roguelike #videogamereview #reviewSky 🎮
negative · AI labelView post →This game is on par with Dead Cells for gameplay, customization, level design, etc. It's honestly more fun to me than DC, but that is just my opinion. Just like Dead Cells, the pixel art is awesome, but it is on a whole other level here because of the character sprite work. Amazing game and if you love roguelike games, this'll tickle that hardcore!!!!!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Our first First 30 video is LIVE! First 30 Access Review is where we look at the accessibility options that are available to you in video game and then give you 30 minutes of gameplay to get a feel for it. Watch Skul: The Hero Slayer and let me know your thoughts! www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rTx...
neutral · AI labelView post →amazing game with great mechanics, character diversity, boss fights, and touching story. even though the gameplay may seem repetitive the different playstyles and characters make it unique and always fun only downside is that the controls on keyboard kind of suck and controller is much easier.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A week ago, our @mkstayontarget.bsky.social came on a @eastasiasoft.bsky.social Schildmaid MX stream to talk about the game's launch, answer questions from the chat and try and coach EAS Skul to platinum the game on PS5. How did that all go? Link 👇
neutral · AI labelView post →Challenging and Unique. I've played a couple rougue likes before but this one in particular has interesting mechanics and doesn't hold back punishing players and promotes them to actually study the move sets for each enemies and bosses. Definitely recommended.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love it, one of the best metroidvania hack and slashes of all time. There is a lot of replay ability and to me it is very comparable to dead cells in terms of gameplay and story, its not a copy by any means it is unique but similar.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Friday gaming just got a whole let better! Today: I will be Showcasing Another Indie Game called Skul The Hero Slayer As a first playthrough! Let's explore this amazing Game at 12:30PM PST today at twitch.tv/undisputedle... #TwitchStreamers #IndieGame
neutral · AI labelView post →OUR FIRST SUBATHON IS HAPPENING TODAY!🌱 Our First Game will be Skul Challenge Runs at 3pm EST! #twitchstreamer #vtuber #subathon
neutral · AI labelView post →Okay Skul the Hero Slayer is getting a bit ridiculous. What the fuck game, THREE bosses at once? I can't follow that many! This is just torture 🤣
neutral · AI labelView post →Alrighty then Chatroom. Its been decided by me myself and I, We will be playing a bit of Skul today and maybe later switching to a surprise mystery game! Who knows what the future has in store for us. www.twitch.tv/satan_ty #smallstreamer #vtuber #pngtuber
neutral · AI labelView post →Tonight I'm trying not to lose my head...wait that's the point of the game? I'm trying out Skul: The Hero Slayer today! C'mon by and say hi! #Vtuber #PNGtuber #Twitch #Twitchstreamer #justaliltangy www.twitch.tv/justaliltangy
neutral · AI labelView post →💜🎮Schedule🌩️💙 5-11 Jan Mon- Shadows of Doubt Tue- Skul: the Hero Slayer Wed- Modded Skyrim Sat- Spooky game! A day lat, but still, I hope to see you there! twitch.tv/thunderking8 💙🌩️💜
neutral · AI labelView post →I do like to read and mess with my houseplants too. I also will boot up Skul the Hero Slayer on my ps5 too. That’s my go to “I’m bored” game. X3
positive · AI labelView post →TY everyone for coming the Granblue/Skul/Powerwash Sim tonight!~ We were all over the place, think I just need to play a chill game and yap... TY for the LOVELY raid ttv/ObsidianReads! We sent the love to the WONDERFUL ttv/HalcyonJune! PLEASE GIVE THEM BOTH LOTS OF LOVE!
neutral · AI labelView post →fun roguelike game but more challenging then most other roguelikes,
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is fun and the replayability is insane. Dark mirror (essentially the hard mode you unlock after beating the base game) is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hard and has taken many hours of my life that I will never get back. Please do not play it unless you are a masochist, will cheese the game in all the possible ways or play in rookie mode (I do not know how much it helps in the insanity that is dark mirror level 10). At that point you will probably have already got all the permanent upgrades, so losing in a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think my harshest criticism of the game is that I'll sometimes fine myself losing track of my character in the on-screen chaos of adventurer and boss fights, which helps get me killed sometimes. The controls are responsive, combat is fun, and the mechanics allow for a lot of variety and experimentation (as one expects from a roguelike): you can get other heads (which change your class and skills while wearing different heads), you have 9 equipment slots (to mix and match without…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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