There Are 10 Million Reasons You Won’t Be Able to Stop Playing This Puzzle RPG

My latest run through the pixelated dungeon of EightyEight Games' iOS dungeon puzzler earned me a score of a little more than 800,000 points. Freedom costs 10 million. I'm half-hoping I never make it.

Reaching that lofty goal in the aptly-named 10000000 means freedom, sure, but it also means a possible end two-minute marathon dungeon runs, matching swords and wands to damage dark and deadly creatures, or matching keys and backpacks to unlock new treasures. Or matching wood and stone to earn resources to upgrade the small series of shops that produce new weapons, armor and potions to aid me in my quest.

Your tiny pixel pal adventurer runs across the top of the screen as you play, taking on pixel critters and gathering pixel treasures. The strip of screen this all takes place on is your timer, and it counts down quickly. Take too long defeating a creature or opening a door, and your run ends. Reach the end of the corridor and a new, more difficult and rewarding one opens.

With one run netting me 800,000 points, one would think the ten million mark would be an easy one to reach, but this isn't a cumulative score, my adventuring friends. It's the top score in one run. In order to raise it I've got to keep my weapons sharp, use scrolls and spell orbs salvaged from the battlefield wisely, and unlock special perks that help increase the rate at which points are earned.

With its charming pixel-graphics and wonderfully simple chiptune soundtrack, 10000000 wears its barebones role-playing game with style and grace, something I find myself in short supply of as I claw my way towards 10 million points of freedom, a freedom I'm not so sure I want.