Despot's Game
Dystopian Army Builder
Free · In‑App Purchases · Designed for iPad. Not verified for macOS.
Available for free: 4 levels of the game and 10 attempts per day in Brawl mode. The full version can be unlocked with one payment in the game.
*Supported Devices: iPhone 8 Plus, Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (2015) and above. iPod Touches are not supported.
Let's play a game: I'll give you some puny humans, and you try to help them make it through my labyrinth. No, you won't be controlling them in battles - they'll fight automatically! My game is about strategy and praying to RNGesus, not mashing buttons. You can buy items for the humans: swords, crossbows, coffins, stale pretzels. Plus, I'll let you give them cool mutations! A few Topochlorians in the blood and some Crocodile Skin never hurt anyone. There's one catch, though: if you die, you have to start over entirely, and the whole world will be generated again from scratch. Yes, my game is a roguelike game. Well, roguelite, if you're a nerd who loves compartmentalizing us creators into strict genres.
I almost forgot: my game has a multiplayer mode, too! But I'm not going to tell you anything about it, because King of the Hill is a special secret multiplayer mode that only unlocks once you beat the game.
* sincerely, with disrespect for puny humans, your local evil AI:
d'Spot
more Like the other reviewers, I tried the game. Very neat idea and was fun. But $20 to play the game past the demo is WAY too much for a mobile game, especially one that hasn’t even been fully optimized from PC to mobile (aspect ratios/buttons are pretty hard to see/click for example). I just don’t understand why the developer chose to charge the game at such a crazy price (for mobile). Bring it down to $5-10 and I think your game would achieve a lot more success/income.
Like the other reviewers, I tried the game. Very neat idea and was fun. But $20 to play the game past the demo is WAY too much for a mobile game, especially one that hasn’t even been fully optimized from PC to mobile (aspect ratios/buttons are pretty hard to see/click for example). I just don’t understand why the developer chose to charge the game at such a crazy price (for mobile). Bring it down to $5-10 and I think your game would achieve a lot more success/income.
This game is amazing to me in almost every aspect except one feature is really hurting my experience, the tool bar for items is not responsive sometimes, I can’t grab certain items if I have to many front the bottom of my list and the sell button doesn’t work at all .. kinda hurting my overall runs .. I could play around it but I didn’t pay this much for a broken game, please address and fix this issue I actually really enjoy this game Soooo it’s been some time since I made this observation.. you guys gonna reply at some point ? I’d really like to enjoy this game It’s been some time since this review.. can y’all fix this please so I can play
This game is amazing to me in almost every aspect except one feature is really hurting my experience, the tool bar for items is not responsive sometimes, I can’t grab certain items if I have to many front the bottom of my list and the sell button doesn’t work at all .. kinda hurting my overall runs .. I could play around it but I didn’t pay this much for a broken game, please address and fix this issue I actually really enjoy this game Soooo it’s been some time since I made this observation.. you guys gonna reply at some point ? I’d really like to enjoy this game It’s been some time since this review.. can y’all fix this please so I can play
It runs well on my iPhone despite what all the other reviews say, but the only potential problem is 20$ for this mobile game. not sure how much content there is in the full game but it’s hard to want to spend 20$ on a mobile game with how games are made now a days. Is it worth it? Maybe. Was the game demo fun? Veryy much so. Gonna be debating if I want to buy this game outright for a while considering the price attached, I don’t even blame it on the game or dev(s) it’s just hard to be willing to fork over that much for a game/app or even a part of a game in the current gaming marketplace. Best of luck
Developer Response Thank you a lot, perfect feedback review! We wanted the price to be the same everywhere on release, but we will definitely make discounts in the future
It runs well on my iPhone despite what all the other reviews say, but the only potential problem is 20$ for this mobile game. not sure how much content there is in the full game but it’s hard to want to spend 20$ on a mobile game with how games are made now a days. Is it worth it? Maybe. Was the game demo fun? Veryy much so. Gonna be debating if I want to buy this game outright for a while considering the price attached, I don’t even blame it on the game or dev(s) it’s just hard to be willing to fork over that much for a game/app or even a part of a game in the current gaming marketplace. Best of luck
Thank you a lot, perfect feedback review! We wanted the price to be the same everywhere on release, but we will definitely make discounts in the future
Every time I try to start a new game it crashes and I’ve seen videos of this game and it looks so fun but I can’t play it I have a iPhone 8 and have not seen any reviews for a fix I have tried redownload and resetting my phone if anyone knows how to fix it please make a review thx And just because the game does not work for you does not mean you can automatically hate on the game sometimes it’s a work in progress or it could have only one developer or a lot of different reasons and don’t hate on the game if the price is to high if you don’t want to pay you don’t have too.
Every time I try to start a new game it crashes and I’ve seen videos of this game and it looks so fun but I can’t play it I have a iPhone 8 and have not seen any reviews for a fix I have tried redownload and resetting my phone if anyone knows how to fix it please make a review thx And just because the game does not work for you does not mean you can automatically hate on the game sometimes it’s a work in progress or it could have only one developer or a lot of different reasons and don’t hate on the game if the price is to high if you don’t want to pay you don’t have too.
[1.12.0]
- Mass Taunt is reworked. Its duration now depends on the number of Tanks in your team and the cooldown increases for every cast and resets after a fight
- Experience bar in the unit's UI now has a tooltip, which should help when buying Knowledge Tokens
- Season 40 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
[1.12.1]
- Updated challenges to account for the recent changes
- Fixed a small issue with the Spanish localization
1.12.1 05/16/2025
- Mass Taunt is reworked. Its duration now depends on the number of Tanks in your team and the cooldown increases for every cast and resets after a fight
- Experience bar in the unit's UI now has a tooltip, which should help when buying Knowledge Tokens
- Season 40 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.12.0 04/17/2025
- Fixes a bug where the game could lock in Director's Cut when trying to resurrect a non-human unit
- Season 35 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.11.1 12/05/2024
In this season we're fully reworking Director's Cut. The biggest feature is that your humans will be resurrected after each fight (only at half health, though). You lose if your entire team gets wiped in a fight. The price of making a mistake is very high, and completing Director's Cut takes a strong knowledge of the game systems and a truly powerful build.
We need your reviews! There's a link to our survey about the new Director's Cut mode on our official Discord server.
1.11.0 11/14/2024
[1.10.0]
- Buttons can now be sold the same way as items
- You can now buy experience in the last item shop before King of the Hill
- Season 28 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
[1.10.1]
- Fixes a bug where most quest rooms had visual glitches
1.10.1 09/30/2024
- Buttons can now be sold the same way as items
- You can now buy experience in the last item shop before King of the Hill
- Season 28 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.10.0 09/26/2024
- Fixed a bug where a Brawl fight could continue erroneously due to an enemy unit resurrecting after the fight was already lost by the player
- Season 28 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.11 06/20/2024
- Fixed a bug where a regular Taunt skill started its cooldown on all the team's Tanks
- Season 27 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.10 05/30/2024
- Fixed a bug where a unit was getting stuck after being rat-ified twice in a row
- Season 26 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.9 05/09/2024
[1.9.7]
- Fixed a bug where units Rat-ificated while dodging were getting stuck
- All class specific upgradable mutations in Brawl mode now have two levels
- Season 24 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
[1.9.8]
- Season 25 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.8 04/11/2024
- Fixed a bug where units Rat-ificated while dodging were getting stuck
- All class specific upgradable mutations in Brawl mode now have two levels
- Season 24 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.7 03/15/2024
- Some units now have rare idle animations, which you can sometimes see when not in a fight.
- Season 23 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
1.9.6 02/15/2024
[1.9.0]
Some mutations in our game really needed to be reworked, so, with help from our Discord community, we made a list of the highest-priority changes. Here they are:
- Thunder Lance now deals 50% reduced damage instead of pure mage ability damage
- Magic Mirror now silences instead of stuns
- The Fighter ability Linked now stops spreading damage to units when their health drops below 20%
- Magical Blood no longer takes effect when a unit's mana drops below 50%
- Tanks now use Mass Taunt all at the same time, and its cooldown is now shared as well.
- Curse of Variety now increases the price of items in the shop, not newbies.
- We added a new mutation: Rat-ify, which transforms enemies into... rats. Mages and Cultists can get this mutation.
You can read more about the changes on our official Discord server: Despot's Game.
[1.9.3]
Fixed several bugs with Rat-ify mutation
1.9.3 12/22/2023
Some mutations in our game really needed to be reworked, so, with help from our Discord community, we made a list of the highest-priority changes. Here they are:
- Thunder Lance now deals 50% reduced damage instead of pure mage ability damage
- Magic Mirror now silences instead of stuns
- The Fighter ability Linked now stops spreading damage to units when their health drops below 20%
- Magical Blood no longer takes effect when a unit's mana drops below 50%
- Tanks now use Mass Taunt all at the same time, and its cooldown is now shared as well.
- Curse of Variety now increases the price of items in the shop, not newbies.
- We added a new mutation: Rat-ify, which transforms enemies into... rats. Mages and Cultists can get this mutation.
You can read more about the changes on our official Discord server: Despot's Game.
1.9.0 12/21/2023
[1.8.0]
7 new mutations, new enemies in Director's Cut, updates to the starting team, and a thorough overhaul of class balance
You can find more information on this patch, including all the hard numbers, on our Discord server - Despot's Game: Dystopian Army Builder
[1.8.2]
Fixed mutation icons not displaying properly in statistics after a Brawl
1.8.2 11/01/2023
7 new mutations, new enemies in Director's Cut, updates to the starting team, and a thorough overhaul of class balance
You can find more information on this patch, including all the hard numbers, on our Discord server - Despot's Game: Dystopian Army Builder
1.8.0 10/19/2023
[1.7.0]
The biggest change is that we added a stats screen in a new tab of the window that appears when you finish a run. This way it'll be even clearer just how pathetic your attempt was!
You can see how your humans' stats changed over the course of your run and the progression of your mutations and buttons. You can also get economy advice. Or you can just admire the nice window we created!
But that's not all!
We reworked Hard Mode and renamed it Director's Cut Mode. We figured this would be a kind of ultimate version of Despot's Game for PvE players who have no interest in King of the Hill, but want more roguelike content and challenges. Here's some info about the new mode:
- You'll encounter stronger versions of monsters, mutations will have different values, and rooms will be configured in new ways. We also adjusted the balance, and practically nothing remains of what was once Hard Mode (although it didn't become any easier).
- No PvP. None. Why? It was a necessary decision that makes us free to focus on the PvE experience without wrecking the balance in King of the Hill.
- This isn't the final state of Director's Cut Mode. We plan to keep adding more content in future updates, such as mutations unique to PvE that would be really useful there but would absolutely break PvP.
[1.7.2]
Fixes a serious bug which prevented buying/taking mutations and buttons
[1.7.3]
Fixes several small bugs and visual glitches
[1.7.4]
Fixes inability to restart sometimes after playing King of the Hill
[1.7.5]
A minor update with some small fixes for PvP and Director's Cut
1.7.5 08/31/2023
[1.7.0]
The biggest change is that we added a stats screen in a new tab of the window that appears when you finish a run. This way it'll be even clearer just how pathetic your attempt was!
You can see how your humans' stats changed over the course of your run and the progression of your mutations and buttons. You can also get economy advice. Or you can just admire the nice window we created!
But that's not all!
We reworked Hard Mode and renamed it Director's Cut Mode. We figured this would be a kind of ultimate version of Despot's Game for PvE players who have no interest in King of the Hill, but want more roguelike content and challenges. Here's some info about the new mode:
- You'll encounter stronger versions of monsters, mutations will have different values, and rooms will be configured in new ways. We also adjusted the balance, and practically nothing remains of what was once Hard Mode (although it didn't become any easier).
- No PvP. None. Why? It was a necessary decision that makes us free to focus on the PvE experience without wrecking the balance in King of the Hill.
- This isn't the final state of Director's Cut Mode. We plan to keep adding more content in future updates, such as mutations unique to PvE that would be really useful there but would absolutely break PvP.
[1.7.2]
Fixes a serious bug which prevented buying/taking mutations and buttons
[1.7.3]
Fixes several small bugs and visual glitches
1.7.3 08/14/2023
[1.7.0]
The biggest change is that we added a stats screen in a new tab of the window that appears when you finish a run. This way it'll be even clearer just how pathetic your attempt was!
You can see how your humans' stats changed over the course of your run and the progression of your mutations and buttons. You can also get economy advice. Or you can just admire the nice window we created!
But that's not all!
We reworked Hard Mode and renamed it Director's Cut Mode. We figured this would be a kind of ultimate version of Despot's Game for PvE players who have no interest in King of the Hill, but want more roguelike content and challenges. Here's some info about the new mode:
- You'll encounter stronger versions of monsters, mutations will have different values, and rooms will be configured in new ways. We also adjusted the balance, and practically nothing remains of what was once Hard Mode (although it didn't become any easier).
- No PvP. None. Why? It was a necessary decision that makes us free to focus on the PvE experience without wrecking the balance in King of the Hill.
- This isn't the final state of Director's Cut Mode. We plan to keep adding more content in future updates, such as mutations unique to PvE that would be really useful there but would absolutely break PvP.
[1.7.2]
Fixes a serious bug which prevented buying/taking mutations and buttons
1.7.2 08/10/2023
The biggest change is that we added a stats screen in a new tab of the window that appears when you finish a run. This way it'll be even clearer just how pathetic your attempt was!
You can see how your humans' stats changed over the course of your run and the progression of your mutations and buttons. You can also get economy advice. Or you can just admire the nice window we created!
But that's not all!
We reworked Hard Mode and renamed it Director's Cut Mode. We figured this would be a kind of ultimate version of Despot's Game for PvE players who have no interest in King of the Hill, but want more roguelike content and challenges. Here's some info about the new mode:
- You'll encounter stronger versions of monsters, mutations will have different values, and rooms will be configured in new ways. We also adjusted the balance, and practically nothing remains of what was once Hard Mode (although it didn't become any easier).
- No PvP. None. Why? It was a necessary decision that makes us free to focus on the PvE experience without wrecking the balance in King of the Hill.
- This isn't the final state of Director's Cut Mode. We plan to keep adding more content in future updates, such as mutations unique to PvE that would be really useful there but would absolutely break PvP.
1.7.0 08/10/2023
[1.6.4]
In this update we just focused on making some small tweaks, improving mechanics, and implementing balance changes. But the next one's gonna be a doozy, so keep an eye on our Discord channel for more details!
We reworked Bloodletting: mutations that affect healing when combined with Bloodletting now maim. We also increased the EXP received in Sprint, reworked Normal and Hard modes, and, made balance changes, of course!
[1.6.6]
- Fixes a number of bugs with healers
1.6.6 07/26/2023
[1.6.4]
In this update we just focused on making some small tweaks, improving mechanics, and implementing balance changes. But the next one's gonna be a doozy, so keep an eye on our Discord channel for more details!
We reworked Bloodletting: mutations that affect healing when combined with Bloodletting now maim. We also increased the EXP received in Sprint, reworked Normal and Hard modes, and, made balance changes, of course!
[1.6.5]
- Fixes a number of bugs with healers
1.6.5 07/24/2023
In this update we just focused on making some small tweaks, improving mechanics, and implementing balance changes. But the next one's gonna be a doozy, so keep an eye on our Discord channel for more details!
We reworked Bloodletting: mutations that affect healing when combined with Bloodletting now maim. We also increased the EXP received in Sprint, reworked Normal and Hard modes, and, made balance changes, of course!
1.6.4 07/20/2023
- In all game modes except Brawl and Sprint, we increased the spread between the minimum and maximum possible numbers of rooms on a floor
- In Brawl there are now 3 rooms instead of 4 (except the first floor). We increased the number of rolls you get at altars and buffed the bonus from Wide Selection in the Mutation Tree
- In Sprint you now get slightly fewer tokens, but there are more altars. Additionally, Wide Selection now gives more random rolls at lower mutation levels
1.6.2 06/01/2023
[1.6.0]
NEW GAME MODE: SPRINT!
Sprint is a shortened version of d'Spot's dungeon that lets you get to King of the Hill faster. To unlock this game mode, you'll have to beat the game at least once
We're also still experimenting with the food mechanic, so the new mode has both Food and No Food versions
For those of you who aren't into PvP, we adjusted Hard mode a little: monster abilities are now stronger, which means you'll need to field a more balanced team, not just a stronger one
[1.6.1]
- fixes a bug where the leaderboard was erroneously left open after the last King of the Hill fight
- fixes a bug where Impostor mutation sometimes user a wrong unit in King of the Hill
- fixes some other minor bugs
1.6.1 05/18/2023
[1.12.0]
- Mass Taunt is reworked. Its duration now depends on the number of Tanks in your team and the cooldown increases for every cast and resets after a fight
- Experience bar in the unit's UI now has a tooltip, which should help when buying Knowledge Tokens
- Season 40 and balance changes. You can read more on our official Discord server: Despot's Game
[1.12.1]
- Updated challenges to account for the recent changes
- Fixed a small issue with the Spanish localization
more Version 1.12.1 05/16/2025
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