Info about The Siege and the Sandfox:

Official game description:
Explore the palace and cavernous depths below an ancient desert city, under siege by its neighbouring kingdom. Master dynamic parkour abilities and use cunning and stealth to discover the true threat lurking within. Evade guards, defeat enemies, befriend potential new allies, improve your skills, and foil the evil plot before it's too late.
*   2D Stealth Metroidvania with parkour exploration
*   Rich retro-style pixel art, hand animated frame-by-frame, with modern effect from Unreal Engine 4
*   Immersive and dynamic audio builds tension and highlights danger
*   An eclectic range of characters to discover and aid
*   Smooth controls and fluid animations to avoid enemies, evade capture and find other ways to deal with threats
Use stealth to sneak through the environments, incapacitating enemies or ghosting past as if you were never there. Run, jump, slide, shimmy, pole swing and more as you navigate the intricate game world, finding new items, equipment and skills, and unlocking previously-inaccessible locations.
The Siege and the Sandfox is a stealth Metroidvania with one giant continuous world, linking the newer palace above, older prisons below, the ancient mausoleum, and an intricate network of caves woven amongst them all. Encounter unique enemies in each area - some more capable at pursuing sneaky Sandfoxes than others! Keep on your guard, as even an extinguished torch or door left open can trigger the suspicions of those out to get you.
A shining city lies besieged in the heart of a vast desert. As the moon rises over the royal palace, a notorious assassin watches the king die to a traitor’s hand. Discovered, falsely accused and thrown into the labyrinthine dungeons below, they must escape to tell the tale else the city will fall.
The Sandfox – known as the Kasha’i – is famed across the land as the legendary line of faithful protectors and servants to the crown. The current holder of this mantle has been left for dead at the base of ‘Traitor’s Fall’ - a deep pit leading to the depths of the underground prisons. Betrayed by the Queen in order to hide her regicide, you must now take on the role of the Sandfox and begin your journey back up to the palace. Save the kingdom from the Queen’s evil plot and reap revenge with the iconic weapon of the Kasha’i: the glass dagger.
In your journey through the dark caves, dusty mausoleums, dangerous prisons, and crumbling ancient architecture, you will need to avoid the nastier inhabitants of this underground world and aid those friendlier to a new face. Your progression will lead to the discovery of the true threat to the kingdom above: a sand-borne evil emerging below. As dusk becomes night, and night becomes dawn, you will need to rely on the aid of new allies, make your way back into the palace, and end the treachery of the wicked Queen.

Release date: 20 May, 2025

Categories: Metroidvania, Stealth Gameplay, Exploration, Puzzle Solving, Parkour Gameplay, Single-player Story, Character Progression


- Hardware Profile: No data
Feature extractions:
- Community Price: No data
- Playtime Metrics: No data
- Time-to-fun: No data
- Player Archetypes: No data


Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category.
Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews.
What players like:
- Stunning visuals and music (weight 0.83): The game features high-quality, beautiful pixel art and a stunning soundtrack that immerses players in the game world. These elements contribute significantly to the overall atmosphere and enjoyment of the game.
- Fluid, fun gameplay and movement (weight 0.71): The game provides a fun and immersive experience with fluid movement and responsive controls, especially when using a controller. The well-designed levels and movement mechanics contribute to the enjoyable gameplay.
- Excellent voice acting and narration (weight 0.54): The game features excellent voice acting, particularly the narrator, who is often compared to the narrator in Baldur's Gate 3. Amelia Tyler's narration is specifically highlighted for enhancing the immersive experience.
- Well-implemented, engaging stealth mechanics (weight 0.37): The stealth mechanics are well-implemented and engaging, providing a satisfying experience without being overly punishing. The game's methodical approach to stealth creates interesting scenarios for players.
- Chill pace, polished presentation (weight 0.36): The game features familiar Metroidvania elements with a chill pace, offering upgrades, collectibles, and NPC interactions. Players can sneak past enemies and solve puzzles, and the game's presentation is polished.
- Compelling and well-written story (weight 0.26): The game features a compelling and well-written story with good world-building. The narrative is straightforward and not overly complex, making it easy for players to follow and enjoy.
- Original stealth/Metroidvania fusion (weight 0.19): The game offers an original take on the Metroidvania genre by seamlessly integrating stealth mechanics. This fusion emphasizes avoidance over direct combat, providing a unique gameplay experience.
- Superb and immersive atmosphere (weight 0.19): The game has a superb atmosphere, enhanced by detailed sound design and music. The distinct and fleshed-out areas within the game world, along with ambient sounds, contribute to an immersive experience.
- Reminiscent of classic stealth games (weight 0.17): The game is reminiscent of titles like Mark of the Ninja, Prince of Persia, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Assassin's Creed Chronicles. This comparison highlights the game's stealth and platforming elements.
- Easy to grasp mechanics (weight 0.17): The game features easy-to-grasp mechanics and controls that feel good to use. This makes the game accessible to a wide range of players, including those new to the genre.
- Polished despite low price (weight 0.13): The game is polished despite its low price, indicating a high level of quality and attention to detail. This makes it an attractive option for players looking for a well-made game at an affordable price.
- Dynamic NPC and enemy reactions (weight 0.11): NPCs and enemies react dynamically to environmental changes, such as investigating open doors or reacting to altered torches. This adds a layer of strategy to the stealth gameplay.
- Large map with defined areas (weight 0.1): The game features a fairly large map with well-defined areas that allow for sneaking around. The map feels open, providing players with ample opportunities for exploration and stealth.

Common complaints:
- Game-breaking bugs and glitches (weight 1): Numerous bugs plague the game, ranging from minor inconveniences to game-breaking issues like softlocks, crashes, and visual glitches. These bugs can halt progression, corrupt saves, and even render the game unplayable, leading to significant frustration.
- Unpolished stealth and platforming (weight 0.82): The game's stealth and platforming mechanics are unpolished, with limited options and clunky controls. Players noted the absence of combat and the lack of a Metroidvania-style experience, leading to a feeling of repetitiveness and boredom. The level design and character progression contribute to a lack of purpose and intrigue.
- Inconsistent and buggy enemy AI (weight 0.43): Enemy AI exhibits inconsistent and buggy behavior, with enemies getting stuck, failing to disengage, or behaving illogically. These issues cause frustration during navigation and stealth sections.
- Progression-blocking bugs/design (weight 0.25): Players have encountered progression blockers due to unclear paths or broken mechanics, such as levers failing to open doors. These issues can halt the game and prevent players from advancing further.
- Clunky and uncustomizable controls (weight 0.25): Keyboard controls are clunky and take time to get used to, with limited rebinding options and lack of support for non-qwerty layouts. This makes the game difficult to control, especially for players unfamiliar with the default control scheme.
- Unrewarding exploration and tutorials (weight 0.24): Exploration feels unrewarding due to limited ability unlocks and repetitive environments. Tutorials are repeated excessively, becoming irritating due to stingy checkpoints.

Gameplay feedback:
- Stealth Metroidvania with Parkour (weight 0.63): The game blends stealth, parkour, and puzzle elements within a Metroidvania structure, drawing comparisons to 'Mark of the Ninja' and 'Prince of Persia'. Gameplay emphasizes avoiding direct combat through stealth and non-lethal takedowns.
- Exploration unlocks traversal abilities (weight 0.16): The game focuses on exploration and puzzle-solving to unlock traversal abilities. Early gameplay is slower-paced, emphasizing exploration over combat.
- Limited, passive abilities (weight 0.12): The player character's abilities are limited, focusing on passive stealth and avoiding guards. Attacks are weak, reinforcing the emphasis on stealth over direct confrontation.
- Slower, deliberate pace (weight 0.1): The game features a slower pace that may initially feel jarring. However, the mechanics provide enough challenge with a steady introduction of gameplay variations.
- Puzzle-based level design (weight 0.06): Specific level design requires manipulating enemy positions to solve puzzles, such as getting two guards onto a trap door before activating it.
- Reviewer unfamiliar with genre (weight 0.05): The reviewer admits unfamiliarity with 2D side scrollers, which may skew their perspective on the game.

Performance notes:
- Good Steam Deck performance (weight 0.2): The game exhibits solid performance and responsive controls on the Steam Deck, making it a suitable platform for playing the game. Reviewers specifically noted consistent frame rates and smooth gameplay on the device.
- Initial resolution launch issues (weight 0.16): Some players have reported issues with the game launching in a small window or failing to render correctly initially. This problem was often resolved by using Alt+Enter to force the correct resolution.
- Few initial bugs reported (weight 0.16): Many reviewers have noted the relative lack of bugs and technical issues encountered during their initial playtime. While some minor bugs were observed, they were not game-breaking, suggesting a stable initial release.

Recommendations:
- Recommended for genre enthusiasts (weight 0.47): Reviewers recommend the game, especially to fans of Metroidvanias and stealth games. They highlight the engaging movement, stealth mechanics, atmospheric experience, and voice acting as strong positives.
- Lacks vision, falls short (weight 0.25): Some reviewers feel the game doesn't quite live up to its potential, lacking a clear vision and feeling somewhat boring despite its interesting premise. It draws comparisons to 'The Rogue Prince of Persia' and 'Thief' but falls short of those standards.
- Polarizing Metroidvania experience (weight 0.1): One reviewer considered the game the worst Metroidvania played in 2025, while another gave it a middling score, indicating mixed opinions on its quality within the genre.
- Refreshing, genre-revitalizing experience (weight 0.09): Some reviewers consider the game a refreshing take on the Metroidvania genre and believe it will keep the genre alive.
- Good start, loses steam (weight 0.09): One reviewer notes that the game seems good before it runs out of steam and that it is a strong first game for a new developer.
- Inferior to 'Mark of the Ninja' (weight 0.05): One reviewer recommends 'Mark of the Ninja' as a more polished alternative within the 2D stealth genre, implying that the game under review lacks polish or refinement in comparison.
- Intellectually great, emotionally boring (weight 0.05): One reviewer expresses internal conflict, with their mind appreciating the game but their heart finding it boring, suggesting a lack of engagement despite perceived quality.
- Promising tutorial (weight 0.05): One reviewer found the tutorial promising.
- Enjoyable world/lore (weight 0.05): One reviewer is happy to discover more of Kariman.

Other player notes:
- Pleased game was finished (weight 0.09): The reviewer acknowledges the development team's hard work and is pleased they finished the game. They have been following the game's development since 2016 and obtained 4 out of 15 achievements within the first half-hour of playing. This point shows signs of review bombing, so the importance score is reduced.
- Steam Deck button overlap (weight 0.07): On Steam Deck, the X button function in the map menu is covered by the B button. This is a specific, actionable issue that impacts the user experience on a particular platform.
- Crouching for pull rod interaction (weight 0.07): The reviewer suggests adding a crouching mechanic to interact with pull rods. This is a specific suggestion for improving gameplay interaction and environmental engagement.
- Visuals unchanged since early footage (weight 0.07): The game's visuals haven't significantly improved since early footage. This suggests a potentially lengthy or troubled development, which may impact player expectations regarding graphical fidelity.

Emotions:
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