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Opens on 2026-07-20 (JST)
One hundred steps stand between you and the final boss, and the entire game is built around never wasting one of them, with only 10 skills and 10 abilities in existence deciding whether that walk ends in victory or permadeath.
A small, dense roguelike RPG made and self-published by Steppers' Stop, the creative alias of a solo creator known as Pawn. Per Steam's own listing, the game ends the moment you advance 100 steps and beat the final boss, built to deliver tough, rewarding battles and powerful growth without wasted time; the protagonist grows through leveling up and buying equipment, an orthodox RPG shape stripped of excess in pursuit of its own depth. Leveling grants random skills and abilities, only 10 of each existing in the entire game, so which ones you happen to draw and choose to equip reshapes your whole strategy, carrying the genre's usual traits of randomness and permadeath through a fast-paced, non-branching story about a world facing annihilation, a resistance organization called the Counter's Guild, and a girl named Ayame who carries the fates of many people until an unexpected encounter makes her waver. Per AUTOMATON's own coverage, Pawn released freeware titles including 雪道 (Yukimichi) through 2011 before moving into commercial analog card games from 2013 onward, and a separate feature from Mogura Games calls this his first digital game in 13 years. Released September 22, 2024 at ¥580, it is Positive at about 95 percent over 39 reviews (37 positive, 2 negative), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated assets, and per Steam's own content descriptors, ids limited to violence and gore plus general mature content, nothing sexual. It supports Japanese and English, yet only 1 of its 39 reviews is in English, leaving it, with a review count this small, genuinely unfound.
Published 2026-07-20
01First, the one feeling
- Per Steam's own listing, the entire game resolves in 100 steps, so there is no room to waste on a wrong build; every one of the only 10 skills and 10 abilities that exist has to be evaluated for what it actually does the moment it's offered, not what it might do eventually.
- Permadeath means a single loss costs everything, and with such a tightly limited toolset, that loss reads less like bad luck and more like a specific, nameable mistake in how you combined what little you were given, which is exactly what makes improving at it feel earned.
- This is Steppers' Stop's first digital game in over a decade after years spent designing commercial card games, and once you know that, the game's own insistence on cutting every wasted moment reads like a card designer's instinct for tight, load-bearing rules applied directly to an RPG.
02Who this is for (and who it is not)
For you
- You want a roguelike RPG stripped to a fixed length and a strictly limited toolset: 100 steps, one final boss, and only 10 skills plus 10 abilities in the whole game
- You want a genuinely solo Japanese production with a real career behind it: creator Pawn's return to digital games after a decade spent designing commercial analog card games, confirmed in AUTOMATON's own coverage
- You want a Positive title (about 95 percent over 39 reviews) that is about as unfound as a game can be: only 1 of its 39 reviews is in English
Not for you
- You want a long, branching story; this one is fast-paced and linear by design, built to never waste your time
- You want a large, statistically settled review base before you trust a score; 39 reviews is a small sample, and this pick says so plainly. It is also a paid title, not free and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated assets and, per Steam's own content descriptors, nothing sexual
03The roots of this taste
95% positiveonly 39 reviews — yet almost no one has found it
Princess of Destruction Buried gem
Per Steam's own listing, this is a small, dense roguelike RPG that ends the moment you advance 100 steps and beat the final boss, built to deliver tough, rewarding battles and powerful growth without wasted time; the protagonist grows through leveling up and buying equipment, an orthodox RPG shape stripped of excess in pursuit of its own depth. Leveling grants random 'skills' and 'abilities,' only 10 of each existing in the entire game, each capable of dramatic effect depending on how you use it, so which ones you happen to draw and choose to equip reshapes your whole strategy. It carries the genre's usual traits, randomness (varied skill and ability draws and shifting situations make every run different) and permadeath (lose a fight and lose everything, with improvement paying off in better results), told through a fast-paced, non-branching story about a world facing annihilation from overwhelming monsters, a resistance organization called the Counter's Guild, and a girl named Ayame who joined it for reasons of her own, carrying the fates of many people until an unexpected encounter makes her waver and a single event forces her to decide. Made and self-published by Steppers' Stop, the creative alias of a solo creator known as Pawn who, per AUTOMATON's own coverage, released freeware titles including 雪道 (Yukimichi) through 2011 before moving into commercial analog card games such as Cheffy and the Blade Rondo series from 2013 onward, with this marking a return to digital games; a separate feature from Mogura Games specifically calls it his 'first digital game in 13 years.' Released September 22, 2024 at ¥580, it is Positive at about 95 percent over 39 reviews (37 positive, 2 negative per Steam's own review API), a paid title, not free, fully launched and not in Early Access, with no AI-generated assets, and per Steam's own content descriptors, ids limited to violence and gore plus general mature content, nothing sexual. It supports Japanese and English, yet only 1 of its 39 reviews is in English, leaving it, with a review count this small, genuinely unfound.
Give it your first passDesktop Dungeons The critical echo
The origin of this taste: Desktop Dungeons, QCF Design's roguelike that established the template of the tightly-designed, bite-sized dungeon crawl, a single small dungeon solvable in minutes, every resource and encounter placed with a puzzle designer's precision rather than left to sprawling randomness. Princess of Destruction is not an official Desktop Dungeons work, and this lineage is a comparison drawn by this site in outside critical commentary, not a stated influence from creator Steppers' Stop, but it carries the same core idea into a new frame: a roguelike RPG stripped down to a fixed length and a strictly limited pool of tools, betting that depth comes from tight design rather than sheer size.
Give it your first pass04Make this gem shine
If it speaks to you, check it on Steam and give it your first pass. Your push is what makes a buried gem shine.
You gave it your pass. The gem just caught the light.
05The bloodline of this taste
- Desktop Dungeons Root
- Princess of Destruction You are here
- Read-and-build games another taste