When it comes to making great indie games, it’s interesting how the concept of “less is more” can work well in some cases, but less convincingly in others. In particular, depth tends to be a tricky area, since even if you have multiple options to choose from, if the fundamentals of play don’t change significantly enough on a per-play basis the experience may still feel similar in the end. For me that’s where Bing in Wonderland struggles, as despite the ability to unlock new weapons and personas the further you go, the core gameplay simply doesn’t feel different enough to remain engaging for long.

Looking at the positives, there’s no question that Bing has its own unique look and general style of play. I wouldn’t necessarily argue that its stage layouts and combat are terribly varied, as you’ll have pretty limited means of attacks no matter what you may unlock. In the end what you’re counting on is your technique, as well as which skill enhancements you’ll choose, to help you gain the edge on the oddball menagerie of enemies you’ll be facing. You can absolutely get into a rhythm as you go, and that can make for some fun, but repeated runs do begin to illustrate the limitations of the game’s overall design.

Aside from what feels like a lack of overall depth, there are just some quirks in how the game’s systems are set up that feel odd and a bit more confusing than I’m used to in this space. It’s true that which enhancements and upgrades you can choose in your typical roguelike will require some experimentation to find what works best for you. But moreso than usual I found it hard to understand precisely what certain options would do for me, and in some cases that remained a struggle even after choosing and playing with them. I suppose the issue could be that they’re sometimes too subtle to be noticed, or focused more on stat boosts than something more visual, but that problem does detract from the excitement of seeing what options you’ll have to upgrade as you go.

In the end, that leaves an experience that can have its moments, and certainly can be engaging to a degree, but that runs out of gas a little too quickly. The fact is that there are loads of roguelikes out there with more variety, personality, and intensity that make it challenging for something more bare bones like this to pull away from their shadows. If you dig its overall style and vibe, I have no doubt you’ll be able to have some fun with it, but in a competitive space it’s in the middle of the pack at best.