10 hours is basically nothing. There’s a very noticeable difference in skill between people that have 500 hours in the game and 1000 hours in the game, but consistency starts to happen at 50-100 hours depending on skill.

“it doesn’t have Dredmor’s class system or Spelunky’s secret shop that guarantee at least a chance of making it to the end of the game.”

Again, the reason you’re inconsistent isn’t because the game is random, it’s because you have 10 hours in it.

And for what its worth, Necrodancer strikes me as, if not perfectly balanced, then interestingly balanced. The most powerful items also have drawbacks, like the shades that give +1 to damage but turn all the monsters into silhouettes or the boots that do damage to monsters as you walk around but which damage *you* the first time you put them on. The only truly game-breaking items in there are the crossbows.

(Sorry it’s taken me a while to reply, I’ve been distracted somewhat recently.)

I don’t understand your praise of Dredmor. I see humor, yes, and it’s true roguelike unlike all those roguelikelikes young people are playing. But it has huge technical problems and it’s horribly unbalanced. And this freaking crafting is just maddening.