Netflix Games got off to a slow start, but 2022 sees the recently created gaming division picking up steam. Two weeks ago, it announced the addition of two new indy titles, bringing its total offering up to 12. It just launched two more titles—Hyper Hippo’s Dungeon Dwarves and Hextech Mayhem from Riot Games. Of course, both are mobile games, so hold your expectations in check. However, if you have enjoyed Netflix offerings so far, these should be up your alley. Riot’s Hextech Mayhem is a spinoff of League of Legends, but it’s not a MOBA. Instead, it is a side-scrolling runner made by Choice Provisions featuring League of Legends (LoL) characters and published by Riot’s LoL IP division Riot Forge. This game is not exclusive to Netflix Games, though. It is already available on Switch and PC. If you like auto runners, this one is hectic and fun. Hextech is definitely Netflix’s highest-profile launch yet and does look fun, but don’t discount Dungeon Dwarves. It might be an idle game, but it sure has more to it than most other titles of its type.
An exclusive to Netflix subscribers, Dungeon Dwarves, is described as an idle RPG. If you are familiar with the idle genre, they usually involve a lot of tapping. So not much in the way of actual gameplay. However, Hyper Hippo adds more depth by making it more like a dungeon crawler. You can upgrade your dwarves, use spells, and scrounge for loot to make progression easier and faster. If you quit, the dwarves will continue to explore and collect loot like any idle game, even if the game is completely turned off. You still have to come back at some point to level up and equip any better weapons or armor your dwarves might have found. The dwarves cannot die when they encounter stronger enemies or bosses, but they do get knocked unconscious, slowing progress, which is the goal of idle games. Netflix Games still has not hit its stride and probably won’t until it offers more than simple mobile games. Like any other game publisher, it will need to establish itself before signing bigger deals. So far, the company has not announced any plans outside of iOS and Android, but it has not ruled it out either.
