An open-world deck builder using ASCII visuals

ZOZ is a free game that utilizes an ASCII art style. It was released as a “name your own price” game, allowing players to pay for it if they wish to support the developer. The game is an open-world deck builder roguelike that is designed to run in DOS and comes with a DOS emulator included in the download.

Though not as involved as detailed, ZOZ can be likened to Dwarf Fortress in terms of visual style. The game was created in a month for a game jam based around open worlds.

Build a deck

ZOZ takes place in a fairly typical roguelite world, with fantasy environments to explore and characters to interact with. The player must build a deck of characters to use in their interactions, with each character having a different set of skills that make them more or less useful, depending on the situation.

Explore a world in ASCII

The game’s visuals are rendered in ASCII art, essentially meaning that the “images” onscreen are created using text characters and other symbols, together with the clever use of background and foreground colors. The developers manage to achieve some impressive visuals despite this limitation.

An impressive game with limited appeal

ZOZ was a game jam entry created in a limited timeframe and using a platform and style with a lot of limitations, which makes what the developers achieved impressive. That being said, the limited visuals and the fact that the game requires a DOS emulator will make it less appealing to many.