A small but gorgeous alpine village in the Austrian Alps, Hinterberg is a bustling town full of tourists, influencers and adventurers, all trying to make names for themselves. That’s because the world is full of magic, and dungeons that have recently appeared are just begging for willing dungeon crawlers to take them on, solve their challenges and earn the loot within. Taking on a more laid-back approach to exploration and relationship building, Dungeons of Hinterberg offers an intriguing premise, where monsters are running rampant and puzzles aren’t the only things that need solving in this mysterious town.

Luisa is the main protagonist, burnt out from her attempted career in law and needing a serious break. She travels to Hinterberg, intending to clear all of its dungeons. By day, you’ll choose an area to explore and a dungeon within it, and in the evening you’ll spend your time hanging out with the locals (and visitors), shopping for gear and boosting important stats to help with your progress. It’s a very simple but effective gameplay loop, and as the days roll on it’s easy to fall into a comfortable rhythm of slaying beasts and solving puzzles before enjoying some chill time with characters as you evolve their relationships.

Luisa is relatable enough as a young person looking for purpose and adventure, and hoping to find it in Hinterberg. An earthquake quickly establishes that maybe magic isn’t merely a fun tourist attraction to be trifled with, as townspeople make a living selling enchantments, weapons and armour, while famous slayers come to town to increase their following. What begins as a casual affair of completing dungeons for loot doesn’t take too long to morph into something entirely different, as questions around dark secrets in the town start to form, and everything is not what it seems. While it never veers into completely dark and twisted territory, there are enough intriguing elements in the story that I was excited to see it progress with each dungeon I ticked off my list.

While there is combat in Dungeons of Hinterberg, it’s the puzzles that are truly memorable. Each biome offers a new skill that is used within it, and the dungeons – along with the overworld where you have to find the dungeons in the first place – are built around the use of that skill. For example, the first area gives you a large bomb that can be spawned to blow up rocks and create pathways, along with a grapple that can be used to pull things towards you, helpful for platforming. Another area features a tornado that you can use to elevate Luisa to new platforms, and a wind blast useful for activating switches out of reach. My favourite combo is in the icy area, where a snowboard has you grinding along rails and racing through slalom flags to unlock doors, while arming you with a laser beam to burn through stalactites so they drop to make new platforms.

Each dungeon makes great use of these magical tools at your disposal, and are broken up in terms of difficulty level so that you know the challenge that awaits you. This mostly impacts the ferocity of the monsters you’ll be taking on, but I found it to be a decent benchmark of how tricky the puzzles are, too. The lowest-level dungeon of an area is likely to show you the ropes with some basic head-scratchers, but the higher-level dungeons combine several components, more exploration and some truly devilish solutions.

Cleverly, each of the magic abilities you’ll acquire can be used in combat, too. These battles feel crunchy and fun; on a basic level, you’ll hack and slash your way with light and heavy attacks, while being able to guard and dodge. But those bombs, tornados and magic beams can deal a lot of damage, although you’ll have to keep an eye on your mana pool to be able to use them. Attack conduits also add an extra oomph; these extra abilities that regenerate as you do damage can have Luisa spinning across the battlefield with her sword like a Beyblade, or rain meteors from the sky on a bunch of enemies at once. You’ll unlock more attack conduits as you progress, and given you can change them at any time, I enjoyed experimenting and switching them out, finding good combos. One drains an enemy’s shield completely, while another sends murderous butterflies to attack on your behalf. Sure, why not?

The monsters themselves didn’t make for a super tough challenge on the normal difficulty, but in harder dungeons, they are able to overwhelm you, as they mix ranged attacks, magic spells that can heal and some stronger foes that deal extra damage. If I had to ding Dungeons of Hinterberg at all, it is in the lack of variety for these beasties. I initially enjoyed seeing the giraffe-weirdo that sticks his head underground and pops up elsewhere to attack you, but by the twentieth time I fought it, it had definitely lost its luster. It’s the same with the big gorilla creature that smashes the ground in front of him. Once you learn how to counter these enemies, it becomes a bit formulaic, and I was aching for a new variant or two to mix it up. Combat always feels good, and some boss fights are very clever and memorable, but when new waves of the same plebs spawn frequently, it can become a little repetitive.

Dungeons of Hinterberg has a laid-back approach overall that makes it quite endearing. The days will continue to roll on as the calendar ticks over, but you’re never under any real pressure to move at a fast pace. If you want to tackle a dungeon, go for it, but you’re not expected to finish all 25 dungeons in 25 days. Some days, you can simply find a scenic spot to take in the view and be alone with your thoughts. You’re not penalised for taking a break; in fact, doing so can increase your stats, meaning it’s pretty useful to slow down and enjoy a relaxing detour once in a while.

Who you choose to hang out with progresses their individual stories, which are engaging enough, but as your relationships increase, you’ll unlock bonuses, like an increased HP bar, new abilities, discounts at shops, or even access to hard-to-find dungeons. While I initially focused on choosing to spend time with characters that gave me specific bonuses, some stories were interesting enough that I wanted to see them through regardless.

This is where the laid-back approach comes into play again; Dungeons of Hinterberg allows you time to spend with these characters, essentially only ending when you complete the final dungeon available to you. If you’re enjoying your time in Hinterberg, there’s no harm in simply relaxing, repeating completed dungeons for loot, increasing your stats and finishing all of the available story arcs. That low-pressure freedom means it veers close to cozy territory, if not for the tricky puzzles and punchy battles, and I liked being able to set my own pace.

The visual aesthetic of each area in Dungeons of Hinterberg is gorgeous, too, from the titular town itself to the biomes and dungeons you’ll be traversing. A bold use of lighting, cel-shading and colour makes each area feel distinct, while the monsters have a dark shadow-esque quality that contrasts nicely with the beauty and warmth of Austria; it makes for a charming setting overall, and one that I was always eager to visit, with a lot of love put in by this Austrian development team to bring their home to life in a memorable way.

Dungeons all do a brilliant job of switching up gameplay so that they feel unique. From snowboarding across grind rails that take you across spheres of land, Super Mario Galaxy style, to shooting enemies from a high-speed minecart, to a full shift to isometric perspective to rotate environments and even side-scrolling for good measure, the experience always manages to surprise with a new point of view and a challenge that made sense within the setting. After you finish a dungeon, it’s likely you won’t be able to stop yourself from diving straight into the next one, a true testament to their thoughtful, creative design.