If you miss the days when games didn't hold your hand—and maybe even slapped it once in a while—you need to look at Islands of the Caliph. It's weird. It’s clunky by design. It feels like something you’d find on a dusty floppy disk in 1987, yet it came out in 2023. This isn't your typical high-fantasy "kill the goblin" simulator. Developed by Schmidt Workshops, it’s a grid-based, dungeon-crawling RPG heavily inspired by Middle Eastern folklore and Islamic mythology. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see a developer lean so hard into a specific cultural aesthetic without making it feel like a caricature.
You start with nothing. Well, almost nothing. You’re dropped onto an island, and the game basically says, "Good luck, don't die." It uses that classic "step-by-step" movement. Remember Wizardry or Might and Magic? It’s exactly that. You move one square at a time. You turn in 90-degree increments. For some, this is a nostalgic trip. For others, it’s a claustrophobic nightmare. But that’s the point. The limitations of the engine create this constant sense of tension. You can’t just strafe away from a giant spider. You have to think about your positioning before the fight even starts.
Why Islands of the Caliph feels so different
Most RPGs today are obsessed with "fluidity." They want you to feel like a superhero. Islands of the Caliph wants you to feel like a guy who might accidentally starve to death if he forgets to pack a kabob. It’s a survival game masquerading as a dungeon crawler. You have to manage your hunger. You have to manage your rest. If you run out of food while deep in a cave, you’re not just inconvenienced—you’re dead. It forces a level of preparation that modern games have mostly phased out in favor of "quality of life" features.
The setting is the real star here. Instead of the tired tropes of elves and dwarves, you’re dealing with Jinn, Ghouls, and automated brass sentinels. It’s heavily flavored by One Thousand and One Nights. The music is haunting. It’s this lo-fi, chiptune-adjacent soundtrack that perfectly captures the feeling of wandering through a sun-drenched bazaar or a damp, forgotten tomb. It’s grainy. It’s pixelated. It looks like it’s running on an old EGA monitor, and that lo-fi aesthetic does a lot of the heavy lifting for the atmosphere. Because the graphics are simple, your imagination fills in the gaps, making the monsters feel way creepier than they would in 4K.
The mechanics of the crawl
Combat is fast. Maybe too fast if you aren't paying attention. You click to swing your sword or fire a bow, but there's a rhythm to it. If you just mash the button, you'll get exhausted or overwhelmed. It’s about timing. You also have to deal with various weapon types—some things are weak to iron, others to silver. It’s a simple system on the surface, but the difficulty spikes are real. One minute you’re breezing through a field of crabs, and the next, a giant bird is pecking your eyes out because you didn't see it coming around a corner.
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- Grid-based movement: Every step is a choice.
- Permadeath options: For the truly brave (or masochistic).
- Non-linear exploration: You get a boat pretty early and can basically go wherever you want, provided you can survive the trip.
- Cultural depth: The inclusion of prayer mats and specific religious architecture isn't just window dressing; it’s baked into the world-building.
The game doesn't give you a map that fills itself in automatically in the way you might expect. You have to find or buy maps. Or, if you’re a real "old school" purist, you pull out a piece of graph paper and a pencil. There is something deeply satisfying about mapping out a dungeon by hand. It makes the world feel massive, even though the actual file size of the game is tiny. It’s about the feeling of distance. When you finally find a town after being lost at sea for twenty minutes, the relief is genuine.
What people get wrong about the difficulty
A lot of reviews call this game "hard." I don't think it's hard in the way a Soulslike is hard. It’s just "unforgiving." If you don't read the manual—and yes, there is a digital manual you should actually read—you will struggle. The game assumes you have a certain level of common sense. Don't jump into deep water if you can't swim. Don't go into a dark cave without a torch. It sounds basic, but we’ve been conditioned by modern gaming to assume the game will stop us from doing something stupid. Islands of the Caliph lets you be as stupid as you want, and it will let you suffer the consequences.
The magic system is also a bit of a curveball. It’s not about mana bars and cooldowns. It’s more about scrolls and specific items. This makes magic feel like a precious resource rather than a primary tool for most players. You save that fire scroll for when you’re cornered by three ghouls in a narrow hallway. Using it feels like a big deal. It’s a tactical decision, not a button you cycle through in a rotation.
A world of Jinn and Wonders
The lore isn't dumped on you through long cutscenes. You find it in snippets. You talk to NPCs who give you cryptic advice or tell you about the history of the islands. There’s a lot of environmental storytelling. You'll find a ruined tower and, through a few lines of text and the items found inside, you realize what happened there. It respects your intelligence. It doesn’t feel the need to explain every single detail of the Caliphate or why the monsters are there. They just are. Deal with it.
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One thing that really stands out is the lack of a traditional "quest log." You actually have to pay attention to what people tell you. If an old man says there’s a treasure hidden to the north of the palm forest, you better remember that or write it down. There’s no glowing trail on the ground leading you to the objective. This makes the "discovery" aspect of the game feel earned. When you find a hidden cave, it’s because you found it, not because a marker told you to go there.
Is the "Retro" look just a gimmick?
Some people hate the way this game looks. I get it. It’s very "low-res." But honestly, the art style is a deliberate choice that works in its favor. By using a limited palette and simple geometry, the developer, Schmidt, managed to create a world that feels cohesive. It doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It’s an homage to the 1980s, but it uses modern design sensibilities where it counts, like having a stable frame rate and a UI that actually makes sense once you spend ten minutes with it.
The developer has been pretty active in updating the game too. Since its launch on Steam, there have been tweaks to the balance and bug fixes. It’s a labor of love. You can tell this wasn't made by a committee trying to hit a demographic. It was made by someone who loves Dungeon Master and Eye of the Beholder and wanted to see those mechanics applied to a setting we rarely see in Western RPGs.
The islands themselves are varied. You’ve got lush tropical spots, barren deserts, and labyrinthine cities. Each island feels like its own little ecosystem. The maritime aspect of the game—sailing between these landmasses—adds a layer of scale that makes the world feel much larger than a standard dungeon crawler. You aren't just stuck in one giant maze; you’re exploring an archipelago.
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Breaking down the survival loop
You wake up. You check your hunger meter. You eat a piece of dried fruit. You look at your map. You decide to head to the nearby ruins. On the way, you’re jumped by a giant scorpion. You back up, draw your bow, and take it down, but not before it poisons you. Now you’re on a timer. You need an antivenom. Do you have one? No. You have to scramble back to town, praying you don't run into another enemy. This is the core loop. It’s a series of small crises that you have to manage. It’s stressful, but when you survive, it’s incredibly rewarding.
- Inventory management: It's limited. You can't carry everything. Deciding what to leave behind is a constant struggle.
- Weapon durability: Yes, things break. Have a backup.
- Day/Night cycle: Things get scarier at night. Visibility drops. Some monsters only come out when the sun goes down.
- The "Spirit" mechanic: Death isn't always the end, but it's never good.
Getting started: Some actual advice
If you're going to dive into Islands of the Caliph, don't play it like a modern action RPG. Slow down. Use the "wait" command to let enemies come to you. Don't get surrounded; if you're in a room with three exits, you're in a bad spot. Try to keep enemies in front of you in narrow hallways. This is "corridor management" 101.
Buy a compass as soon as you can. Seriously. Navigating without one is a nightmare, especially when the sun goes down or you're in a dense forest. Also, talk to everyone. Even the NPCs who seem like they're just flavor text often drop hints about where to find better gear or how to bypass certain traps. The game is full of secrets, and most of them are hidden behind "soft" clues rather than literal keys.
Lastly, don't be afraid to run away. There is no shame in fleeing a fight you can't win. The game doesn't scale with you. If you wander into an area you aren't ready for, the enemies will absolutely wreck you. It’s okay to turn the boat around and go back to the starter island to grind some gold and buy better armor.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check the Steam store page: Watch the trailer specifically for the sound design. The audio cues are vital for survival in-game.
- Download the manual: Read the section on "Conditions." Understanding how poison, hunger, and exhaustion stack will save you three hours of frustration.
- Map your keys: The default controls are classic, but most players find remapping the "turn" and "strafe" keys to a more modern WASD setup makes the transition much smoother.
- Start on 'Normal' first: Even if you're a veteran, the specific quirks of this game's movement and combat hit-boxes take a minute to click. Don't go 'Hardcore' until you've cleared the first major dungeon.
- Keep a physical notebook: Record the names of islands and what shops they have. The game won't track your economy for you, and knowing where to buy cheap arrows versus where to sell gems will make you rich much faster.