Just want to preface this, the reviews below have been partially rendered incorrect because there are plenty of other places you can now get non-steam versions of existing mods (Nexus, GitHub etc) and plenty of steam workshop mods have non-steam links in their descriptions too anyway onto the actual review. Caves Of Qud is a tough game to get into, though in 2024 it's had a lot of work done to lower the barrier to entry, it's still not everyones cup of tea but that's okay because if you roll with it and give it time, it'll repay you massively. Qud's hallmarks are it's bizzare but equally facinating and charming world and it's total lack of hand holding and punishing gameplay, but once you lean the games ropes you can really see the depth and variety the game has, for example in my current playthrough I'm a four legged mutant that wields two battle axes, has fangs to bite enemies and I can also teleport, shoot ice and summon an army of plants, my companions are a Mechanimist priest that can burn entire grids of enemies and a sentient plant that makes copies of xymself to fight with us. Most games use "no two playthroughs are ever the same" as a marketing buzzword but this is one of the rare exceptions where that is true, because this game can be so emergent and so random that it's near impossible to have two playthroughs go exactly the same way, whether that is the powers you wield, killing a random legendary fish to gain reputation with another faction to make a dungeon easier or just the way your character dies. I recommend this game wholeheartedly, even if you dislike it you can always refund it, especially on GOG, I do also suggest watching a tutorial on how to start a game just so you can get the ball rolling, if you're unsure if the games really for you, start on roleplay mode so you can at least have an easy shot at beating the main story without having to start the game from the very beggining each time you die (which you will, A LOT), Live and Drink.
