Aeruta Review: A Charming Dungeon Crawling and Bakery Management

Aeruta slipped onto Steam without much fanfare, but don’t let that fool you. This side-scrolling action RPG mixes dungeon combat with running a bakery, and the combo works better than you’d expect. You play as Chaya, a fox-girl who spends her days adventuring through monster-filled dungeons and her evenings baking bread to help revive a dying town. It’s a weird premise, but i think the execution is solid enough to earn it an 8.5/10 on Steam.

Aeruta

Playglio.com

Originality :

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Visuals :

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Life span :

⭐⭐⭐

Gameplay :

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Audio quality :

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Writer’s Rating : 8.4 / 10

Steam Ratings : 8.5 / 10

Combat That Requires Some Of Your Attention

The dungeon runs are short, room-by-room affairs where you clear enemies to progress. Before each run, you pick one of three melee weapons: a rolling pin, a whip, or a rapier. Each weapon handles differently and has three unlockable skills on cooldowns. You’ve got a basic four-hit combo, a dash with invincibility frames, and the option to parry or dodge attacks.

Here’s the thing, your HP pool is small. Really small. That means you need to read enemy patterns and time your dodges properly, or you’ll die fast. It’s not punishing in a frustrating way, but it does force you to pay attention. The combat feels responsive, and there’s enough build variety through weapons, skills, and passive badges to keep things interesting across multiple runs. I wouldn’t exaggerate and call it a Dark Souls like, but the difficulty pretty much suits the game’s vibe.

One smart design choice: weapon-specific skill points are shared across all weapons. That means if you level up your rolling pin, your whip and rapier don’t fall behind. You can experiment without feeling like you’re gimping yourself.

Bakery Management That’s More Than Window Dressing

After each dungeon run, you head back to town with your ingredients and get to work. You bake different types of bread, place them on racks, serve customers, keep the shop clean, and restock as items sell. The money you earn goes toward upgrading your bakery, raising your stats (Strength, Health, Luck), and buying new badges and materials.

The bakery side isn’t just a break from combat, it’s a genuine time and space management challenge. You’re juggling baking timers, customer flow, and keeping your store presentable. It’s surprisingly engaging, especially once you start capturing monsters from dungeons to help you gather materials and assist during shop hours.

Yeah, you read that right. Those bread-slime creatures you fight in dungeons? Feed them bread during a run, and they’ll come live in your bakery. You can raise them, feed them, and they’ll help you out. It’s oddly satisfying.

A Loop That Keeps You Coming Back

The core gameplay loop is straightforward: pick a dungeon route, clear rooms and gather materials, maybe capture a monster, return to bake and sell bread, spend your profits on upgrades, then repeat. It sounds repetitive on paper, but the constant progression keeps it fresh. Every run gives you something, whether it’s new ingredients, stat upgrades, or unlocked facilities in town.

You can also talk to NPCs, give gifts to deepen relationships, and invest in town upgrades that unlock more badges and options. There’s enough variety in how you approach combat and manage your bakery that you’re always tweaking your strategy.

Difficulty is adjustable, with a tougher “challenge” mode available later. A focused run takes about 10 to 15 hours, but if you’re chasing side content and maxing upgrades, you’re looking at 20 to 30 hours or more.

Visuals and Audio That Nail the Vibe

The art style is simple and cozy, leaning into a soft, hand-drawn aesthetic that fits the game’s tone perfectly. Nothing flashy, but it’s charming and detailed enough to make the world feel lived-in. The audio is top-tier for an indie game, the soundtrack complements the pacing without overwhelming it, and sound effects are satisfying without being obnoxious.

What Players Are Saying In Their Aeruta Review

Steam reviews sit at around 8.5/10, which lines up with my experience. Most players praise the balance between combat and management, the responsive controls, and the addictive loop. Some mention the dungeon rooms can feel samey after a while, and the story is pretty light, but those aren’t deal-breakers for most people.

The developers are active, pushing regular updates that fix bugs and add quality-of-life improvements. That kind of support matters, especially for a smaller indie title.

Should You Play Aeruta?

If you like fast, responsive combat with meaningful build variety and don’t mind managing a bakery between dungeon runs, Aeruta is worth your time. It doesn’t reinvent the genre, but it executes its ideas well and respects your time. The progression is steady, the loop is satisfying, and there’s enough depth to keep you hooked for a solid 15 to 30 hours.

Aeruta isn’t trying to be the next big thing. It’s just a well-made indie game that knows what it wants to be and delivers on it. For the price, that’s more than enough.