Stickman meets Diablo

XP Hero drops a lone stickman into a world of monsters and gives him one job: slash, shoot, survive. It is a mobile action RPG from Supercent, and the easiest way to describe it is Stickman meets Diablo. Waves of cartoonish creeps, giant boss fights, loot after every win. My verdict is a maybe, and the reason has nothing to do with the combat. More on that below.

Swords in one hand, guns in the other

The combat is a fast hack and slash and it does not let up. You cut through packs of enemies with everything from sharp blades to high-powered firearms, and you can mix and match weapons and styles on the fly. One second I was doing spinning sword attacks, the next I was raining bullets. Sometimes both at the same time. That freedom is the best thing about the game and it is what kept me playing.

Bosses are fun, but not mechanically difficult. Dodge a few attacks, have enough stats, done. If your numbers are too low, no amount of skill saves you. If they are high enough, the boss barely matters. That is the whole design, really - a survival test of your reflexes wrapped in stick figure graphics and non-stop action, with a stat check at the end of each run.

Each victory nets XP to level up, plus materials to upgrade gear and unlock new abilities. There is always a next upgrade waiting, which is exactly how these games get you.

XP Hero screenshots

XP Hero: a level 3 stickman hero with a sword running along a dirt path in the green overworld, with a cargo counter and locked skill slots below XP Hero: the hero at level 14 standing outside a dark skull tower with a next boss countdown timer on screen XP Hero: dungeon floor 4F with the hero firing a bright blue lightning beam across a stone corridor at a glowing enemy XP Hero: floor 10F boss fight against a huge white beast with damage numbers, red shockwaves and a boss health bar showing x21 kills

The one hour mark

Here is the thing. When I started playing, not a single forced ad popped up. Nothing. I was genuinely surprised for a free mobile game. Then I passed about one hour of play time, and forced ads started popping up quite frequently. So brace yourself for that if you are planning on playing.

Once the ads are in, the game changes. It quickly becomes a grindy slog unless you pay to bypass them. The addictive upgrade loop is still there, but now it comes with a toll booth.

Who should give it a shot

For a quick mobile dungeon romp, XP Hero is easy to recommend. It is fun, it is addictive, and the stickman slash fest with plenty of gear and bosses is a good time for that first hour. If you love endless weapon upgrades and do not mind ads, give it a shot. If forced ads are a dealbreaker, know that they are coming, even if the game hides them at first.