What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?! comes with a quirky, throwback look to go along with its equally quirky gameplay and title. The entire game has a charming, 80's arcade look that won't win over graphics whores, but completely works for the gameplay.

In a sense, What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?! is similar to rhythm games. The gameplay requires most of your attention, so glitzy visuals provide more of a distraction than anything else. As with everything else in the game, everything is presented in the plainest way possible. The pixilated monsters and Badman's mug look like they would be just as comfortable on the SNES or Genesis. It's incredibly easy to quickly identify monsters, even when the screen is overrun by swarms of slimes, flies and lizardmen.

Sound is just as simple. Background music and attack have an old school JRPG feel. They're not particularly catchy, but do a good job of acting as background noise. Badman's advice (well... more like his complaints and back-handed compliments) is presented as text accompanied by low mumbling.

What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?!'s premise is incredibly simple, but at the same time incredibly complex. Playing as the God of Destruction, your ultimate goal is to keep your prized servant, Badman, safe from any pesky heroes that decide to slay him. In order to keep him safe, you'll need to create a labyrinth and populate it with all sorts of creatures.

Gameplay is split up between phases. You begin with a limited pool of energy that you use to destroy blocks. Destroying green blocks spawns green blobs that serve as the backbone for the ecosystem you'll need to construct to breed larger monsters. Badman's complexity is built around developing an ecosystem that is able to remain balanced but also foster growth. The system is further complicated by the fact that you have very little control over how things will play out. You are limited to the ability to break rocks with a pickaxe; giving you full control over layout but very little else. It's not easy and will usually result in a number of frustrating restarts before you get it right, but when you do, it is rewarding.

Eventually, heroes will come knocking. The inclusion of heroes presents a further change in the ecosystem dynamic. Provided you have enough energy, you can continue building your maze and ecosystem. You want a balanced system, but you'll need stronger monsters to fend off stronger heroes (and eventually parties of heroes), so you might need to throw the system towards generating an army of lizardmen.

Heroes normally come of their own accord, but there are times when you may want to invite them into your lair. Between stages, you are scored on time and expended energy. You can also use unused energy to level up your monsters -- so efficiency is key to your operation's success.

At its heart, What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?! is a sim and, as such, requires a lot of patience. Gameplay never gets completely overwhelming and there's a bit of wiggle room. You don't want to make numerous mistakes, but one or two missteps won't throw everything out of whack.

Both the general pacing and no-frills presentation go a long way towards making Badman even more accessible. Expect to lose and restart dungeons several times before finally creating an impenetrable fortress. The game moves as such a brisk tempo, at most you'll lose a few minutes of your time if you're forced to restart.

Badman does little to try and make gameplay seem harder than it is. The tutorials/ challenges are thorough and everything is explained in plain language. Additionally, NIS America put up a Dungeon Strategy Guide where players can submit and share strategies with other players.

As chaotic as What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?! may seem at times, there is a bit of logic at play. Everything that happens within your dungeon adheres to a simple set of rules that create a larger, more complex ecology.

Every creature you spawn in your dungeon has its own behaviors, lifespan and spawn conditions. Green blobs leech energy from green blocks, allowing them to grown and populate. As blobs wander around mazes, they spread excess energy along walls, sometimes creating more powerful green blocks that spawn more powerful enemies. Dead blobs produce flowers, which eventually attract small flying bugs. Lizards eat bugs and eventually produce lizard eggs, which bugs then destroy. The chain eventually grows to include fairies, dragons and other mythical beasts.

Part of the "trick" to growing an ecosystem is keeping your inhabitants from tearing each other apart. Much like reality TV, your monsters aren't that keen on living together and will attack each other. You can "erase" rogue monsters with your pickaxe, but otherwise you need to get creative with your dungeon's layout.

As complex as What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?! is, it is still approachable as long as you aren't expecting instant success. Though the frustration may prove a hinderance, it leads to a rewarding experience if you stick it out.