Fast-paced, turn-based, rogue-like gem
How many more adjectives can I cram into this title?
Hello Game Scientists!
Rogue-like games usually come in two varieties: the fast-paced action games (think Hades, Risk of Rain, Dead Cells) and the slower-paced turn-based games (think Slay the Spire, Loop Hero, Into the Breach). But, like all good plates of yummy buffet, the best rogue-like game plate combines two unexpected game qualities together to create a truly unique game.
Check out the Steam page here.
This game, Quasimorph, puts you in control of a mercenary fighter exploring the depths of bases, labs, and spaceships. You get to choose your loadout and make your way through these locations, one square step at a time.
It plays in a turn-based manner — the game environment won’t change unless you move, meaning for every step you take, your enemies will make one move. But you’ll find yourself playing this at a much faster pace than traditional turn-based games, as you click through the tiles, firing at your enemies. The game does a really good job of accelerating the turn-based formula.
You’ll need to keep an eye on your ammo, in addition to armour and weapon durability, as well as loot dropped by enemies. Reloading and repairing also count as turns, so taking these actions mid-battle can be a bit risky. Health isn’t just a number you need to worry about: different parts of your body can take damage independently, which must be dealt with in order to negate the negative effects of the injury. Broken leg? You’ll lose health for every step you take and be more susceptible to infections. Cut on your arm? You’ll lose health for every action you take.
And then, there are infections. If you’re unlucky enough to become infected, you’ll have a limited number of turns to find an anti-viral before you turn into whatever is afflicting the enemies in this game. Add to that some survival mechanics (you need to manage your hunger/food) and there is a lot of things to keep track of.
But it’s all made easy because you, as the player, get to control the pace of the game. If you want to take a few moments to collect yourself, the game and its enemies will wait for you. You won’t keep losing health just because you need a break. But, you’re more than likely to forget that this is a turn-based game, until you reach one of these crucial moments.
Ultimately, you can make this as fast-paced or as turn-based as you want. It almost plays like a real-time game with pause, but pausing doesn’t feel so weird or finnicky because it’s built into the mechanics. Quasimorph is available now as an early access game and there is a lot more planned for 2024, as the game moves to its 1.0 release. I can’t wait to see how development progresses for this game!
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