Into the Breach is the next game by Subset Games, the creators of FTL. And it is amazing.
The game is a grid based roguelike turn based tactics game. You are playing time travellers fighting alien bugs in giant mechs. That is basically the whole extent of the story. The art style is wonderfully pixel based and kind of similar to that of FTL.
There is a campaign map, which mostly consists of picking which mission to do and upgrading your mechs. Each mission is about 5-10 minutes long and plays out on a randomized 8x8 grid. You have some mechs, some buildings which you need to protect, and there are a few bugs. The bugs telegraph what they are going to do (usually murder you and/or the civilian buildings you have to protect). You prevent that partially by killing the bugs, but mostly by moving them around in creative ways so they hit empty air or each other instead. Each turn plays like a puzzle where you have to figure out the best solution to what the enemy is doing.
The best thing about this game is how smart it makes you feel when you figure out how to solve a particular turn. Move this guy there so he hits that guy into the water. Stand in the way of the shot of that third guy, and flip the fourth bug onto the spot where the next bug will surface.
There are 8 different squads of mechs you can unlock, which you do by completing achievements with other squads. You can also unlock a bunch of pilots for those mechs.
So far, i have about 30 hours in this game after buying it 5 days ago. There are probably ~50 hours of gameplay in there for me. It is not really expensive (12-15€), and if you buy it, you also get a copy of FTL. Which is nice, but you probably already own that anyways. If not, you should.
I was really surprised that there is not already a thread for this game. I think it should fall right into what a lot of people one this forum enjoy.
This game is amazing to play with a friend (especially once they're up to speed on how mechanics work). Absolutely love it. Watching people play on Youtube tends to cause me a little anxiety though.
The only unpolished thing is that if you get a perfect island it's literally pointless to ever pick grid defense because you can "donate" the pilot you pick for 2 rep which can purchase 2 grid, but otherwise just incredible.
The design is tight enough that every turn you've got something interesting to think about, and it is much rarer to go onto the autopilot mode you get with other games.
Nice article about the telegraphing design process:
I am currently in the process of finishing all of the achievements. Pretty much every one so far has been fun or just happened accidentally. The only one i didn't like was "glittering c-beams". Because that one forced me to just play bad, instead of just having a handicap, but playing as good as possible. I had to just skip turns to make sure there are enough enemies around, and then hope that some of them line up.
I am now only missing "Distant friends" and "Immortal". Immortal shouldn't be too hard, but Distant friends will apparently involve a lot of annoying farming.
An under appreciated part of the game is the writing. I've found it to be pretty witty, while also invoking a sense of place with spartan amount of dialog.. I enjoyed the dialog that accompanies the rewind mechanic, where everyone has their own little version of "Something just fucking happened." I saw one pilot say "My dad is alive in this timeline, but I'm not", which evoked so much potential story and mood, but didn't distract from the core of the game. And that core is so fucking good. I hope this super tiny team gets all the money from some a publisher to bring it to other platforms.
Loving this game. Especially making custom squads. So much variety in the default attacks of the mechs, not as dependent on RNJesus for getting attacks that work well together (unlike in FTL). There is really good variety in the special skills the various pilots have too.
Also love how the laser mech from the Zenith Guard is 100% METAL GEAR REX.
On March 08 2018 01:57 Simberto wrote: I am currently in the process of finishing all of the achievements. Pretty much every one so far has been fun or just happened accidentally. The only one i didn't like was "glittering c-beams". Because that one forced me to just play bad, instead of just having a handicap, but playing as good as possible. I had to just skip turns to make sure there are enough enemies around, and then hope that some of them line up.
I am now only missing "Distant friends" and "Immortal". Immortal shouldn't be too hard, but Distant friends will apparently involve a lot of annoying farming.
Remember that you can undo turn and still get the achievement, so you are free to make crazy sacrifices, grab the achievement, then go back to a more rational course.
I've been only playing hard since my first run, and no achievement has been really that difficult, except the 30 minute race, which I'm building up to trying again. The distant friends requirements have continually triggered for me - not sure if it's luck, or that they are more frequently occurring on hard?
@Plansix - yes the writing is great, though I just wish there was slightly (like 10-20%) more of it. As much as I like the minimalist/show don't tell approach, I don't feel as lost in the world as I did with FTL.
On March 08 2018 01:57 Simberto wrote: I am currently in the process of finishing all of the achievements. Pretty much every one so far has been fun or just happened accidentally. The only one i didn't like was "glittering c-beams". Because that one forced me to just play bad, instead of just having a handicap, but playing as good as possible. I had to just skip turns to make sure there are enough enemies around, and then hope that some of them line up.
I am now only missing "Distant friends" and "Immortal". Immortal shouldn't be too hard, but Distant friends will apparently involve a lot of annoying farming.
Remember that you can undo turn and still get the achievement, so you are free to make crazy sacrifices, grab the achievement, then go back to a more rational course.
I've been only playing hard since my first run, and no achievement has been really that difficult, except the 30 minute race, which I'm building up to trying again. The distant friends requirements have continually triggered for me - not sure if it's luck, or that they are more frequently occurring on hard?
@Plansix - yes the writing is great, though I just wish there was slightly (like 10-20%) more of it. As much as I like the minimalist/show don't tell approach, I don't feel as lost in the world as I did with FTL.
The main problem i had with the C-Beams is that it requires me to have 4 enemies alive to do, which is something that i would otherwise almost always try to avoid. While doing it, i would basically just not kill enemies in the hopes of them lining up.
I have now finished all of the achievements and unlocked the secret squad. The distant friends did not involve as much farming as i expected, indeed it mostly requires for you to actually notice the shiny, and i got a seconds distant friend shortly afterwards.
On March 08 2018 01:57 Simberto wrote: I am currently in the process of finishing all of the achievements. Pretty much every one so far has been fun or just happened accidentally. The only one i didn't like was "glittering c-beams". Because that one forced me to just play bad, instead of just having a handicap, but playing as good as possible. I had to just skip turns to make sure there are enough enemies around, and then hope that some of them line up.
I am now only missing "Distant friends" and "Immortal". Immortal shouldn't be too hard, but Distant friends will apparently involve a lot of annoying farming.
Remember that you can undo turn and still get the achievement, so you are free to make crazy sacrifices, grab the achievement, then go back to a more rational course.
I've been only playing hard since my first run, and no achievement has been really that difficult, except the 30 minute race, which I'm building up to trying again. The distant friends requirements have continually triggered for me - not sure if it's luck, or that they are more frequently occurring on hard?
@Plansix - yes the writing is great, though I just wish there was slightly (like 10-20%) more of it. As much as I like the minimalist/show don't tell approach, I don't feel as lost in the world as I did with FTL.
Yeah one thing I didn't like about FTL was how you didn't really get much information about the in-game galaxy except when you arrived at a new sector, you'd get a couple paragraphs about that sector. Stuff like Ol' Horace the train and the personalities of the pilots and the CEOs of each island has been great. That woman who is CEO of the desert island damn I don't like her she is so mean =(
I'd say "what a great little game" but I can't because it's not!
The replayability is great, the attachment to the crew is different than FTL, but still very involved. It somehow has that only-one-more-turn feeling of the Civ series/Faster Than Light, while keeping a depth like chess (in that it is absolutely crucial to think 3-4 turns ahead, in possible unit movements plus actions, that is. Also the 8x8 playing field!). I played it for at least 15hours already and still find the music and game enjoying.
It compares well to the Banner Saga series well: The saga/story is obviously lesser to TBS, but the combat is crisp compared to the already very good one of the first Stoic game (which tends at times to be opaque, muddled with too many combat interactions from too many units).
So yeah, it might need anti-aliasing. Yes, it might look like a cheap online/mobile game. But it is an extremely well thought-out game mechanically with surely huge amounts of (a statistician's) time put in to balance all the maps&(partially-)procedural layouts. Why? In short: Many other games are interesting for all the positioning and setting up for big combos (Kingdom Rush) but they become quickly bland and uninteresting or -- which I feared during the first hours of Into the breach -- they mostly end up being frustrating with an impossible map or foe or bug. I'm glad to say Into the Breach is extremely well rounded-up in that regard, 15 bucks seem a joke, seeing how the core game is close to flawless imho.
PS: did you know that setting a tile on fire clears the smoke from it!?! Even the 'happens-maybe-once-every-10-games' interactions are thought of!
Depends on the squad, but I like ice first, as many objectives are way easier with less enemies on the map. Particularly the one where you need to freeze the robots. I like saving desert/grassland for later on, as the water is great vs all the alphas you get on hard.
Just cleared the 30 minute speed run on hard with two perfect islands (then died on island 3 after doing something stupid, but there you go).
I also think ice is pretty easy if done early. Desert likely is the most tricky one across the board. The final fight has the most luck involved though imo -- which is great, because of the cool feeling of being able to prepare for it with a versatile load-out (plus barely handing in there). Damn, wish I could go back and play a bit more right now..
On March 10 2018 13:55 dicey wrote: I'd say "what a great little game" but I can't because it's not!
The replayability is great, the attachment to the crew is different than FTL, but still very involved. It somehow has that only-one-more-turn feeling of the Civ series/Faster Than Light, while keeping a depth like chess (in that it is absolutely crucial to think 3-4 turns ahead, in possible unit movements plus actions, that is. Also the 8x8 playing field!). I played it for at least 15hours already and still find the music and game enjoying.
It compares well to the Banner Saga series well: The saga/story is obviously lesser to TBS, but the combat is crisp compared to the already very good one of the first Stoic game (which tends at times to be opaque, muddled with too many combat interactions from too many units).
So yeah, it might need anti-aliasing. Yes, it might look like a cheap online/mobile game. But it is an extremely well thought-out game mechanically with surely huge amounts of (a statistician's) time put in to balance all the maps&(partially-)procedural layouts. Why? In short: Many other games are interesting for all the positioning and setting up for big combos (Kingdom Rush) but they become quickly bland and uninteresting or -- which I feared during the first hours of Into the breach -- they mostly end up being frustrating with an impossible map or foe or bug. I'm glad to say Into the Breach is extremely well rounded-up in that regard, 15 bucks seem a joke, seeing how the core game is close to flawless imho.
PS: did you know that setting a tile on fire clears the smoke from it!?! Even the 'happens-maybe-once-every-10-games' interactions are thought of!
Also - freezing a flying dude makes it no longer flying for the purposes of lava/pits/water. There are a ton of cute little mechanical interactions that substantially add to the depth of the game. I quite like it.
And forest island feels easiest, to me. Tidal wave / destroy the dam / launch the rockets all have environmental effects that are basically only a benefit to the player.