Ciao a tutti and welcome to the first episode of the KEEP AN EYE ON IT of 2022. I hope you are fine and supercharged to face the new year and reach your goals. As for me, I’m very excited to start scouting new promising turn-based project and look forward to new releases.
Today 10 Promising Indie Turn-Based RPGs set to be released sometime during 2022 which comprehend Tactics RPGs, Deckbuildings, JRPGs and much more. Let’s start
Eldertrail
Starting our list of titles to watch is a strategy game with robust systems and plenty of indie charm. Eldertrail puts the player in charge of squads of fantasy creatures and tasks them with completing an objective based on the scenario they’ve chosen. The game plays quickly, moving from encounter to encounter as the player balances their resources to replace fallen troops and keep the survivors upgraded.
With three playable factions and a card-based system for planning your next encounter, Eldertrail offers plenty of replayability. There are a lot of moving parts including crafting, unit management, and of course combat; you’ll need to master all of them to survive Eldertrail‘s trials.
The game is supremely affordable at only $8 USD, and even has a free demo. Both are available on itch.io.
Oaken
Laki Studios’ Oaken is very, very pretty. It’s a tactical hex-based roguelike that has players exploring the inside of a mythical tree, the Great Oak. The game is lush and colorful, full of lavishly-designed nature spirits with which to do battle. Its expansive upgrade trees should give players plenty of reason to come back for another run after finishing their first.
While Oaken doesn’t yet have a hard release date, it is currently expected to launch in 2022. The game’s Steam page added Playtest access at the end of 2021, so players who are interested in trying the game before release could try signing up.
CESSPOOL
We recently shared an overview of Tryton’s upcoming RPG CESSPOOL. It’s a modern JRPG with old-school visuals and was heavily inspired by Earthbound (or Mother 2, depending on where you were in the world when you played it). Its grid-style skill tree offers a fresh take on leveling up, which is always welcome in retro-inspired JRPGs. Additionally, CESSPOOL‘s combat sprites are a delight, breaking the barrier of what would have been possible if the game had been created on the hardware it imitates.
There’s still some time before the game is released. Currently, the developer plans to launch CESSPOOL in late summer of 2022. A demo is available at the game’s itch.io page, as is a link to its Kickstarter if you like the game and want to support the one-person project.
Telepath Tactics Liberated
Did you ever wish Fire Emblem had destructible environments? If so, Telepath Tactics has what you’re looking for. The original game was released in 2015, but Sinister Design is releasing a full remake this March. The grid-based combat will be an easy fit for SRPG fans, but don’t expect to breeze through this one without a challenge. It’s got dozens upon dozens of playable classes and over 150 skills – you’ll need to carefully consider how to develop your units.
Of course, the big draw of Telepath Tactics Liberated will be its dynamic environments. Is your enemy crossing a frozen river? Melt it and make your very own Berezina! Are you battling on the lip of an active volcano? Why, it would be a shame not to push some bad guys into the lava! This promises to shake up traditional SRPG gameplay and give players one more thing to think about when positioning their troops.
Telepath Tactics Liberated releases 14 March on Steam. The original is also available if you’d like to give it a try before the remake arrives.
WARNO
Eugen Systems are best-known for their WARGAME series of real-time strategy games. Their newest game, WARNO, releases on 20 January and takes a slightly different approach. Like its predecessors, WARNO – an abbreviation of Warning Order – takes place in an alternate history where the Cold War has escalated into a global conflict. Players command historical units fielded by the countries of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact and must carefully deploy their units to best counter the enemy.
The gameplay of WARNO still largely takes place in real-time, but a turn-based strategic layer separates tactical engagements and gives the players more control than WARGAME‘s static campaigns. WARNO also boasts multiplayer battles up to 10v10 – given the dedication of the earlier franchise’s fans, it’s entirely possible we’ll see a dedicated player base and maybe even tournament play in the coming months. The game’s release date is fast approaching – if it sounds like your kind of thing, be sure to Wishlist it!
Lost Scavenger
Players looking for their next hardcore crafting and survival game should definitely have Lost Scavenger on their radar. Each run sees the player trapped in an alternate world where a malevolent Mist mutates those who are exposed to it. You’ll need to be extremely careful as you traverse the game’s randomly-generated hex-grid world; every run has permadeath enabled with no exceptions and no mercy.
Lost Scavenger sets itself apart from many turn-based games in that it has no experience points or skill system to speak of. The only means of enhancing your character is by crafting better gear and keeping them reasonably healthy to avoid the game’s many (many) possible penalties. Outside of that, survival is entirely down to your mastery of the game and the choices you make. If you think you’re up to the challenge, Lost Scavenger releases in Early Access on 16 January.
Death or Glory Dueling Card Game
Death Or Glory is a fast-paced 1v1 card game that promises nigh-unlimited customization. Each player’s deck represents an array of moves for their character from spells to weapons to martial arts and more. Gameplay is an exciting back-and-forth of strikes, combos, counters, and even counter-counters, so hand management and reading your opponent will be even more valuable skills in Death Or Glory than they are in most cards games.
Slated for release on 1 June, Death Or Glory will be free to play. No doubt players will be able to quickly unlock new cards and options via purchases – and what’s a few dollars if it means getting to be a vampire samurai mecha pilot? The game will be available through Steam.
MIYAMOTO S
Developer hidekihanida has not only created a tactical unit-placement game with MIYAMOTO S – they’ve done it with a fantastic sense of panache. While it’s not a direct comparison, players of auto-chess games like Teamfight Tactics or Underlords might find their next obsession here. MIYAMOTO S has style in spades – starting a new game opens the box of this “board game” and unleashes the tiles, cards, and figures that players will place on their road to defeating the legendary samurai for whom it is named.
The release date for MIYAMOTO S is only listed as “This Winter,” so it’s unclear when exactly we’ll get to try it out. In the meantime, the soundtrack sample from the game’s Steam trailer is great for intimidating your opponents at board game night.
Hellslave
This blood-soaked fantasy RPG from Ars Goetia feels like Darkest Dungeon meets Diablo. In Hellslave’s setting on the brink of apocalypse, the protagonist makes a pact with the Devil, binding themselves to the service of a powerful demon to buy the world more time before the end. The demon you choose to serve and the quests you complete for them will drastically change the gameplay style.
Hellslave offers tons of exploration and customization. That would be enough to justify playing through it with each of the six possible demonic patrons, but the game also offers a challenging New Game+ mode to further enhance its replayability. There is not yet a release date listed, but it can be wishlisted on Steam while you wait for the smell of brimstone on the wind.
DarkBlood -Reborn-
DarkBlood -Reborn- takes the challenge of Dark Souls and, through what can only be described as sorcery, transmutes it into a retro-style first-person dungeon crawler a la Might & Magic. If you remember those old-school RPGs you know that “forgiving” is not a word that would have been used to describe them; the idea of blending that style of gameplay with that of the most notoriously difficult franchise of the 21st century is at once intriguing and deeply terrifying.
The game has top-quality pixel art from beginning to end, and with over 200 monsters to fight there will be no shortage of gorgeous but vicious enemies around every corner. Watch for DarkBlood -Reborn- to release in February.
Please let me know what you think about these 10 Promising Indie RPGs & Strategy Games of 2022 in the comments below, and don’t forget to watch the video version on our Youtube Channel.
Hellslave looks quite promising. Love your lists!