Some of the most promising RPGs, Strategy Games, and Roguelites chosen from 350 participants
In case you haven’t heard, the #turnbasedthursdayfest was held last week (4-8 April), and we are now in the final hours. This celebration of turn-based games was created by the turnbasedthursday team in collaboration with Steam! They’ve hand-picked over 350 games to be featured, many of which have discounts and demos available.
We love looking ahead to see what great turn-based games are on the horizon, and there’s been no shortage of exciting titles to showcase during the event. These are some of my most-anticipated games launching in 2024, many of which are from indie and solo developers! Wishlist them, try the demos, and let me know your thoughts.
Songs of Silence
Chimera Entertainment’s Songs Of Silence is a lush fantasy auto-battler with a strategic map reminiscent of Age Of Wonders 4. With its gorgeous presentation and fast-paced gamplay, this is one title strategy fans won’t want to miss.
Songs Of Silence is set to enter early access on 23 May, but based on the demo it will have a lot to offer even at this stage. We expect it to be on our radar throughout the process, so check it out!
Untraveled Lands: Chantico
Chantico, from Tall Troll Games, is a fascinating blend of survival and roguelike deckbuilder. By playing survivors to gather resources and craft equipment, you’ll develop your board to prepare for the dangers of the deep jungle.
With its pulp comic-book style reminiscent of Indiana Jones, Untraveled Lands offers a sense of daring adventure through cards alone. It’s expected to launch toward the end of 2024.
Skygard Arena
The grid-based combat in Gemelli Games’ Skygard Arena should be familiar to anyone who’s played XCOM or Fire Emblem… at first. While positioning, cover, and HP management are all just as vital as you’d expect, Skygard Arena offers deep customization in how you set up your team.
Choosing from twelve heroes with dozens of equipment and ability selections, this game is built to put theorycrafting at the forefront. Naturally, there’s a PVP mode alongside the single-player campaign so you can put your meticulously-designed loadout to the test!
No release date has been announced yet.
Dead Season
Some of the best tactical games offer a stealth element, and Snail Bite’s Dead Season challenges players to carefully navigate the zombie apocalypse as quietly as possible. Each scenario feels straight out of The Walking Dead or The Last Of Us, as you lead your squad of survivors to scavenge critical gear without alerting the undead hordes.
Shooting an oncoming zombie might be the only way to prevent a bite, but the sound could trigger a swarm. The same goes for car alarms, explosions, and shattering glass, and once the horde attacks it’s time to get out – fast. Dead Season is expected to launch sometime in 2024.
Dead Underworld
With its eerie, top-down environments, Manmachina’s Dead Underworld feels like the dungeon-delving cousin to Songs Of Conquest. As a lone traveler, you’ll explore a procedurally generated world in a quest for survival. While you might find other adventurers to join you, your interests might not align with theirs.
Between ingratiating yourself with the world’s factions, evading its many dangers, and handling personality clashes, you’ll have your hands full as you explore the Dead Underworld. The game is expected to release later this year, though no date has been given just yet.
Aethermancer
Aethermancer by moi rai games bills itself as “Monster Taming meets Roguelite,” and it could be a great fit for Nuzlockers and other Pokemon fans looking for a more hardcore gameplay experience. You’ll command teams of three monsters in battle, developing their skills to synergize with one another. A monster that falls in battle dies for good, but can be reborn if you capture its soul.
As an Aethermancer, you can reincarnate fallen monsters, keeping their traits and stats but losing all the skills they’ve acquired. All this happens in a fantasy world lovingly presented through quality pixel animations. Be sure to follow this one on Steam, since it doesn’t have a release date listed yet.
Every Day We Fight
Signal Space Lab’s Every Day We Fight depicts an alien invasion where the extraterrestrials have trapped Earth in a time loop. Only your small band of soldiers, drawn from both sides of a war that was being fought when the aliens arrived, are aware of the loop or able to do anything about it.
Living and dying over and over again, your resistance cell will need to destroy alien machinery and defeat their troops wherever they can. The gameplay seems to be a blend of XCOM and Valkyria Chronicles, against a backdrop of war-torn ruins and exotic technology. We’re excited to give it a try when it releases later in 2024.
Escape The Mad Empire
With its dramatic name and dark fantasy vibe, Escape The Mad Empire could be a lost Advanced Dungeons & Dragons campaign from the ’90s. A challenging tactical RPG, XperimentalZ Games’ roguelike uses real-time with pause to let players execute devastating combos and quickly react to changing battlefield situations.
Enhancing your heroes relies on using cursed crystals. You’ll need the power they offer, but they carry the risk of corrupting or destroying your party. Escape The Mad Empire is expected to enter an early access period before launch, but no date for either has been announced.
IRONHIVE
Ironhive by Wondernaut Studios turns city-building into a deck builder. As the unquestioned ruler of a post-apocalyptic settlement, you’ll build a society capable of withstanding the cosmic horrors that ravage the world.
Between sending out expeditions into the dangerous wastelands and maintaining stability at home, you’ll have your hands full as you carefully plan which cards to play each turn. The art design also looks excellent, with cards and environments alike depicting the decaying, shattered world.
Ironhive doesn’t have a release date yet, but we’re excited to try it when it launches.
Trash of the Titans
Move Redwall to a modern city – specifically the back-alleys and dumpsters – and you’ll have solo developer Thayer And Back Again’s charming tactical battler Trash Of The Titans. Leading an army of raccoons, possums, and other scavengers, you’ll face off against swarms of rats intent on stealing your hard-won garbage.
Trash Of The Titans is wonderfully flippant, and uses a Tetris-style minigame between fights to distribute scraps among your party members. It’s expected to enter early access in 2024, but you can try the free demo on Steam right now.
Northwind
Northwind, by Barking Kitten Interactive, is Slay The Spire meets Monster Hunter. Building a deck as you journey into the frozen wastes, you’ll fight progressively larger and more vicious beasts.
Northwind boasts lovely artwork for the heroes and monsters in battle, but its environments, including the town that you’ll upgrade along the way, are the real stars visually-speaking. Try the demo to see what we mean, and be ready to check out the early access build when it arrives later this year.
Archrebel Tactics
You may not have played the 1986 PC game Rebelstar, which inspired Archrebel Tactics, but solo developer Ularis Badler has given retro tactical gameplay a 21st-century makeover. With limited forces, you’ll need to take back the planet Kaprical from an invading empire by prioritizing mission objectives and managing logistics.
Archrebel Tactics offers a persistent campaign where your choices matter, as well as procedurally-generated missions and an Ironman Mode for endless challenges. It doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’s expected to have a free demo when it launches so you can see if it’s the next game to keep you up overnight.
Those Who RulE
Eldin Turulja’s Those Who Rule is a great fit for fans of Fire Emblem or Brigandine, with hex-grid combat that requires you to manage the skills and equipment of a large team of heroes. It has a more Western feel than those anime-style games, and focuses on individual drives and goals rather than clearly-defined good versus evil.
Combat makes heavy use of positioning, with flanking maneuvers reducing the impact of RNG variance. There’s a free demo to try right now, and Those Who Rule is expected to release toward the end of 2024.
Slaves of MagiC
In Slaves Of Magic, Amethyst Dreamers takes the core concept of XCOM 2 and moves it to a medieval setting. An overwhelming force from another world has invaded, using their magic to pose as the gods and take control.
As the leader of the resistance, you’ll develop hideouts and seek soldiers across the conquered continent, striking at the invaders where they’re weak as you develop your own strength. There’s a demo available for download, with the full game launching near the end of this year.
Wanderer’s Sigil: Dice-Fueled Adventure
Viabo Games’ Wanderer’s Sigil feels like a cross between For The King and Astrea: Six-Sided Oracles. Equipping your party of four adventurers gives them access to custom dice, which are then rolled in combat for good or for ill. An overworld map lets you explore and choose your route, seeking new gear and carefully selecting which battles to face.
Whether you choose to play it safe or risk it all for one more treasure, Wanderer’s Sigil offers a new tale of adventure with each run. It’s scheduled to launch later this year, and there’s a free demo available to play right now.
