If you love tactics RPGs, and Indie Games, There is no better place than this…
Here we are at what might be the specialty of the house: tactical RPGs. We have a strong preference for this subgenre, which engages players in strategic battles on grid maps. In these games, utilizing elevation, flanking enemies, or attacking from the sides are essential parts of the experience.
Today, I’ve decided to do a recap highlighting some of the most notable indie titles released in 2024 so far. We’ll revisit this at the end of the year for another update. For now, here are 20 turn-based tactical indie games that deserve to be played immediately.
Capes
Let’s open up this Top 20 with Capes, a tactics RPG that immerses players in a superhero narrative where heroes must reclaim King City from villainous control. The game focuses on strategic combat and character development, eschewing resource management for a streamlined, action-packed experience.
Players recruit and level up heroes, each with unique abilities that influence mission strategy. Missions range from story-driven to side quests and simulations, each offering challenges that reward skill points and experience. The game’s audio and visuals, including full voice acting and a comic book aesthetic, enhance the immersion.
Capes is praised for its engaging story, flexible combat mechanics, and well-executed superhero theme, and you can find it on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Zoria: Age Of Shattering
Zoria: Age of Shattering is a remarkable achievement for an indie game developed by a small team of just three people. The game excels in providing a rich, immersive world filled with magic, mystery, and strategic warfare that rivals well-established titles like Baldur’s Gate and Pillars of Eternity.
Its diverse tactical combat system, extensive crafting options, and the ability to recruit and manage followers add layers of depth and complexity, making it a compelling experience for RPG enthusiasts. The inclusion of a comprehensive lore compendium and unique skill trees for each class demonstrates Tiny Trinket Games’ dedication to creating a detailed and engaging world, ensuring players are rewarded with a nuanced and rewarding gameplay journey. On PC
USC Counterforce
USC Counterforce was available in early access for some time, and a few days ago, the final version was released. This version also added a new campaign mode, significantly enhancing this squad-based strategy game. It blends turn-based tactical combat with a strategic layer involving factions, planetary mining, and economic management. Set in space, the mode enhances existing gameplay elements by adding a corporate-led story about repelling an alien horde.
The combat system shines with a rich array of options and strategic depth, and the vast inventory ensures players have the tools needed for every scenario. With its engaging gameplay, expansive features, and room for strategic planning, the new campaign mode is a robust and rewarding addition to this tactical gem. On PC
Interregnum: False Prophet
Interregnum Chronicles: False Prophet, developed by Spacewalkers, immerses players in a post-apocalyptic world dominated by eternal winter. This indie title is a tactical, turn-based strategy game with a strong emphasis on survival management.
Players must navigate the harsh frozen landscape, balancing tactical combat with critical survival mechanics like warmth, hunger, and fatigue. Resource management, crafting, and scavenging are essential as players confront not only the unforgiving environment but also alien anomalies and other survivors. The storyline follows the False Prophet, a parent on a desperate quest to find their lost child, weaving a deep narrative that challenges players with moral dilemmas.
The game’s graphical detail vividly portrays the bleak yet strikingly beautiful ice-covered world. Interregnum: False Prophet is available in Early Access on PC via Steam.
Songs Of Steel
Meteorbyte Studios and Combat Time’s new release, Songs of Steel: Hispania, offers a captivating historical turn-based strategy experience set during the Numantian War between the Roman Republic and the Celtiberian people. Players can choose to lead either side in this pivotal conflict, engaging in tactical battles that demand careful consideration of height, flanking, cover, and even weather conditions.
The game stands out with its hand-drawn, cartoonish graphics and features notable historical figures such as Cornelius Scipio and Leuco, making it appealing to history buffs and strategy enthusiasts alike. Available on PC through the Valve store with a 20% launch discount, Songs of Steel: Hispania also offers a demo for those who want to try it before they buy. This game provides a unique blend of historical context and strategic depth, making it a notable addition to the genre on PC.
SCP: Operations
Another interesting PC indie tactical RPG is SCP Operations by LUXO Interactive. The game puts players in command of a specialized squad within an enigmatic world where a fictional secret organization is dedicated to securing, containing, and protecting against supernatural anomalies.
Tasked with tracking down a kidnapped professor and thwarting the nefarious Chaos Insurgency in northern Canada, players enhance their team, customize load-outs, and engage in strategic battles. The game emphasizes exploration, where investigating locations and uncovering their secrets is crucial for mission success.
Even if it is somehow bare-bones in this early access phase, the game shows potential and has an enjoyable premise for fans of tactical games like XCOM.
King Arthur: Legion IX
Let’s change the setting to reach Avalon in King Arthur: Legion IX. Set in the dark fantasy universe of its predecessor, King Arthur: Knight’s Tale is a turn-based tactical game with RPG elements. The story follows Gaius Julius Mento leading the undead Ninth Legion out of Tartarus to conquer Avalon. The game features base-building in Nova Roma, where players can upgrade facilities and manage resources, and a rich character system with unique abilities and interactions.
Gear plays a crucial role, offering various classes and unique attributes. Exploration and combat are integral, with strategic grid-based battles and real-time exploration offering tactical advantages. Despite minor criticisms, such as inconsistent voice acting and linear progression, the game is praised for its engaging setting and gameplay, making it a strong recommendation for fans of the genre.
Headquarters: World War II
Now, I present to you something more purely strategic set during World War II. It’s called Headquarters: World War II. Set during the Battle of Normandy, it offers three plot-driven campaigns, allowing players to fight as the USA, UK, or Germany, and includes a variety of skirmishes.
It features detailed tactical gameplay with elements such as armor positioning, terrain bonuses, and destructible environments, all rendered with realistic visuals using Unreal Engine 4. Players can manage and upgrade units, assign heroes, and engage in both single-player and multiplayer battles. Reviews highlight its engaging gameplay and detailed recreation of the wartime experience, drawing comparisons to the combat system of XCOM, on PC.
Highwater
Highwater is a whimsical, story-driven adventure game developed by Demagog Studio and published by Rogue Games, Inc. Set in a post-apocalyptic world flooded by the Great Climate Catastrophe, players guide Nikos and his friends on a journey through the flooded region of Highwater, navigating by boat, discovering islands, and engaging in turn-based puzzle combat.
After trying it, I can say that its standouts are the narrative and the immersive soundtrack that create immersion and an underrated grid-based combat system. You can find it on PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PlayStation.
Stolen Realm
Stolen Realm is a tactical RPG with cooperative dynamics that I have followed since its development began. Now available in its complete form, this role-playing game offers a high-fantasy setting inside a low-poly world. Players control up to six heroes in solo or online co-op, navigating procedurally generated dungeons.
The innovative combat system allows for simultaneous turns, ensuring quick and strategic battles that accommodate the number of players involved. The game offers deep customization with hundreds of skills across ten skill trees, allowing for unique class combinations. Loot plays a significant role, with over 700 unique items to discover and customize.
The game minimizes typical RPG side-quest bloat, focusing instead on engaging combat, character building, and meaningful choices. Special D&D-like events and attribute-based rolls add further depth to character development. Stolen Realm includes a full story campaign, a roguelike mode, and a hardcore permadeath mode for added challenge. With varying difficulty levels and a constantly changing world, players face diverse and unique enemies on hex-based battlefields, making every expedition distinct. Available on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch.
Classified France 44
Classified: France ‘44, developed by Absolutely Games and published by Team17, is a turn-based tactical squad game set in 1944 France, just before the Battle of Normandy. Players lead a team of commandos to disrupt German positions, navigating two main modes: a strategic map for team management and mission selection, and a tactical battle map for the core combat experience.
Missions vary in difficulty and type, from stealth to defensive operations, impacting faction relationships and resource allocation. Tactical battles are reminiscent of XCOM 2, featuring a mix of stealth, morale management, and action points, strongly emphasizing strategic planning and character customization. While not revolutionary, the game offers a compelling mix of strategy and tactical depth. Available through Steam on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation.
Nemire
Nemire is a PC turn-based tactical RPG developed and published by Egidijus Adomaitis, where players assume the role of an immortal undead warlord commanding a squad of undead warriors in a medieval fantasy world. The game’s primary objective is to annihilate humanity by slaying humans and collecting their souls to empower your undead forces.
Players engage in strategic battles, utilizing a mix of unique unit traits and evolving abilities to overcome increasingly difficult challenges. The game features a blend of handcrafted and procedurally generated environments, ensuring varied and dynamic gameplay. With a focus on meaningful unit progression and impactful abilities, Nemire offers a compelling mix of strategy and RPG elements that has garnered mostly positive reviews since its release in February 2024.
Songs Of Conquest
Songs of Conquest, fully released on Steam and GOG after two years in early access, successfully blends nostalgic and contemporary elements in a turn-based strategy format reminiscent of Heroes of Might and Magic. The game introduces players to a divided land with four distinct factions, each with unique aesthetics, units, and storylines, and offers two additional story campaigns in its full release.
Its engaging mechanics revolve around exploration, resource collection, and tactical grid-based battles, enhanced by a unique magic system that uses essence instead of mana. Despite some criticisms regarding its difficulty curve, AI behavior, and complex learning curve, the game’s stunning graphics, deep progression system, and extensive replayability through skirmish modes, custom maps, and multiplayer support make it a standout in the genre.
Rising Lords
Another tactical strategy game I followed for a long time until its 1.0 version was released in January 2024. Rising Lords by Argonwood is a medieval turn-based strategy game incorporating elements of card and board games. Players assume the role of a medieval lord, managing resources, taxes, and serfs to expand their realm.
The game offers a mix of tactical battles and strategic planning, where players can either lead their serfs into battle or allow them to prosper for the greater good. Key features include grid-based combat, a card-based skill system, and a robust multiplayer mode supporting up to four players simultaneously. Rising Lords also includes a rich campaign mode with multiple endings, customization options for leaders and cities, and modding support through Steam Workshop.
Kingsvein
Another super-interesting title comes from a very famous developer in the indie scene. Rad Codex, famous for RPGs like Horizon’s Gate, Alvora Tactics and Voidspire Tactics, released in 2024, Kingsvein. An engaging open-world turn-based RPG that blends deep tactical combat with extensive exploration. As the Wisp Slayer, players are tasked with uncovering the mystery behind the city’s sudden silence while battling evil creatures.
The game shines in its combat mechanics, where strategic use of terrain is crucial, and exploration, which feels like solving puzzles to uncover hidden treasures. Character creation is detailed, allowing customization of heroes and wyverns, while the unique leveling system rewards tactical class management.
Despite some initial frustration with its pixelated character models and a lack of in-game guidance, Kingsvein offers a rewarding experience for fans of turn-based games, excelling in both challenge and adventure. On PC.
Dream Tactics
Dream Tactics is a turn-based strategy RPG that emphasizes character customization and card-based gameplay. In this adventure, players lead Neru, a Dream Mage, and her companions on a quest to rescue the inhabitants of the Dream World from the eternal sleep imposed by the Pillow Legions.
Players build their party, choose from a diverse selection of characters, and create unique decks to use in battle. Each turn offers a new hand of cards, keeping the gameplay dynamic and strategic. Players can redraw and trade cards, equip trinkets, and freely select their party members without the need for grinding.
Developed by Spectra Entertainment, Dream Tactics draws inspiration from classic GBA tactical RPGs and aims to deliver an engaging and customizable combat experience reminiscent of titles like Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics. Available on PC but also on Nintendo Switch.
Wantless
Wantless: Solace at World’s End is a fast-paced PC Tactical RPG developed by Drop Rate Studio and published by Twin Sails Interactive. Available now on PC via Early Access, this game thrusts players into a dystopian future where they play as Eiris, a Transposer doctor who enters patients’ minds to combat their manifested horrors and alleviate their suffering.
The dynamic turn-based combat system requires keen tactics, as each action grants points to enemies, making the gameplay both challenging and strategic. Players must use the environment to their advantage, employing elements like explosives and poison pools to turn the tide of battle.
The game offers a deep skill-crafting system with synapses available for creating customized abilities and a Mind Tree with lots of perks, allowing for personalized builds. Set in a world where many seek escape through a comatose state, Eiris must navigate the delicate balance of erasing torment while preserving sanity, offering a unique and morally complex narrative.
Inkbound
It might be the title you were looking for due to its freshness and dynamism, and therefore, I suggest you take a look at Inkbound. A turn-based tactical roguelite developed and published by Shiny Shoe, the creator of Monster Train. Released on April 9, 2024, the game is set in the magical world of the Atheneum, where the written word comes to life, and players must save their stories from unraveling due to an unseen threat.
Inkbound features a unique turn-based combat system allowing for free movement and simultaneous actions in multiplayer, making it both fast-paced and strategic. Players can choose from a variety of character classes and create powerful builds using draftable abilities, upgrades, and a plethora of items.
The game supports solo play as well as online co-op for up to four players, with the Atheneum serving as a social hub to form parties and tackle challenges together. With very positive reviews on Steam, Inkbound offers an engaging and dynamic gameplay experience.
Gobs and Gods
It is one of the most recent and crazy titles but also one of the most fun. Gobs and Gods, developed by Alexandre Gilotte and Thierry Gilotte, puts players in the shoes of a God who finds himself in a world populated by Goblins, having to play both the good and the bad guy.
The formula follows that of Battle Brothers, where players must manage their own party of Goblins, freely exploring the game world, completing quests, and developing each character and class. The combat system features battles on hexagonal grid maps, with the unique ability to switch between turn-based and real-time modes. This feature is handy when you’re near the end of a battle and don’t want to wait through those tedious final turns to reach a distant archer, for example.
I started playing it a few days ago, and I can say that Gobs and Gods is definitely worth a try. Its humor, numerous quests, dungeons to explore, and items to find make it a pleasant surprise for PC players in 2024.
SKALD: Against The Black Priory
My writings end with SKALD: Against the Black Priory. A masterful homage to classic RPGs, delivering a rich and immersive experience that captures the essence of retro gaming. High North Studios AS has crafted a Lovecraftian world that feels both fresh and nostalgically familiar, with a compelling story and characters that draw players into its dark, fantasy setting.
The turn-based combat system is a highlight, offering depth and strategy that keeps battles engaging and rewarding. The pixel-styled handcrafted visuals are beautifully detailed, evoking the charm of old-school RPGs. The game’s narrative, punctuated by well-written dialogue and epic quests, creates a captivating atmosphere that fans of the genre will adore.
Despite minor flaws, SKALD shines as a standout title, showcasing the passion and talent behind its creation and proving to be a must-play for RPG enthusiasts seeking a retro-inspired adventure.
Now, I would like to know what you think about these Top 20 turn-based tactical RPGs of 2024 and if I missed something worth being here. Reach me on X, YouTube, and the Discord Server for some turn-based love. Ciao
