What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger, What Does, Becomes You
Lost in Prayer, a turn-based roguelike RPG from Quebec-based Nine Dots Studio, will enter Early Access on Steam, and it’s not your typical dungeon dive. In this game, the thing that kills you becomes your next playable character. Yes, you read that right.
I’ve been following Nine Dots since Outward, and Lost in Prayer feels like a big swing in a niche direction with style and originality. It’s set in a surreal purgatory split between Heaven and Hell, where every enemy has its own unique stats and skills. Die to one, and it joins your roster. The idea turns failure into discovery, literally.
There’s already a demo up on Steam if you want a taste. It includes three levels from each realm (Hell and Heaven) and gives access to 26 playable characters. Expect a deep dive into tactical decision-making and combo-chaining. The team isn’t pulling punches here; success means thinking several moves ahead and squeezing every advantage from the battlefield.
What sets Lost in Prayer apart is its Morality System, which replaces traditional RPG stats with a balance between Sins and Virtues. Rather than pumping points into agility or strength, you’re navigating philosophical extremes that both empower and hinder your run.
Guillaume Boucher-Vidal, CEO and Creative Director of Nine Dots, isn’t hiding his passion. “Lost in Prayer has been in the back of my head for 14 years,” he said. “A collection of solutions to the genre’s problems without diluting its essence.” He’s betting over a million dollars on a game most publishers would run from. It’s personal, and that shows.
Here’s what’s coming on in Early Access:
- 5 levels in Hell and 5 in Heaven, each with unique enemies and traps.
- 30 playable characters.
- Hundreds of items and loot.
- A skill tree for every character.
- And hundreds of hours of potential playtime, if you’re up to the challenge.
If you’re the kind of player who misses the grit of traditional roguelikes but wants something that respects your time (and death), Lost in Prayer might just be your next obsession, and the appointment is for the 15th of July on PC via Steam. Below is an overview, screens, and release date trailer.
Anything that kills you becomes playable for your next runs.
Will you be tempted to die on purpose in a successful run to unlock the enemy you face? Dying is more bittersweet when the boss that took you down becomes the instrument of your revenge.
With dozens of playable characters, you’ll find your favorite playstyle. Play to its strengths, go beyond Hell or above Heaven, and discover why you’re stuck in the Purgatory.
Lost In Prayer’s characters have:
- Specific equipment slots: Not every loot will be useful for your character. Sadly, our big turtle-like guy, the Godly Terapin, can’t fit any chest armor on him.
- Unique skill sets to unlock: You can play the same character in different ways thanks to a wide skill tree.
The odds are stacked against you, so whether it is part of your environment or a combination of your abilities, seize any opportunities to gain the upper hand. You’ll need it.
Create deadly Combos. Leave a burning circle at every step, swap your place with your enemy, and push them into traps using the Tango skill. Freeze enemies where they are before launching an area-of-effect attack
Create the perfect outcome for you with Lost In Prayer’s extensive skill system:
- Pull an enemy into the projectile of its allies.
- Build up your Power at every step before inflicting a deadly blow to that pesky demon.
- Push that pretentious Angel into burning lava with a well-placed headbutt.
- Use hit-and-run tactics to inflict damage at every step before heroically escaping to the other side of the room.
- Hit multiple enemies in your line of sight with a deadly ranged attack.
With their own inhabitants, environments, traps, and quirks, Heaven and Hell propose radically different experiences. You’ll need to explore both to unlock all characters in Lost In Prayer.
So if you’re tired of dying in one route, try your luck and skills with the other.
No matter the path you choose, every floor will challenge you more than the last. Victory is going to be a hell of a challenge.
