I’d already featured this interesting project in one of my list articles, but it was still missing a dedicated overview. So here I am, finally giving 8 More Lives the attention it deserves.
I think that running a mercenary company is stressful enough in itself before you go and make every recruit a cat. 8 More Lives (from Luden.io) takes that staffing decision and turns it into a turn-based tactical RPG in the Battle Brothers mould where getting the job done, developing your fighters and keeping the company together are all key aspects of the campaign.
Its designer has previously worked on Learning Factory and the project is very much a ‘True: learn()’ type of thing. There’s a clear interest in medieval equipment and medieval formation combat which is why you’ve got a game full of armed cats spending so much time on the interaction between a weapon and a shield.
But be careful not to write it off as yet another clone of Overhype Studios’ much-loved strategy RPG. Developer Ivan Kapranov has actually spoken about the comparison to Battle Brothers himself and describes 8 More Lives as his own take on that same formation-based combat. There’s terrain which is set up to encourage small groups to defend their own choke points, creatures that occupy multiple hexes, flying enemies, gunpowder weapons, and nightfall which spreads across the map.
All of these are intended to add more tactical options. There are six difficulty levels, a tutorial that teaches the mechanics as you play, and the cats have their extra lives, so you’ve got room to learn and experiment. The terrain and unit size systems are the basis for future stuff (small sieges, a 7-hex boss, a volcano that will change the map), though those are all still just plans at this stage with no dates announced. The aim is to do something that expands what a mercenary tactics game can do, whilst at the same time making the first few hours of the game more accessible.
Building a Company That Can Survive the Next Contract
Set in a procedurally generated fantasy world with very little magic, 8 More Lives sees you sending your company from settlement to settlement, from enemy camp to enemy camp and through the dangerous wilderness. The cities provide you with recruitment, trading, training and contracts. You’re constantly traveling outside the city walls where other companies are going, and threats are developing over time, so the decision of where to go is very much part of the business management.
Recruits have all sorts of different backstories and strengths and progression is built around masteries and perks. The minor masteries are there to give the new recruit a few useful abilities right at the outset so you can see how their attributes develop before you go all in on a major mastery. The intent is that you want the player to be able to adapt when a fighter you’ve got going is developing in a different way to what you’d anticipated, or indeed to be willing to keep putting the investment into a fighter you like even if the numbers aren’t quite as good.
I love the fact that those backgrounds also have an effect on road encounters. The October update introduced scenarios where a hunter can lead a bird hunt and a lumberjack can assist the company in crossing a chasm. Company perks can unlock further options, such as the discipline to walk away from a catnip plantation.
Battles Begin With the Ground You Choose
One of the more interesting ideas is the link between the campaign map and the combat. The battlefields are a direct reproduction of the terrain and biomes of the location in which the encounter takes place (the developer points to Rome: Total War as the source of this approach). Battle is fought on hexes, and of course larger creatures can take up multiple hexes, which makes the business of holding a formation a rather tricky one.
Attacks have to interact with shields, dodges, weapon blocks, parries and armor before they even get to the fighter underneath. The fun here is in the idea of building a company around different ways of getting through those defenses, with the choice of weapon and the positioning of the fighter giving each encounter its own little set of problems.
Weather obviously makes a difference. Rain will reduce the ranged accuracy of both sides and could therefore be a reason to go in and engage an enemy force that’s reliant on archers. The same applies if your own formation is one that’s reliant on shooting. So the decision of when to fight can be part of your strategy.
Extra Lives and an Early Access Launch in 2027
The cats also have a purely mechanical function in that they give you extra lives if you fall. The developer describes it as a way of giving the new player a bit of a margin for error, whilst at the same time incentivizing the more experienced player to take on the more dangerous contracts earlier. It’s another thing to bear in mind when you’re assessing how far you’re going to go with the company.
Injuries, trauma, damaged kit and the general state of being shaken can make a win a very expensive proposition. Recovery takes time and takes supplies and the company’s expenditure continues. A contract can be a very good one and you can still find yourself questioning whether you should have accepted it at all.
Personally, I think it has all the elements for a new indie pearl, and I cannot wait for 8 More Lives to be released; we should wait until Q1 2027 for Early Access. Luden.io is putting the time in at a minimum of a year in Early Access. In the meantime, you can wishlist it and join the playtest via its Steam page.
