I recently tried the demo of a fascinating tactical roguelite I’ve been following for a while, and I’m here to share some details. The game is Dark Pact, developed by the indie studio Crimson Gaze. As I mentioned, it’s a roguelite with puzzle game mechanics, similar to Into The Breach, but with a fantasy twist.
Instead of fighting giant mechs and kaiju, you’ll be battling rats, bats, and other fantasy creatures in underground dungeons. Like most roguelites, the story is pretty minimal—just enough to set the scene without getting in the way. In Dark Pact, a dormant dragon, hidden away inside a volcano, has awakened. It’s furious because its treasure has been stolen, and now the kingdom faces its wrath.
To prevent disaster, the King—who also discovers that his own gold has been stolen—hires a group of exiled heroes. Their mission? To venture into cursed labyrinths filled with swarms of rats and all manner of beasts, and recover the riches hidden within and bring them back to the king. In exchange for their redemption, the heroes will get to keep a portion of the treasure they find.
Those are the story basics. After a quick tutorial where you test out the various skills of the heroes, the game throws you straight into your first mission. You control four characters: a knight, a mage, a rogue, and, amusingly, a fox who claims to be the true protagonist of the game.
The knight, decked out in armor, can absorb hits and push enemies around. The mage can cast fireballs to deal damage and also push enemies. The rogue is all about ranged combat, using throwing knives to hit distant targets. And then there’s the fox, who has one particularly fun ability: it can lure enemies (and even allies) into specific positions, helping you set up strategic plays at just the right moment.
Each dungeon is its own level, and as you progress, the difficulty ramps up, forcing you to get more creative with your tactics. The game features charming pixel art and has a tactical depth that’s worth checking out, especially with the free demo available on Steam. The full release is set for Q4 2024. You’ll find some screenshots and the trailer below.
About This Game
Manipulate enemy positions and make use of clever combos in this tactical turn-based strategy game with a focus on creativity rather than number crunching.
Dark Pact follows Liesel, a powerful sorceress with a bad reputation. When a slumbering dragon wakes and throws the kingdom into chaos, Liesel sees her chance to solve the crisis and redeem herself.
Positioning matters
Knock enemies into each other for extra damage or push them off a cliff for an instant kill.
Manipulate enemies
Enemies telegraph their attacks. Manipulate them to attack each other.
Enemies come in overwhelming numbers. Your characters must defend a party of adventurers. Use skills that push, pull, taunt and scare enemies to stop them from damaging friendly characters. If one friendly character dies, it’s over and you restart the level. But characters have more than one health so sometimes you must sacrifice health to attain victory.
