You’re not alone in Lootbane, the pixel-art indie RPG auto-battler just announced. It puts you in the boots of a hero who’ll recruit other hapless adventurers and snag as much loot and gear as possible to push ever deeper. It was announced yesterday, and I’m happy to share it here on my pages.
It’s a pure passion project by solo developer Milo Panta, and, honestly, the cover art alone earns it at least a wishlist add, but now let me give you a few more details.
Lootbane is a loot-driven, party-based auto-battler RPG about planning compositions and managing risk across short, repeatable runs.
Players pick a hero, recruit followers with passive auras and active abilities, and watch builds come together in auto-resolved encounters while they choose the path between fights. Regions shift from grasslands to volcanic wastelands and cursed ruins, with stops like merchants, towns, healing shrines, and dungeons shaping each run.
The focus is on preparation and synergy rather than fast inputs, with the moment-to-moment play built around pathing choices and roster tuning.
The central system is a push-your-luck loop. Items are randomized, and their value only locks in once a combat is cleared or you bring them out safely, so every pickup is a choice between banking what you have or gambling for more.
When a floor ends, you can extract your haul or descend for multiplied gold and better odds of rare drops, at the cost of tougher enemies and losing the run on failure.
That risk-reward structure underpins the entire progression, encouraging experiments with follower synergies and gear interactions, and keeping runs fast but consequential.
Structure supports that design. Each step offers a selection of room types, so routing matters as much as raw stats.
Recruiting the right followers and stacking their auras can swing difficult fights without adding mechanical complexity, since battles resolve automatically once the party is set. The result is an emphasis on team-building and sequencing: when to pick power spikes, when to heal, when to shop, and when to chase legendary loot one level deeper.
The project has been introduced with a formal announce and is appearing in Steam-based showcases including Serbian Games Week 2025 and the No Time To Loot Festival.
The developer also maintains an itch.io page with devlogs; a recent post notes the game’s rename from “Kleroo” to Lootbane, aligning the title more closely with its loot-centric design.
Lootbane’s Steam page lists 2025 as the release window, so all we can do now is wait for more details and maybe a playable demo sometime soon. In the meantime, you’ll find the announcement trailer below.
