Pixel Team RED’s next roguelite is very much in the 1980s computer RPG vein. It’s a turn-based battle system with permanent upgrades, and there’s a fairly sinister quest to find a three-legged table.
Another delightful-looking game I’m happy to introduce today is Neverwake, thanks to its gorgeous pixel art and the promise of a brutally challenging, unforgiving experience. Finding a special three-legged table is the raison d’etre at the heart of it, an upcoming fantasy RPG full of monsters, perilous encounters, and the constant opportunity to die. The first few runs are going to be very bad, and the whole point of the experience is going to be the repeated attempts and the lessons you learn along the way.
Developed by Pixel Team RED and published by the studio themselves (alongside FreeMind S.A.), Neverwake is heading to PC. It’s a very retro-looking game with minimalist pixel art and a CRT aesthetic, and it’s a persistent-progression roguelite.
Exploration is on a tile-based world map where time, energy, enemy encounters, and your decisions as to where you go all have an effect. The game includes character classes with unique abilities, equipment and character stats. Between expeditions, you have a hub where you can prepare and invest your hard-won knowledge into permanent upgrades.
Combat is all about equipment, stats, items and your player decisions in the turn-based encounters. Finding better gear is part of every expedition, as is working out how to go about the increasingly nasty enemies. The devs also stress the importance of trying out different approaches as your character gets stronger on subsequent runs.
Pixel Team RED currently estimates around 12 months in Early Access (subject to development progress and player feedback). The full release plan includes further areas, enemies, events, items, classes, abilities and hub development options as well as improvements to balance, interface and performance. Neverwake has no release date yet. You can wishlist it on Steam in the lead up to its planned Early Access launch.
