If you are looking for something a little bit more fast-paced than the traditional turn-based game, then this might be just what you are looking for. Join me as we check out Day of the Shell.
A one-click one-turn tactical roguelite. Let’s jump in and see if one click is enough to keep the game interesting or if this one should hide back in its shell.
In this review, I will be going over the following topics.
Story
With the crystals of power, humans rose in power to become the masters of the islands. The gods became jealous and created the Crystal of Calamites. Known as the shell. The humans fought back to destroy the shell but lost.
One god has not given up hope, though. She still believes in humanity, and she believes in you. Join the huntress as she fights back against the wrath of the gods to break the shell and restore peace.
Gameplay
Day of the Shell’s whole gameplay system is built around this one-click concept. On your turn you click to move or you click to shoot.
Let’s dig into some of the other components in the game and how they help build around this one-click system. Then, we will get into the combat and talk a little bit about roguelite elements and the upgrade system
Weapons
At the start of each run you will have three different weapons to choose from. Those weapons are the revolver, the crossbow, and the shotgun. All three weapons start out with a base of three damage. They also each have a separate characteristic that makes them stand out from one another.
The revolver gives the huntress two extra health points. It might not sound like a lot, but it can make a real difference, especially when you are just getting started. The crossbow allows the huntress to move further.
This added agility can allow you to avoid more incoming attacks. Lastly, the shotgun does critical damage when shooting at someone on an adjacent tile. Critical hits do double your damage. These weapons can all be updated as you progress through the game.
Items
I am going to lump relics and powers into the same category just for simplicity’s sake. Relics and powers are both upgrades that you can get for your character during your run.
These will typically boost your character’s movement or attack by a set amount after a condition is met. For example, Unstable Fury will do lightning damage to adjacent enemies after moving. The Stone of Greed gives you a +20% freeze chance for every 100 gold you have.
There are a lot of different items to come across. You will only get to pick one from a random set of three when you come across them on your run. There are different rarities, and some will suit different playstyles better than others.
Especially depending on which weapon you have. There is also the occasional shop that you can buy items from with the gold that you have collected.
Selecting the right items for your run can really enhance your movement and attacks. Since you only get one click per turn, it is crucial to collect items that are going to give you the most benefit for every click, such as Unstable Fury, which does damage from doing a movement action instead of an attack.
This might pair well with the shotgun that allows you to do critical damage when adjacent to an enemy.
Combat
So, now that we have talked a bit about the weapons and the items that we will be using in combat, let’s actually talk about the combat. Like previously mentioned, Day of the Shell revolves around one-click, one-turn.
That means on your turn, you will either be moving or shooting. You can’t do both. That might take a little bit of adjusting for some of us long-time turn-based fans.
This concept really adds a lot of speed to the traditional turn-based gameplay. It does not take away from the tactical decision-making, though. If you are just clicking on everything that moves, the enemy will quickly have you out of position with nowhere to run.
With destructible environments, you are not going to be able to stay in one place for too long either.
There are two different types of cover in Day of the Shell. High cover provides total protection from incoming attacks.
That is, until it is destroyed and turned into low cover, or no cover. Low cover provides a small percentage decrease to the attacker’s precision. An enemy’s percentage to hit you is always on display, and that is something that Day of the Shell does an excellent job at.
All the information you need is readily available and easy to see on the screen in front of you. When you hover over a position you want to move to, it will update all the percentages of the enemies so you know the exact chance of getting hit by each of them from that position.
It will also highlight any of your powers or relics on the left of the screen if they are triggered by that movement. The same goes for shooting. When you hover over an enemy you are thinking about shooting, it will show you the percentage to hit, the expected damage, as well as highlight any powers or relics that might be triggered from attacking that target.
Having all of this information readily available on the screen for reference really adds to the tactics of the game.
Then you can feel like the one click you made for that turn was based on an informed decision and not just a random click or reaction. That is the main reason why most of us play turn-based games.
We like the strategy behind making the most informed decisions that we can. Day of the Shell is able to do this while still keeping things moving at a fast pace.
Upgrades
Unfortunately, despite your best efforts and all the information provided to you by the game, at the end of the day Day of the Shell is also a roguelite. That means you are going to die. And probably often. That’s ok, though, because that is part of the game.
When you die, you will return to the main island. There you will find two shops. One is for unlocking permanent effects and the other for unlocking weapon upgrades. These two shops used different meta currencies.
The effects shop uses crystals that fallen enemies occasionally drop. The weapons shop uses a similar currency, but these gems are only dropped by the bosses on each island.
The effects shop unlocks things like higher chances for enemies to drop crystals or gold. The weapon shop unlocks things like additional damage for your favorite weapon. These take longer to get, so make sure you are using them wisely.
Before I forget, there are two other things to do on the main island. One is to change your outfit. If you take the time to explore a little bit during your runs, you will come across scarfs that will unlock different outfits.
Unfortunately they are just cosmetics, but still fun to keep an eye out for. The other thing on the island, which is certainly more important than changing your outfit or the shops, is the turtle. It’s quite adorable and loves attention, so don’t forget to pet it on the head whenever you return.
Conclusion
With all that being said, is Day of the Shell worth picking up? Is the one-click system a far reach from the genre, or is it a fresh take for turn-based tactics games?
As always, it really depends on what style of game you are looking for. It is still a turn-based game at its core, and I think it has a fair share of tactical depth as you develop your set of ruins and powers during your run.
Day of the Shell does a lot of things right. It always impresses me what these small indie teams can put together. It has very lovely visuals. I like the art style, but I always really liked how they provide you with all the information you need on every turn in one place.
I don’t have to look up stats for a weapon or anything. I know what the result of my actions is going to be, whether I choose to move or shoot that turn. The game was a lot of fun, and it ran flawlessly.
If you are looking for something a little more fast-paced, I think you would be happy you checked this one out.
Maybe you don’t usually play turn-based games, but you stumbled across this article. I think Day of the Shell would be a fantastic entry point into the genre. Lastly, I think that Day of the Shell is one of my top turn-based games on the Steam Deck for 2025.
I played most of my play sessions on the Steam Deck, and it just ran so smoothly and looked great.
If you are interested in checking this game out for yourself, feel free to head over to their Steam page to pick it up.
A review key was provided by the developer team at Duper Games.
