Iron Tides Demo

Exploration is a big part of any video game experience, especially nowadays. RPGs usually feature a rich and diverse world full of towns, dungeons and monster lairs, but the problem with most of them is that they get repetitive after a while. On the other hand, procedurally-generated worlds are always new and exciting, which is why many gamers prefer them.

Iron Tides is a turn-based roguelike with procedurally-generated maps and a wide selection of heroes to fight for your side. The main idea is that you have a ship that can be used to explore the ocean in search of hidden treasure and various villages to raid and plunder. On top of that, the battles are turn-based as well, which allows you to employ a variety of tactics once the fighting begins.

The world map is designed using square tiles, and you can move in increments of one while you are exploring. Some tiles are empty, others contain islands or wrecks, and it’s also possible to stumble onto enemy ships that force you to enter combat. Exploration is a vital component of the game, because you can do it indefinitely and never see the same things twice, even if the overall design is very simple.

The combat takes place in turns as well, and you can employ the services of multiple types of heroes, depending on whether you want melee or ranged troops. They all come with certain skills and abilities, and even their progression path is procedurally-generated, which improves the game’s replayability even further. Since this is still a roguelike title, it’s worth mentioning that fallen heroes cannot be revived, but you can add new members to the team.

Your warriors use Fury instead of action points, but the concept works the same, because each ability costs a certain number of Fury points and you cannot do anything once you run out. Positioning is important as well, at least if you want to take full advantage of ranged units and avoid getting damaged in the process, which is no easy task.

To sum things up, Iron Tides is a very promising roguelike, and it features a wide range of great gameplay mechanics to keep the experience fresh for a long time. More variety would be appreciated in regards to level design, but these things can be refined once the rest of the game is completed. You can support the developers by backing their Kickstarter campaign.