Rogue Voltage

I took a risk because it looked interesting, and [b]I'm glad i did.[/b] This game is kind-of a mashup between Lonestar and Backpack Hero - in the right ways. 9/10 Some turns, you will have it wired how you want and simply hit the on switch. Other turns, you will move connections around to activate different things, or maybe hold a button that lets you pick each module to activate - so you can make some crazy combo based on the order happen. There are lots of sensors that react to things happening, storage modules, color changing, combining or splitting, guns, slow rays, speed boosters, etc. And fights have an active display for turn order, where you can do things like make an enemy's turn land on a volcano fissure (or speed or slow yourself so you don't). Most important factor: runs are fun and interesting. It advertises as a rogue-like, but starts out as a rogue-lite (my preference), that I can see will finish out around early-mid game to become a pure rogue-like. Very approachable on beginner difficulty, you can make mistakes, survive and remedy the situation, and expect to win if you don't severely mess up. And you can minor power fantasy if things go well. Higher difficulties test your risk/reward strategy / survival vs efficiency for better rewards. Each run starts with you selecting a team of 2 characters, each with their unique mechanics. New characters unlock rapidly and each has a short exp bar that unlocks a few new modules for playing with them for a few runs. The creativity of the character mechanics really shines. When you 1st look at them, some of them seem more like a penalty - yet they are all crafted to make for interesting and rewarding builds, where intentionally penalizing yourself at the right times gives strategic advantages. Runs don't overstay their welcome, with each of 3 biomes leading to a boss fight, then camp or run end that rewards you based on how well you did with more town (meta/persistent) upgrades. At a nice casual pace, runs will last around 1.5hrs +/- depending on build complexity, player skill, and difficulty. Persistent upgrades are helpful, but not grind/slog artificial slowdown. eg more reward options after finishing a fight vs (more damage or hp to artificially hold you back). Saving: there are both a turn rewinds and save and continue a run later. I think I saves to the beginning of a fight, not individual turns (need to experiment). ...in fact, my first play session really highlights this in a good experience: I played the tutorial run (nicely blends into your 1st real run) then a real run... got to the last biome with a really satisfying op build. ...Then someone hit a power pole and took out all the power for the block! I was dreading turning on the game again, expecting to have lost all my progress and good run - but I didn't! With the power cut unexpectedly mid-run, the game had kept all my progress and only forgot a single fight for me to redo. Bravo!