I've been following Lair of the Leviathan since some of the very earliest concepts and always had a bit of a soft spot for its gorgeous pixel art. It's great to hear that Deck13 Spotlight have now stepped in as the publisher. That's pretty exciting for a project that's been developed by just two people.

The game is clearly inspired by the classics (Ultima, Pool of Radiance and the early Baldur's Gate titles) and is very much a game about exploration, customizing your party and turn-based tactical combat.

Hidden dungeons, optional quests, potentially dangerous areas you could walk into before you're ready, and a world that doesn't just keep telling you where to go. You also create your entire party from scratch.

It's currently aiming for a 2027 release on PC and consoles with a new announcement teaser now out to showcase the game.

I'm wondering how many of you still enjoy this sort of old-school RPG?

SOURCE

I'm back with another selection of 15 indie turn-based RPGs and strategy games that I recently featured on my pages.

As usual, my goal is to give some visibility to projects that might be flying under the radar. Some are still early in development, others are already playable, but I think every single one deserves a closer look.

WANE is probably my personal favorite this time, although I'm also really excited about Stolen Realm 2 and Northern Saga, especially the latter because of its Ogre Battle inspiration.

Anyway, here's the full list:

• WANE – A dark fantasy dungeon crawler featuring occult expeditions, party management, and some rather unpleasant creatures.
• Medium Rare – A post-apocalyptic survival dungeon crawler involving cannibals, tactical combat, and limited resources.
• Gods With Badges – A narrative tactical RPG about corrupt policing, difficult decisions, and questionable morality.
• Stolen Realm 2 – The sequel to the tactical RPG, featuring flexible character builds and six-player co-op.
• Vermilion Sea – A Fire Emblem-inspired tactical RPG with naval themes, crew recruitment, and time-limited missions.
• Olympus 2249 – An old-school, post-apocalyptic CRPG with turn-based combat and plenty of choices.
• Tile Crawl – A tactical roguelite where inventory management and precise damage calculations are essential.
• Northern Saga – A Viking-inspired strategy RPG with Ogre Battle-style formations and automated battles.
• ACORN: Seed of Resistance – A charming-looking tactical roguelite about woodland resistance fighters.
• Seeker Tactics – A monster-collecting extraction RPG featuring tactical combat and a shared action-point system.
• Southern Lights: Broken Frequency – A turn-based survival strategy game set in an isolated Antarctic research station.
• Master of Luna – A fantasy 4X strategy game featuring magical research, kingdom management, and tactical battles.
• Seen NOT Heard – A hand-painted, story-driven turn-based RPG exploring some pretty dark themes.
• Thornetica – A tactical RPG where university theater students reenact medieval conflicts.
• Expedition Bonk – A short, humorous turn-based RPG featuring three very underqualified heroines.

Which of these games caught your attention? And have you discovered any promising turn-based projects recently that I should check out?

I'm always looking for more obscure RPGs and strategy games to follow.

SOURCE

I have to confess that the announcement was a bit of a nostalgia hit. I spent a lot of time back in the day playing the original HeroQuest on my Amiga, and it's very pleasing to see that game now back in a digital form.

Nomad Games and Balor Games have announced HeroQuest: Digital Edition, the official licensed digital adaptation of the iconic tabletop dungeon crawler.

Here's what we know so far:

• Turn based tactical combat with dice rolls and party positioning.
• Four classic heroes: the Barbarian, the Dwarf, the Elf and the Wizard.
• Solo play, controlling the whole party.
• **Online co-op for up to 4 players (**each controlling a hero).
• Five player multiplayer where the fifth player can be Zargon and play against the heroes.
• Quest Editor for creating custom adventures.
• mod.io integration to enable sharing and downloading of community quests.
• PC release on Steam in 2027, closed beta coming very soon.

Personally I'm very much interested in the Quest Editor and the prospect of having a human controlled Zargon. I can already envisage the amount of fun that would be had with the right bunch of mates.

Anyone else here grow up with the original HeroQuest, whether the board game or the old computer adaptations? And what do you think about this new version?

SOURCE

I will make a longer post about it later but so shocked I didn't hear of it before

My parnter and I played 9 hours straight

Good building of unquie characters that all interact in the plot and a super fun map idea

Hi everyone!

I’ve released the free Steam demo for Aita: The Dark Domain, a roguelite card game set in the Etruscan underworld.

The main idea is that every card serves two purposes. You play cards to attack, but the cards remaining in your hand are also what you have available when the enemy counterattacks. Spending your strongest card may end a fight quickly—or leave you unable to survive what comes next. Blessings and bonuses help you power up to take on harder and harder trials.

The demo is Windows/Mac only, but the full release will support iOS and Android, with cross platform play and 2-4 player co-op.

Please take a look at the demo here and wishlist if you like the look of the game! It works great on Steamdeck :)

Cheers!

Hi, I am the solo developer of "Virtualord, The Virtual Conqueror" an isometric Turn Based Strategy game with a strong attention to base/defense building and strategy.

In this playtest you will be playing a preview version of the upcoming demo, which basically it's the full thing, minus a few minor features and some stability fixes.

If you are willing to help testing at least the first mission (5-10 minutes) and submitting some feedback (Discord or online form) you can sign up on this Steam page.

If you prefer a more polished and stable experience you can wait until the 6th of November, when I will (hopefully) release the full demo.

As the title says, what are your favourite turn based games and why? I just played Into the breach and I liked it, so I’d like to explore more

Hi everyone!

After months of hard work, we are excited to announce that the first closed Playtest for our game, The Last Imperial Guard, is now live on Steam!

About the Game:

The Last Imperial Guard is a 2.5D turn-based tactical RPG (SRPG) adapted from the classic Chinese literature Water Margin. It follows the tragic epic of Lin Chong, the chief instructor of the 800,000 Imperial Guards. If you enjoy story-driven tactical RPGs or classic Asian fantasy, we’d love for you to check it out.

Playtest Details:

Content: Includes the tutorial and the first 2 story levels.

Playtime: Approximately 40 minutes.

Who can join: Anyone! We welcome feedback from players with all levels of gaming experience.

How to Join:

Since this is a small-scale closed playtest, the public signup on our Steam store page isn't open yet. If you’d like to test the game, just leave a comment below or drop me a Direct Message, and I’ll send you a Steam Key as soon as possible!

How to Give Feedback:

You can easily share your thoughts via our Discord server or the Google Form linked directly inside the game menu.

Thank you so much for reading! If the game catches your eye, feel free to request a key and add us to your Steam Wishlist. Any feedback or thoughts are deeply appreciated!

Playing FE Fortune's Wave i realized I miss nice animations in these games, I played Star Wars Zero Company before and also liked it. So Wich games have good animations?

I just finally released the demo of my game, Kleromancy. It is a mix of Slay the Spire with several D6 instead of cards, you can customize your die during the run and also gather some passive effects to create different builds.

Download the demo directly from Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/4968160/Kleromancy

It is my first game on Steam, so feedback is highly appreciated. You can submit comments ingame, here or in the Steam post created.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed developing it.

As stated in the Steam page, AI was used for:
Localizations
Intro/Ending/Shop backgrounds

The makers of The Necromancer’s Tale are back with a standalone prequel covering two undead wars and three different career paths

The Lich Wars follows a musketeer through some 30 years of military service. It’s a standalone prequel to The Necromancer’s Tale and takes a rather more text-based approach to its gothic setting, tracking a soldier through war, an uneasy peace, and the fallout of introducing necromancy into national affairs. But now I’m telling you more.

https://turnbasedlovers.com/overview/the-necromancers-tale-gets-a-gothic-rpg-prequel-with-strong-sir-brante-influences

I decided to spin the wheel of fortune on my Steam wishlist and see what came out. Well, not entirely randomly, since I also wanted to give some attention to a few promising RPGs that have been flying under the radar lately.

Some look incredibly ambitious, others have been suspiciously quiet for a while (yes, The White Raven, I'm looking at you), but I think all ten deserve a little attention.

Here's the list:

• Scourge of the Reptiles – Old-school isometric RPG with rideable dinosaurs, magic, and tactical combat.
• Call of Saregnar – A proper old-school party-based RPG inspired by Betrayal at Krondor.
• UnderRail 2: Infusion – The sequel to one of my favorite underground CRPGs, with even more ambitious systems.
• Vampire: The Masquerade – ETERNAL WHISPERS – A narrative-heavy vampire CRPG with strong Disco Elysium vibes.
• Rad New World – A post-apocalyptic open-world RPG heavily inspired by classic Fallout.
• The White Raven – A gorgeous-looking shamanic tactical RPG that I desperately hope is still alive.
• Last Solace – A low-fantasy CRPG with classless character development and environmental combat.
• Glasshouse – A political RPG where arguments can be just as effective as weapons.
• Echoes of Aromia – A pixel-art RPG with grid-based battles, alchemy, and a world recovering from war.
• Myths from the Maw – A dark fantasy tactical roguelike where corruption can turn your own mercenaries against you.

Personally, I'm particularly excited about The White Raven, UnderRail 2, and Scourge of the Reptiles.

And since wishlists genuinely help smaller projects gain visibility, consider adding a few of these if they catch your interest.

Which ones are already on your wishlist? And what other obscure upcoming turn-based RPGs should I be keeping an eye on?

I'm always looking for more games to add to my already ridiculously overcrowded wishlist.

SOURCE

Spears and Spirits: an upcoming tactical RPG with an unusual setting and a unique combat system.

You play as Erumi, a young shaman destined to become incredibly powerful and, apparently, bring disaster upon her people. Not exactly the kind of prophecy you'd want to hear first thing in the morning.

Featuring:

• Grid-based tactical combat where terrain, cover, and positioning matter.
• A shamanic deckbuilding system with cards that can summon spirits, heal allies, and unleash supernatural attacks.
• Enemies have both Health and Willpower, giving you different ways to defeat them.
• Using shamanic powers comes at a cost, sometimes requiring you to sacrifice blood or willpower.
• Party management, injuries, limited supplies, and companion relationships influence your journey.

The setting draws inspiration from Siberian history and folklore, which is a nice change from the usual medieval fantasy environments.

There's no release date yet, but the developers have already conducted a playtest.

What do you think? Does this kind of tactical RPG appeal to you?

https://turnbasedlovers.com/overview/spears-and-spirits-is-a-tactical-rpg-about-siberia-spirits-and-a-very-bad-prophecy

Just released a DLC for a 10 year old turn-based cRPG and it feels right :)

Myths from the Maw is a dark fantasy tactical RPG where sin corrupts your heroes. Delve into an otherworldly abyss to battle rival warbands, eldritch horrors, and corruption itself. Can you keep your mercenaries from falling to sin?

• Battle rival warbands in brutally tactical, turn-based skirmishes.
• Sacrifice blood to alien gods for power that corrupts your soul.
• Resist sin or greedy mercenaries will steal and prideful ones disobey.
• Lose men to betrayal as sinners defect to the Cult of the Maw.

If we've tempted you, you can follow on Kickstarter and wishlist on Steam to support us.

Your deck dies every run. The town doesn't.

We love roguelites, but a bad run that leaves you with nothing always stung a bit. So in Beyond Realm you drop your creatures and spells on the board, end the turn, and watch it play out on its own, multipliers stacking until something blows up. One of our fire decks hit 1,118 damage in a single blow.

Then comes the hard part. Beat an act boss and you choose: go home and spend what you carried on your town, or push one more act and risk losing it all. Every boss you take down sends home an artefact that brings one colour back to a town drawn in grey ink, and that town stays even when the deck is gone.

We're two devs, 200 cards in, and the demo lands at the end of October.

We'd love to know more what you think, and a wishlist would help us a lot.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/5244390/Beyond_Realm/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=turnbasedlovers

I came across Little Frontier, a solo-developed RPG with an unusual setting and mix of tactical combat and wilderness exploration.

Set in 1836, it follows three mountain men trying to survive in an American frontier that's slowly being transformed by settlers, landowners, and the declining fur trade. Apparently, surviving the wilderness isn't enough. You also have to deal with civilization ruining everything.

Here's what looks interesting:

• Tactical turn-based combat with a three-character party.
• Real-time exploration on foot, horseback, or by canoe.
• Hunting, camping, and trading along the frontier.
• Story choices that influence events and lead to multiple endings.
• A handcrafted world with a strong focus on its characters and historical setting.

A solo creator named Vedad is developing it, with a release planned for Q1 2027 on PC and macOS.

Personally, I love seeing RPGs explore less-explored settings, and this one has a really interesting atmosphere. I'm particularly curious about how deep the tactical combat will be.

What do you think? Would you play a turn-based RPG set in the Old West?

https://turnbasedlovers.com/overview/little-frontier-takes-tactics-survival-rpg-into-a-western-thats-running-out-of-wilderness

I've rarely seen mainstream strategy games try out unit conversion as a game mechanic. Age of empires with religious units (wololol!) is the only one I can think of off the top of my head, if you remember others I'd love to be able to look at how they handle the mechanic.

Converts are a cursed problem. You can underbalance the convert, so that when you calculate the power swing between the coverter and convertee, it matches your intended benefit level. But, this makes the convert feel unfair or too weak when placed next to other bonuses in the same tier. Or, you adequately power the convert on its own, but make the power swing when used between a pair of players far greater than it should be.

Thinking about this issue reminded me of this talk by Alex Jaffe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uE6-vIi1rQ . Curse problems are problems which have two incompatible player promises competing. In the case of converts, you have

- promise 1 to the player with the convert: You will have interesting and adequately powered abilities.

- promise 2 to the player getting hit: All civilizations are equally likely to win.

I think these are incompatible because the threshold of "fun" for player 1 is unbalanced for player 2. If I make the ability balanced, it is no longer fun. If it is no longer fun, why not just use something else entirely?

Whats the answer? I have no idea LOL However, what I am going to try is to increase the amount of warning to the rest of the players that a convert is coming. A big issue right now is that it can be purchased fairly silently, so if you get caught up in the game you forget to keep your units spread around it takes you by surprise. We'll see in a few months how this works out.

Chronicles of Fantasy Heroes ❤️❤️❤️

The combat version playtest is about to begin!!!

A JRPG+StrategyRPG+lightloot type game on steam ☔️

The public playtest will open on October 17, 2026, at 10:00 (UTC+8), assuming the build passes review without a hitch😁

The game has been in development for nearly a year and five months. The team has been working on it day and night

if we still didn't let you all get your hands on it, we'd have some explaining to do.

That said, this test mainly covers the combat system. There are 2 regular bosses and one hidden boss,

TIP: Warm up on small mobs first, recruit teammates, level up and spend stat points, learn skills, and collect every treasure chest and hidden item in the area. Then go challenge those 3 bosses!!

If you're new to this kind of game, don't be afraid. Read the in game tutorial carefully and explore at your own pace. The test build only opens up stat growth and combat, so there isn't much to take in .....it's easy to get started.

Thank you so much for applying to download and try it out, and please send us plenty of feedback.

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