Backpack Herois a tactical dungeon crawler RPG. The adventure in this game is based aroundinventory managementand strategic turn-based tactics. While shuffling inventory and managing items is often a small part of games,Backpack Heromakes this the main focus. What items to keep, toss, and even where to put them impacts gameplay greatly. It’s not just about what players carry and if everything fits in their pack. The space itself is a usable resource necessary for item synergies.
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Similar to deckbuilders, players collect rare items, organize their inventory, and defeat enemies. The dungeon levels are randomly generated in aspects like layouts, events, and challenges. When not exploring, players can use collected resources to upgrade their town, rescue animals, and restore the world. Like other roguelikes, players can unlock new content ad they progress as well as experiment with different builds to traverse dungeons with.
This indie game is being developed and published by the creator Jaspel. There’s currently aweb browser demo ofBackpack Heroavailable on itch.io. However, the official release date for Steam and various platforms is still yet to be announced.
5Use Turns To Your Advantage
People should read item descriptions thoroughly since they explain how items can synergize with others, but also the items individual traits. Duringturn-based combat, players can attack multiple times, heal, block, and more during a single one of their turns, and the order a player does these can matter.
Some items can be used one or multiple times during a player’s turn, so remember how many times an item can be used and be tactical. Other items in a player’s backpack activate at the beginning of turns only, so plan accordingly when considering the order of item use. Keep in mind that mana does not regenerate at the end of a player’s turn.
4Remember To Collect Gold
The currency ofBackpack Herois gold, which is awarded at the end of fights or events, or can be gained by selling items. While it can be used to buy items from merchants, players shouldalways keep some goldon their person. It’s needed for certain events or for activating some items. It’d be unfortunate to miss out on opportunities because a player bought an expensive sword and forgot to save.
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Merchants pop up along journeys in dungeons, but they don’t only sell items. Some offer an exchange of one item for another, which is a good way to save money rather that purchasing with gold, but only if the item is worth it.
3Unlock Backpack Slots Strategically
Unlike other roguelikes, the hero of this game doesn’t gain levels. Instead, their backpack grows and that’s what makes them more powerful as they progress. Experience from killing monsters can be used to expand their backpack, allowing players tocarry more lootand build on synergies.
It’s important to anticipate items and unlock inventory slots accordingly. For example, helmets should be near the top of a pack as if put on a player’s head, and they often boost armor placed around them. Knowing these kinds of things allows people to not be left with awkward spaces where items don’t fit well even when they’re turned sideways. It’s not always best to round out a corner nicely just for aesthetics.
2Organize Items For Synergy
Items do different things based on where they are placed in a player’s backpack. Many item synergies make or break whether they’re worth holding on to. Almost every item interacts with other items or with where they are placed in the backpack. This can be both beneficial or detrimental depending on the interaction.
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It’s best to rearrange the pack after every combat because new items will almost always be dropped. This means players need tolook at synergies, but also organizing items positions to maximize storage space. Because of synergies,Backpack Herohas many builds players can run depending on their pack composition.
1Plan To Die
This game is a roguelike first and foremost. It’s expected that a player will die over and over again. It’s actually good to do so in this game, so don’t be discouraged. Dying is a chance to try out different play styles, builds, and learn the game mechanics better.
The replayability ofBackpack Herocaters well to new players. People can discover the traits of the hundreds of rare items and how those items interact with one another and with the bag. Players can learn the varied attacks of different enemy types and when to attack versus defend. Dying allows players to create tactical plans for the game and brainstorm backpack management of future runs.
Backpack Herois still in development with an unannounced release date. It’s planned to be available on Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS, and Macintosh operating systems.
