New Steam genre-melding roguelite blends MOBA champions, RPG loot grind, and classic low-poly graphics — free alpha test available
Raiders of Blackveil has just been revealed as the debut game from Wombo Games, a new indie studio founded by ex-Square Enix chief creative officer, Janos Flösser. Raiders of Blackveil is, strictly-speaking, a multiplayer roguelite game, but it boasts a creative mix of elements and mechanics from a half a dozen other game genres, making for what sounds like a promising premise.
Raiders of Blackveil gameplay
Raiders of Blackveil is a MOBA-inspired roguelite, wherein players team up in groups of up to three super-powered animal champions to infiltrate an evil mega-corporation, wreak as much havoc as possible, and then extract. The roguelite leans heavily on the MOBA gameplay, with four unique playable champions, but it also tasks players with hunting for loot during every run, ranging from special currencies, equipment, gadgets, and unique legendaries and items that imbue your character's loadout with special effects.
Raiders of Blackveil features eight character classes — Mage, Assassin, Priest, Guardian, Monk, Druid, Warrior, and Warlock — and class perks and synergies help enhance the tactical aspects of gameplay. Currently, the four available heroes fit into the typical tank, damage dealer, and support roles, but Wombo Games says that Raiders of Blackveil is “our baby, and we intend to see it mature,” indicating that there will likely be more champions added to the roster at a later date.
Wombo Games also says that the Steam Early Access version will launch to Steam with at least the following features:
- 4 playable champions each offering a unique play-style
- 1 biome with 15 levels
- 9 enemy types (comes in multiple variants)
- 2 mini-bosses
- 2 biome-bosses
- 200+ perks across 8 different character classes
- A plethora of items and upgrades
While Raiders of Blackveil is slated to launch to Steam Early Access “this summer,” the developer has made a closed alpha test build freely available via Discord for both macOS and Windows. Fair warning: You are likely to encounter bugs with this build, but taking part in the early alpha test will help the developers polish the game ahead of the full release. Having to download the game via Discord also means that handheld gamers are limited to playing on devices like the Asus ROG Ally (curr. $649.99 at Best Buy), unless you want to tool around with manually setting up the game using tools like Steam, Bottles, or WINE on SteamOS.
