Super fun incremental with semi-idle vibes.

Has a few different ways to legitimately get to end game, and just feels engaging. It can feel very finnicky at the start with manual production, but progress on those gets faster as the game goes on, and the latest update changes it so once automation is unlocked, it unlocked on all future runs too.

Devs are friendly, active, patching bugs, listening to feedback, and brewing up balance and content updates.

If you like incrementals you'll probably enjoy this.

A great idle game with a decent amount to do to keep you engaged, even in its early access stage.

There are several simple systems that alone seem straight forward. I also enjoy how the meta shifts as the game progresses and different stats, and combos of heroes/pets take centre stage as your goals change based on where you are in play and what you have unlocked.

It has some light resource-management and branching-decisions that impact how you play. The dev leaks upcoming content on Discord and interacts with players, taking on board suggestions, quashing bugs, and just generally is a nice guy.

This is still in early access, and early-game pacing is a little uneven atm, but dev is actively working on it.
Once you're past the initial blitz, and then the subsequent slow down, the Apotheosis feature especially keeps you engaged, relative to idle games, of course.
Edit: The game has been updated, improving the pace of the early game. It's still very much an idle-orientated game, though, so please don't expect to be done with it in a couple of days or weeks.

If you like idle games, you're likely to enjoy this.

Hankering for some XCOM... but more?

This is for you.

- Simple mechanics intertwine to create pause-for-thought builds and unique combinations without overburdening the player with unneeded complexity and jumping between menus (with a notable exception below).
- Multiple playstyles, threats, class creations, and more content planned.
- Plenty of QoL features too, saving you pointless clicks and buttons presses, and more planned from what I've seen in the forums.

I only have a few minor gripes - and they really are not big things at all, despite the detail I'm about to give them.
- You start noticing maps repeat themselves later in the game. Often different missions on them. I think for non-storied missions procedurally generated maps would work well here.
- While the game does a good job of avoiding unnecessary menu jumping by providing what you need contextually, it does falter a little on the situation rooms. During missions, certain rooms can add benefits (leverages) to a map, but those aren't accessible via the mission menu and instead you have to leave the HQ can go click into the relevant room. It's not major, but it would be nice if those available leverages were listed in collapsible group similar to the contact leverages on the mission screen, or even as another box along the bottom of the page.
- There's so many missions dialogue can become a repetitive. That said, this is a cause of the benefit of having so much content. The game prioritises gameplay and I'm here for it.

A load of fun & unexpectedly addictive.

I should note the dev is still actively developing the game, so my 'bad' points may be gone in the future.

At its core the game is about checking various aspects of a parcel and approving, or denying that. Which doesn't sound like it'd be fun...but it is! You have to check more as you progress, but some things can be eyeballed, otherwise require checking numbers or even weighing it. As the game progresses you can then automate the majority of these tasks until you've made yourself redundant!

Good
Simple gameplay loop with an incremental style implementation.
Factory-style dopamine-inducing automation loops.
Color-blind friendly. Match patterns, not colors.
Friendly developer.

Neutral
Turns into a semi-idle game later.

Bad
The conveyer bridge slows everything down because it's a 3-block item that can only hold 1 item.
The launcher is somewhat imprecise and you end up playing clean up duty a lot.
Both minor issues, but annoying enough if you're wanting to go for efficient automation.

Critique
Contracts seemed like an unrewarding distraction.
However, the upmost worst thing about this game is that you can't pet the cat.

Quite the masterpiece the game left me with a sense of wanting more. I disliked very little of the game... after giving it a chance. Foremost, let me mention my negatives with that in mind.

The Bad
In my opinion the Prologue is slow and unengaging. I nearly stopped playing right there and I couldn't get through it one sitting. I also thought the mime was a tutorial and I hit my head against it multiple times.

Parrying and dodging takes some getting used to. This isn't a traditional turn based RPG and at least on normal difficulty, you will need to be able to time these correctly. At the start of the game, this feels hard, the mime I mentioned earlier kicking your ass. Later, mimes feel like one of the easier optional bosses because their patterns are so predictable. For others, unless you over level, you'll likely need a couple of attempts on some of the harder bosses.

The game gets easier as it progresses, not harder. There are however, notable exceptions to that rule if doing the optional bosses at end game.

Now, those are minor, but at the start of the game it feels /major/ so it really needs to be said. If you're not feeling the prologue, stick with it. It starts to pick up, imo, in Act I when you first expand your party.

The Good
The story is engaging, once you're past the prologue, and start unravelling the mysteries, you feel the sorrow, the grief, and the connection of the characters to the world.

In act III the story content is relatively small (but still meaningful), and a very different vibe. However, this is where the game opens up to a number of optional bosses, difficult areas, and does an amazing job of removing the feel of grinding anything at all.

And therein lies another strength. I don't mind a little grind, but repeatedly doing the same thing, or rather seeing the same thing over and over can get old. At that point it's just about pushing buttons in a sequence without engaging with what I'm doing. This game always seems to have something new to discover, if you do all the optional areas, collect all the loots, and kill the optional bosses, you'll be pretty close to 99. Those last few levels are the only real mindless grind there, and again assuming you complete all over content, it's short, and will take you <30m just to cross that last achievement off so it never gets to the point of feeling disengaging.

All-in-all a fantastic game that sent me on a bit of a roller-coaster. Bought it without looking into it too much as turn based, and screen shots looked fun. Really didn't connect with Gustav at the start or really enjoy the prologue that much... but once it got a little ways in Act I I was enamoured.