Videogames are full of loops. Often, the loop isn't just a loop in space but a loop of labour, a loop in time. It's a repeated task with a touch of variation from cycle to cycle, typically associated with a character progression system of some kind. The classic one is the town-dungeon loop in an action-RPG such as Diablo 4. You sally forth into the depths with sword and shield, slaughter a bunch of blameless goblins, then orbit triumphantly back to the village square with its 24/7 forge and bustling adventurer's guild. Then off you go, once again, with a Sword +1 and a shield now bearing a Goblin Magnet. There are straightforward equivalents in multiplayer, especially in the wake of Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - sign in, play a few matches, harvest some XP, unlock a new laser sight, equip it, play a few more matches with +5% to your aim.
]]>We learned what was leaving Game Pass only yesterday as we bid farewell to Life Is Strange: True Colors, Moonglow Bay, and The Long Dark. But it seems the subscription gods (and whoever runs that division) saw our frowns, as Microsoft have now announced the next few games hitting the service this fortnight.
]]>The Russian studio behind Loop Hero have encouraged would-be-players to pirate their game if they're unable to buy it due to the sanctions against Russia. Access to some payment systems has been lost following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, so the devs say if you can't figure out a way to buy it, hey, just download it. The route-building dungeon-crawler's publishers, Devolver Digital, have supported this.
]]>Update: Loop Hero's time is done! The dino-battling FPS Second Extinction is the new freebie.
Original Story: This year had us stuck in many video game time loops, but one of my absolute favourites was Loop Hero. I never thought an autobattler RPG would hook me the way it did, but I spent hours upon hours helping a little knight circle a seemingly endless void, and had a wonderful time doing it. If you didn't have a chance to play it earlier this year, it's now free on the Epic Game Store until tomorrow. I heartily encourage you to pick this one up, it's one of our favourite games of 2021.
]]>With 2021 marching on at a seemingly impossible pace, we thought it was high time we sat down in our virtual Treehouses to chat about the best games of the year we've played so far. 2021 has been an odd year for games. The first few months were front-loaded with some big meaty hitters after giving Cyberpunk 2077 a wide berth at the end of last year, while others have been pushed back even further into the depths of 2022. Indeed, a lot of the games we're really looking forward to in 2021 are still hovering away on the horizon, tantalisingly close but just out of reach.
Until those juicy morsels arrive on our gaming plates, though, these are the games we've enjoyed the most over the last six months. You'll find all sorts here, from big epic space operas and zombie horror fests to cosy town builders and err... couple's therapy puzzlers. Will any of them make it to our end of year Advent Calendar? Only time will tell. And if we've missed something you think is absolutely vital playing this year, please do shout about it in the comments. Our gaming bellies are never full these days, and the Christmas turkey is still so very far away...
]]>Is it possible to say that one thing is more unique than another thing? Doesn't sound right. Something's either unique or it isn't. But I'll be damned if Loop Hero is one of the most unique games I've ever played. Watching your hero cycle endlessly around a closed loop, auto-battling ever-tougher enemies while you play tiles in and around the loop to help your hero "remember" their surroundings and grow in strength? Leave off a moment, please; my "intrigued" button needs a moment to recover.
]]>Loop Hero has sold 800k copies since its release back in March, which is pretty impressive given it's a strange, lo-fi mashup of roguelike and idle game. It's now received its first major update, and version 1.1 brings with it new tiles to build with and a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, including the ability to speed up the game.
]]>Loop Hero is an auto-battler, which means it plays itself, leaving your hands free to stroke a dog or learn the ukulele. Press "go" and your hero will scuttle off like a locomotive on a train set, encountering monsters, slaughtering them in quick, uninteractive battle scenes, collecting the loot and cards they drop and then continuing on their fated way.
Round and round they go, trapped but resolute, like a greyhound on a malfunctioning racetrack, where someone forgot to turn off the hare and the crowds have long since gone home. Your hero will do this for as long as you let them, or until they die, because with each completed loop the monsters become incrementally tougher.
]]>Loop Hero feels like a mishmash of six different genres, cobbled together into a game that shouldn’t work, but does. Elements of its DNA are pulled from other sources, such as the loot, the base-management and even deck-building, but these are assembled in such a way that makes the final game feel unique. To find out how this was achieved I sat down with the game's co-designer and composer blinch to discuss Loop Hero’s origins and development. Like many great ideas, no one really gave it much thought at first.
]]>I knew Loop Hero was going to click with a decent number of people, I just didn’t expect that I’d be one of those people talking about builds with high vampirism and what cards combo best.
]]>Deck building and dungeon crawling mashup Loop Hero has sold 500,000 copies in its first week, developers Four Quarters have announced. Along with celebrating that success, they've revealed some of their plans to boost the loop with additional features. They're planning some quality of life changes to start with, and bigger changes like new classes down the line.
]]>The earliest days of computer gaming are murky at best, but the first ever role-playing video game is generally agreed to be somewhere in the realm of Richard Garriott’s Akalabeth, Rogue, and Tower Of Apshai. All three were based on the simple but compelling premise of descending into a dungeon to battle skeletons, vampires, and all manner of other monsters while seeking treasure. The limited technology of the day meant that none of them could replicate the narrative magic of Dungeons & Dragons - their nearest inspiration - but their unique mixture of stats, loot, and class-based gameplay helped capture the hearts of PC gaming’s first generation.
Today, RPGs are more focused on the impact of narrative choice, with games like Mass Effect lauded for their spiderweb-like branching points. It’s a trend taken to its limit by Disco Elysium, which trades traditional combat for sharp exchanges and insults. Still, the classical dungeon crawler lives on through Dark Souls, Diablo, and now a curious little auto-battler called Loop Hero.
]]>Loop Hero is a new world-looping, deck-building RPG that launched today. It drops you in the shoes of a little adventurer, caught in an infinite loop by an evil Lich. As you travel around in endless circles, you can collect items and alter the world to attempt to escape. Over the last week or so, I've written about a fair few new indie roguelikes (because I love them), but I reckon this one is the most interesting of the bunch.
]]>Loop Hero is a nifty-looking Rogue-like game where you'll strategically place enemies for your hero from your own hand of cards. Now, before anyone gets on me about calling it a Rogue-like, it's got randomized adventures, gear, heroes that die, and an "infinite loop" that you'll need to break out of. The deck-building bit is what somehow makes me personally more interested in it than more literal riffs on Rogue. It will arrive sometime in 2021 for your randomized dungeoning desires.
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