I’m not the only one here who loves a bit of FTL Faster Than Light, and that’s why Breachway was the first game to grab my attention this week with Steam Next Fest kicking off in earnest.
Breachway is a sci-fi deckbuilder with tactical space battles and what looks like a strong narrative wrapper. I have only played the new demo but everything I saw pointed to a game that has successfully translated turn-based ship-to-ship combat into an exciting card battle with plenty of room to experiment and synergise.
What is Breachway about?
The game casts you as a newly promoted captain, and you’re given command of a small cutter called the Magpie. Your job in the prologue campaign is to sneak behind enemy lines and grab some valuable salvage. It’s not that simple, however, and soon enough I encountered an enemy ambush and a bunch of pirates. Cue the laserfire.
Breachway has a rather interesting energy switching system. If you’ve played any competent space shooter, something Elite Dangerous for example, you’ll be familiar with the practice of pushing power between different ship systems during combat. Here it happens as part of the turn-taking, and you’ll need to think about how your power is going to impact your upcoming actions.
The combat is also intuitive. It’s simple to parse which cards can be played, and what their effects will be. You’ll fire attacks at your enemies, shoot down rockets, and throw up shields to avoid damage whenever possible.
I often find that new deckbuilders can be difficult to get to grips with, but I thought the card playing aspect was well implemented here.
There are more systems than that, but I don’t want to get lost in abstract details. I did, however, enjoy how the different aspects of ship management worked their way into combat, and even the morale of your crew can make a crucial difference during a battle.
Breachway release date and Steam demo
Developer Edgeflow Studio and publisher Hooded Horse were kind enough to send me a demo to try ahead of Steam Next Fest, however, that demo is now available for everyone to try. If you’re a lapsed FTL player, if you enjoy deckbuilders such as Slay the Spire, I think it’s worth a cheeky little download.
The prologue gives you an overview of the game, but after that things open up and there are more ships to choose from as you begin your search for The Signal – your ultimate goal as you explore the galaxy.
There’s a new trailer that you can see below. It’s a release date trailer, but I’m going to spoil the headline reveal somewhat by confirming here that Breachway is going to hit Early Access on March 22nd.
Update: As confirmed more recently, Breachway has been delayed and now won’t make an appearance until this summer. Engage your FTL drive and head this way for all the details.
