I’ve just crashed out of another attempt to beat Packed Lair, but before I head to bed for a well-earned sleep, there’s enough time left in the day to tell you a bit about this fun little autobattler, which was developed by Fable of Wits and just launched on PC (Win).
What is Packed Lair, then?
We’re firmly in autobattler territory here. Packed Lair has you playing as an evil lord who lives in an underground dungeon and who must defend this dank home from pesky heroes at all costs.
You do this by building the most efficient base possible, which you draft in true roguelite fashion from a randomised selection of three buildings presented to you after every round.
Each building gives you new troops, fresh spells to cast in battle, or you can create positive effects for existing units and buildings – all of which is most useful during the game’s pitched battles.
The base-building part of the game quickly reveals itself to be a satisfying cerebral challenge, where you have to rotate and move your Tetris-shaped buildings in order to make the most of their various effects.
These effects are often linked to the position of shrines near the buildings you’re trying to affect and/or improve, and this part of the game is deeper and more nuanced than you might think.
Once you’ve finished building your base, any troops that you can raise are sent to the battlefield on the surface, where they take on the army of annoying goodies that is waiting for them.
Let slip the trolls of war
Battles are fully automated for the most part, although you can add special attacks to your arsenal. These spells are on cooldown timers, and you get to direct these powerful attacks manually, which stops the battles from getting boring.
The battles themselves are short and sweet, and you either win and move on to the next stage, or it’s game over and back to the drawing board. You know how it goes by now, I’m sure.
Between campaigns, you can spend credits to unlock new buildings for the drafting pool, and this way your tactical options continue to expand the further you get into the game. Similarly, as you expand your base by digging out into the rock around your lair, you’re able to bring new units into battle and upgrade the ones you’ve got.
It’s a simple loop that works surprisingly well thanks to the playful tone of the setting and the colourful art. It’s not a game that tries to do too much; instead, Packed Lair is a streamlined autobattler that knows exactly what it’s trying to do. In fact, at times, it feels almost like a puzzle game as you flip and move your buildings around to get incremental stat boosts and maximise your damage output.
I’ve enjoyed my evening with Packed Lair, and I’d probably go back and take another look if it wasn’t for the mountain of video games that are demanding my attention. “Too many interesting games to play” is certainly a good problem to have, but I’m also glad I didn’t let this one slip by.
Packed Lair is out now on PC (Win), and I played via access kindly provided by the developer and publisher, Mystic Forge. If you’d like to try it yourself, there’s a playable demo available via Steam.
