If your among those who hold Into the Breach close to their hearts, then Toads of the Bayou is a new game that I think warrants your attention.
This brand new roguelite tactics by La Grange takes a similar approach to turn-based combat as Subset’s genre defining effort did before it. So, if you’re after a similar game with tight mechanics and lovely pixel art then I suggest that you download the demo over on Steam at the very least, and see it for yourself.
This isn’t a review though, so take my positivity with a tiny pinch of salt. Due to other commitments I wasn’t able to play more than a couple of hours before release. However, my first impressions are largely very positive, and I wanted to at least offer my thoughts after playing just shy of three hours this morning.
What is Toads of the Bayou all about, then?
As described up top, TotB is a tactics skirmish game set in the swamps. The story revolves around the evil Baron Samedi, who has corrupted to local area. In response, a group of toads forms a resistance against this big bad. You are an amphibious John Connor, destined to fight against Samedi and his evil forces.
Each round takes place on a little island in the aforementioned swamps of the Bayou. Therein, you take control of a toad and use your various abilities to take down the enemies that attack you and that try to destroy the resources you need for the resistance. The islands are small and grid-based, and you can move around the place into strategic positions as you look to kill a certain number of enemies and defend various objectives.
If you’re able to stay alive during combat and complete your objectives, you’ll be rewarded with oil and coin that you can spend back at the tavern that acts as your home base. There you can buy new cards to add to your deck, and it’s these cards that grant new abilities during combat, expanding your tactical options after every little victory. For example, one lets you attack units both in front and behind in the same action, and another removes any burning effects that you’re suffering while also making you stronger.
Lovely pixels and interesting decisions
While I can unequivocally say that I like the audio-visual side of the presentation, I think the interesting decisions mentioned in the header are perhaps more subjective. Not only that, but as I’ve only played for a couple of hours, I can’t say how your deckbuilding will play out once you get to the game’s second and third acts.
Having said that, I do think that Toads of the Bayou is a fun little tactics game with a lot of personality. It lands not long after Forgotten Mines, a streamlined tactical roguelite with dwarves that tries some similar things. In comparison, I think TotB is a more accessible game that has the potential to engage more players, mostly thanks to its gentler learning curve and more measured challenge, but also because the theme is so damned charming!
With two additional playable characters to unlock, ten bosses to battle, and three different islands to play through, there appears to be enough substance to Toad of the Bayou to keep you coming back for a while. Of course, I have to once more add the caveat that I’ve only played for a couple of hours, but they were good hours and I’d definitely jump back in and play some more if I didn’t have the most obscene backlog of games to work through…
Toads of the Bayou is out now on Steam PC (Win) and I played via access kindly provided by the developers and the PR friends!
