BattleTech and Shadowrun devs announce their next turn-based strategy The Lamplighters League
...And The Tower At The End Of The World, coming this year
Harebrained Schemes - the folks behind BattleTech and Shadowrun - have announced their newest strategy game, but this one’s quite the mouthful. The Lamplighters League And The Tower At The End Of The World is set in an alternate version of the 1930s where “the best of the best are all dead… so you’ll need the best of the worst.” The game launches on PC, next-gen Xboxes, and Game Pass later this year.
Like Harebrained’s other games, Lamplighters League features turn-based tactical combat accompanied by the expected hit percentages and movement grids. This time around you’ll also be engaging in a real-time infiltration phase before a battle to scout out the location, pick off stray guards, and get into the optimal position. I usually use infiltration time as a gateway into easy modes - lowering the risk until I can steamroll enemies, so count me in. The debut gameplay trailer shows off a medley of unique abilities, all of which can be combined between characters, bouncing around to create different effects.
The Lamplighters League’s biggest draw, for me, is its alternate history 1930s setting. The world is on the brink of domination due to the tyrannical cult called the Banished Court - which I’m guessing is the magical stand-in for the Nazis. All of the best heroes are dead and gone, leaving only a ragtag group of reluctant rogues. You'll be able to recruit new outlaws, outcasts, and outsiders in a globetrotting series of missions. Really, their adventure is one of self-preservation; world peace is just an added side-effect.
Game director Christopher Rogers says that “because The Lamplighters League is set in a new world, it allows us the creative freedom to simultaneously create narrative that supports gameplay, and gameplay that supports narrative.” That’s likely in reference to the dirty tricks you can use in combat with your art deco suicide squad.
The Lamplighters League And The Tower At The End Of The World will be available later this year on Steam, The Epic Games Store, and The Microsoft Store. It’ll also launch on Game Pass on the same day.
The Lamplighters League's announcement came as part of Paradox's Announcement Show where we also got our first look at Cities: Skylines 2 and a bunch of other PC goodies.