Tetris-infused roguelike Backpack Hero is leaving early access in May
Securing the bag
Roguelike dungeon crawler Backpack Hero has been in early access for under a year, and it’s now getting a full 1.0 launch on PC and consoles in May. Backpack Hero has been successful for its three-person dev team and stood apart from other roguelikes with its Tetris-inspired inventory management. You see, success in Backpack Hero is determined by how you organise your bag rather than what you’re actually carrying, as you shuffle items around a grid to create synergies and mod your playstyle.
Some items will work better in unison, buffing other items around them, meanwhile others benefit from empty space and extra legroom. Your expert Tetris skills are rewarded when you head into dungeons and bash baddies with everything you’ve crammed into your backpack. You can choose between five adorable backpackers that come with a unique set of abilities and items. For example, one of the heroes called Pochette can carry even smaller, more adorable pets in their bag - only to send them into brutal battles. I have my eyes on the frog wizard Tote, purely for her shiny black hole eyes.
The newest trailer also reveals the highly-requested, much-appreciated Town that you can organise and customise alongside your bag. Now, the resources you gather in dungeon crawls can be spent to upgrade the town and build things like farms or blacksmiths. The town is where you’ll unlock new characters, and hopefully it’s just a nice place to chill out in. I’m a sucker for quaint home bases in roguelikes, somewhere you can go to relax after a long monster-whacking session.
The rest of the game will include hundreds of unique items to arrange, forty enemy types to bash, and a bunch of cute critters to meet throughout.
Backpack Hero is leaving Steam early access in May when it’ll also release on Xboxes, PlayStations, and Switches. Its early access is currently available on Steam for £13.50/€14/$14 and there’s a free Steam demo available to try, too.
PSA: If you're looking for more Tetris infused roguelikes, you might want to check out Merge & Blade when it comes to Game Pass.