Ratocalypse, the latest title from the developers behind the city-builder Ratopia, presents a unique blend of strategy RPG and auto battler mechanics. The game casts players as leaders of a medieval rat kingdom battling a devastating zombie plague. The core premise is straightforward: uncover the cause of the plague and find a cure.
At its heart, Ratocalypse is an auto battler where players can deeply customize their units' artificial intelligence. This customization is achieved by assigning various skills to specific points in an AI behavior list. For instance, a defensive skill could be programmed to activate only when a unit's health drops below a certain threshold, or when a specific number of units are present on the battlefield. Players can also dictate the target of skills, the number of targets, and the activation order relative to other skills.
While units largely act autonomously once deployed on the battlefield, players can provide support through other abilities during combat. These direct interventions can be crucial, as units are susceptible to dying quickly. The developers, Cassel Games, were also responsible for Ratopia, which launched last year and received an update in July.
Ratocalypse does not yet have a confirmed release date or window. However, a demo is available on Steam, offering several hours of gameplay for those eager to try it out.