Puzzlequest meets FTL in this Steampunk Victorian era roguelite.
Mostly Positive
960 Steam reviews
| LANGUAGE | AUDIO | SUBTITLES | INTERFACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Y | Y | Y |
| French | Y | Y | Y |
| German | Y | Y | Y |
| Italian | Y | Y | Y |
| Spanish (Spain) | Y | Y | Y |
The Roguelite Part su**, prepare to repeat the first days ... like forever ...
Match-3 puzzle games shouldn’t feel like commanding a 40-ton war machine.
Ironcast somehow makes it work.
Set in an alternate Victorian steampunk Britain, you pilot massive mechanical walkers defending the countryside from invading forces. The twist: every weapon, shield, and repair is powered through a puzzle board.
At first glance it looks simple.
In practice it's a tactical roguelike hiding inside a puzzle game.
Gameplay
Instead of matching candy, you chain together resources:
• Ammo – fire cannons and rockets
• Energy – power advanced systems
• Coolant – prevent overheating
• Repair – patch up damage
• Scrap / Money – upgrade your mech
Each turn becomes a small strategic dilemma:
Do you repair before the enemy fires?
Grab ammo for a big shot?
Or chain coolant so you can fire everything without melting your engine?
Longer chains scale exponentially, meaning one good move can flip an entire battle.
This isn't casual match-3.
It's resource management under pressure.
Strategy & Progression
Between missions you upgrade your Ironcast with:
• new weapons
• armor plating
• energy systems
• special abilities
Different builds emerge:
• artillery glass cannons
• shield-heavy tanks
• overheating risk builds
• energy-based superweapons
Even failed runs unlock new equipment, keeping the roguelike progression loop satisfying.
Atmosphere
The aesthetic is Victorian steampunk pulp fiction:
• brass war machines
• industrial cities
• foggy battlefields
• giant mechanical duels
It feels like War of the Worlds meets puzzle strategy.
The mech designs are chunky, industrial, and excellent.
Pros
✔ Unique hybrid gameplay
✔ Quick runs that respect your time
✔ Strong upgrade loop
✔ Surprisingly tactical decisions
Cons
✘ Limited enemy variety
✘ RNG boards can occasionally punish you
✘ Story is mostly background flavor
Verdict
Ironcast is a clever hybrid that shouldn't work but absolutely does.
If you like puzzle games with real strategy—or just want to feel like you're piloting a Victorian war machine through a puzzle battlefield—this is worth your time.
Rating: 4 / 5
⭐ Recommended
Hours played: 32
Hours spent overheating my mech because I got greedy: 31
Если б на планшетике бесплатная была за рекламу, играть бы всё равно не стал. Какая то беспонтовая поделка.
Match 3 rougelike. I had my fun, but to see the story you have to grind a lot...or cheat :)
I had a good time and finally beat the last enemy in about 27 hrs. It is not an easy game. (I read a guide before my second earnest attempt and -lo and behold- there are actually a few strategies that work - but many that do not). The RNG is sometimes gruesome, but it DOES go bouth ways. The end is sadly a bit lackluster.
游戏玩法不错，但是玩起来一股莫名的难受感觉，
Cool idea, but the game is pretty boring and not really saved by its story or ambiance.
With that being said, the game IS polished.
Still I like roguelikes, I like puzzlegames, I don't mind reading, yet the magic was just not there.
终于通关了！感觉是10年前买的游戏了，一直断断续续玩着，最后今天终于在39级通关了！好玩，喜欢连连看！而且居然还有点剧情呢。这些机甲其实[spoiler] 都是带英偷的资源才能造出来的，最后那个打的机甲怪物其实是被偷、被囚禁的，英法就是偷它的资源才能造出主角现在开的这些机甲和武器。怪物好不容易挣脱束缚来复仇了，结果被主角打死了，想想这剧情还挺黑暗的（。其实也不是一下被打死了，你看我之前死了那么多次，到39级才第一次打死怪物，之前都是怪物碾碎英法，应该复仇成功了吧…… [/spoiler]
Une bonne petite surprise.
This game is designed no matter what you do to loose, until you do boring and same stuff again and again to earn xp playing same missions 20-30 times and more...Could be more stuff here...Graphics are none-necessary for this minimalistic and primitive gameplay...it's more like a phone game..Still it was lagging hard on my tablet. It's kind of a good idea...but probably they need to make it better..Waiting for ironcast 2. PLayed it again after some time because it was almost only game installed on my tablet...The game's score increased from 2.75 to 3.2, still not sure i recommend it to anyone, find something better maybe.
3.2/5
Pretty good game! However at this time I can't support a dev that has acknowledged a bug regarding his background telemetry job failing and causing the game to pause every 5 seconds, forcing the community to come up with an unofficial patch for it. May change my review someday if he decides to fix it and make telemetry optional, but until that happens, I won't support developers like this.
This game to this date still rocks and i know. You like match 3 fighting style this gives you a challenge and a great reward feeling!. I wish they made more of these ... Please make more!
Don't use my time in this game on Steam as any indication of how much I love this game -- I've got a couple hundred hours into this great game on Switch and am only too happy to buy it again here on Steam. Besides really digging the Steampunk atmosphere of this game, it's got a fun story to it and is a really fun challenge. Yes, there's some RNG involved but that's going to be the case with virtually any game like this one. A skilled Match-3 player will have a ton of fun with this one.
avoid at all cost
Mocna 2 na 10.
Takie steampunkowe Bejeweled w wersji taktycznej.
The game was designed in such a way that you cannot see it's biggest flaw until you're outside the refund window. The algorithm for the game board is broken. I thought my first run was a fluke; I wound up starved for energy because no energy blocks would spawn. Then, in my second run, the same thing happened but for ammo. In my third run, it was coolant. For whatever reason, every run you do there will be one resource the game just won't give you, and it will be your downfall. Every time. Roguelikes are supposed to be hard, yes, but it's also a puzzle game. Puzzles are supposed to have solutions. At least in Bejeweled when you got a bad board it just ended the game (until later entries). In Ironcast, the consequences of a bad board are drawn out over the course of a fight. You know it's game over, but you have to keep fighting anyway or just abandon the run altogether. You want a good puzzle roguelike? Play Peglin instead.
jeu qui pourrait etre formidable.mais qui ne ressemble a rien au vu de la diffculte et des non sens de possibilite de manque d armement valable,,De situation grotesque style protection a plus de 100 pour cent qui n empeche pas de se faire tuer. NUL
could be a very decent game but impossible to play and win without good rng
I dont want to spend huge amount of time just to grind good build by depending on luck
le jeu n'est pas agréable à jouer. on meurt sans arrêt, et on recommence, chaque décés fait monter une barre d'xp generale qui debloque des trucs, perso, vehicules, bonus, mais même aprés 15 morts, mon perso n'est pas plus fort, le jeu devient pénible, répétitif, ce mach 3 est à la fois rpg et rogue like, mais la difficulté est mal dosée, c'est frustrant, parce que si a chaque décés on devenait rééllement plus fort, ça changerait tout.
I got his game as a part of a bundle. it's a fine sort of match icons game. The actual battle mechanics are just...clunky and not really fun to play IMO. I think there's a good game in there somewhere. I just think it's too complicated/not fun enough.
It's built for multiple runs to play as a roguelike. The steam punk aspect is also not for me. I can't really hate this game but I don't think I want to play it anymore.
I wasn't sure I would like this, but after playing it for just a few minutes, I love it! Turn based battles between steampunk mechs you can upgrade, You can unlock characters that have unique skills. Add in jewel matching to fill your ammo, energy, coolant, and repair levels, and you have a really fun game that is a little different each time you play it.
Unfortunately, after many hours of play, I have to alter my review. The excitement of the game quickly disappears and it becomes monotonous. instead of playing missions and being able to increase your skill and upgrade your mech until you feel ready to attack the boss, you are forced to fight him in 10 turns. It turns into a game of chance. You pretty much have as good of chance to beat the game your first time playing as you do the 100th time playing. Once you fail a mission, you lose everything and have to start over. One mistake, game over. Junk upgrades after a mission, game over. Poor matches available on the main board, game over. I will still play it every once in a while, but the excitement I first felt playing it is long gone. Also, I bought this in a bundle for 0.49 cents, I definitely would not recommend it at full price.
Pretty lame? I'm used to punishing games but this one just feels wild. It's permadeath and plenty of battles are just lost if you get unlucky with your board layout. You can get skills to make this happen less often, but being offered those are also RNG. Just had a run where I was being very cautious in the fights I took, and got wiped out by just some dude because I wasn't offered any skills to clear my board. I read through some guides on the community hub to see if I was missing something, and they seem to agree. The best way to win is to minimize the amount of time in combat...or in others words, your time playing the game.
Games like FTL reward you taking hard fights with resources and events, and this game just doesn't do that well. If I'm honest, just go play that instead. This game had an interesting idea, but man did it not land.
Absolute hidden gem, it's almost EXACTLY what I've been looking for in a roguelike!
Working out your optimal next move is much more enjoyable as a visual possible rather than pure mental maths, and thank god there isn't deckbuilding and having to calculate the odds of topdecking certain cards etc every turn
The shop system isn't randomised with re-rolls so no need to stress/FOMO about certain upgrades - the shop options simply expand as you find new blueprints etc (shop resets at start of each run so you can't just buy broken stuff ASAP)
The level-up options are pretty balanced and you have a limited amount of equip slots so you don't end up with a massively bloated amount of stuff in your build to track/calculate (I love Slay The Spire but it can get very tedious double checking all your relics deep into a run)
Also this is the first roguelike where I don't feel compelled to consult a wiki/youtube guides for "meta" etc, the game actually teaches you everything you need to know and more importantly it is pretty intuitive to figure out optimisations for yourself!
Only major gripe - Devs PLEASE FIX the targeting system so the tab doesn't close every time you aim at a different system!
Actually pretty engaging! Cool twist on the match-3 gameplay. Very cool style to it all
Interesting match-3 game, the first time that I tried it, I couldn't get into it, I can't really put my finger on the reason why. It might have been the graphics, which are nice, but in a very particular style. Trying it again after a few months, I found myself liking it more and more.
A match-3 with steampunk mechs, if that gets you excited, I'm pretty sure you will enjoy this game.
Horrible game that has only one mechanic which is random luck. Luck is not a bad thing to have in games but when it is your while mechanic or victory it is stupid. Skill plays no part. Don't get the right drops from the enemies you lose. Don't get the right matches for the resource you need you lose. Play really well and get some lucky drops you will probably still lose. Enemies are supposed to obey the same rules you do but there is no way that they do. You can fire a couple of times in a round if you are lucky and maybe power up a shield. The enemy will power up the shields, power up the evasion, shoot 3 times, repair and still have resources left over.
I wish I had never bought this game and would love a refund for both the money and time I wasted on this rubbish.
If you want a match 3 game with something on top it's really this one
Heavily luck-based, with limited opportunity for planning and little skill involved, but still an enjoyable experience overall.
Yes, there is a lot of RNG.
Yes, it is a bit grindy.
However, if you are a fan of Match3 or just want a little twist on your turn based Steampunk mecha battler, check it out. The game should be cheap enough now that you'll get your money's worth and then some.
game sounded intressting but its just not fun way to much RNG involved.
one of the worst RNG culprits is the dodge chance and yeah i know its possible to happen that a enemy with 7% will dodge but when it happens multiple times in row while your high % dodge seems liek to be never triggering feels bad.
other RNG aspects lvl ups : u can choose between 3 skills the skills can be from a pool of 3 different categories: global , ironcast and active-skill. i had multiple runs where i havent gotten 1 categorie at all which is like 1/3 bonuses.
other rdm aspect blueprint drops u can get alot of runs where u find 0 weapon blueprints so u have your starting weapon which tickles the enemies for 1% of there hp while they can 3shot you.
and last rmd aspect is the match 3 u can lose runs because u cant match any gems u need (mainly weapon or packages)
Having originally discovered this on the Nintendo Switch I was happy to re-purchase it for my laptop, classic game with some original ideas, if they ever updated it to introduce online multiplayer it would be perfect :)
p.s. I picked it up on Kinguin (Steam key) for €1 !
Buying this was a mistake. It's boring, and just doesn't feel all that much fun to play.
游戏估计是不错的，但是米中文啊。we need chinese.
202304，steam，steam掉卡抵扣，t a o宝，支付宝红包，humble，indie gala，daily indie game，fanatical，杉果，它处自定义包入的本体约4元。爱人如己，目前就这，看以后追评。兄弟萌，强烈建议不要第三方平台的小店买y u额，通过饰品等挂steam市场转的，高概率red信乃至封号，且行且珍惜。
One of the best "Match-Three-Plus" games out there, next to quality games like Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes. There is a layer of tactical depth added by manipulating an energy-hungry mech, and another layer where you must use specific weapons and abilities at key moments to tackle other mecha and trains. Use light machine guns on unshielded opponents, heavy weapons to penetrate shields, etc. Then there is a management minigame between matches, where you need to balance your money between longtime savings, building up a workforce (which makes the next Boss Battle easier), repairing, and buying upgrades.
Minor issues: I did run into some bugs, where in one battle the game got stuck in a cutscene and I had to restart my entire run. Also, the game is RNG-heavy, where your run may be doomed for no other reason than you didn't get the right Blueprints in order to purchase decent weapons, shields or upgrades. More loot variety and a New Game + would be nice as well.
Innovative matching steam mech action with a few rough edges: Make huge matches, but no cascades. Equip and upgrade your mechanized walker in a steampunk themed scramble for resources in a soot-laden England cityscape. Looming boss encounters and subsystem targeting reminiscent of FTL offset some annoying optimization issues and perhaps too much randomness in equipment unlocks. Overall, this is a solid matching game with a vibrant setting only held back by minor performance issues and a meta game that could have benefited from a more personal touch.
I bought the game a long time ago and often find myself coming back to it. Sure, the RNG aspect can make things challenging, but there are ways to prepare for and work around it.
Hint - select skills that can help you get out of situation when RNG makes you stuck, since RNG may have you killed even with best equipment. And having the best equipment isn’t essential in the beginning. However, if you manage to survive, you’ll have the opportunity to acquire it later turn or two before bosses. Careful planning is key.
GG
Tl;dr 20 hours well spent. I enjoyed playing the game and felt satisfied by the story's ending.
PROS:
- A very enjoyable gameplay loop (especially if you enjoy hurling profanities at the screen because RNG has humped you yet again).
- Very enjoyable if you like to figure out the systems and optimising your approach both on the strategic layer and during matches.
- The setting is complemented with well-chosen music to create a great atmosphere.
- The story is pretty good and I found the ending to be very satisfying.
CONS:
- If you hate RNG, don't bother with this game. All the rewards are random and it takes a decent amount of luck to end with a strong enough combo to defeat the game.
- The third character (the second unlockable one) has a pretty worthless ability so she can only be chosen for the sake of a challenge or 100%ing the game.
- due to a certain type of mission with very valuable rewards, I felt forced to choose the weapons which [spoiler] don't do splash damage to other systems. [/spoiler]
- as far as I noticed, the choice of missions is the same every time, so replayability is fairly limited.
- the game is not very well optimised. I kept experiencing frame rate drops after playing for a while which I could only fix by restarting the game at the next save point. My rig can run BG3 fairly smoothly so it should be able to handle a game with 2D graphics and match 3 mechanic.
Po 22h w tej grze i pomimo licznych naprawdę pozytywnych komentarzy - ja tej gry wam nie polecam - już tłumaczę:
- po pierwsze ta gra to jedno wielkie RNG (czyli losowość) samo w sobie założenie brzmi super ale w rzeczywistości gra bardzo flustruje i nie szanuje Twojego czasu. Dla przykładu możesz do bossa nie dropnąć ANI jednej broni do przebijania tarcz (wiadomo zależy jaką misję weźmiesz ale nawet biorąc te właściwe, gra może Ci nie dać takiej możliwości gdyż to wszystko to jedna wielka losowość). Tak więc po 1h grania sesja w plecy.
- druga sprawa to brak SKLEPU z możliwością doboru sprzętu itp. gdyby było coś takiego to gra bylaby super (mieli byśmy możliwość tworzenia własnych buildów , kupowania czego potrzebujemy itd.) bez tego znowu liczymy na szczęście (a tego w tej grze ciągle bd wam brakować)
- losowość misji ,które nie dość ,że trzeba dokładnie czytać w opisie małym druczkiem (bo nie mogli napisać z iloma przeciwnikami mamy się mierzyć w głównym opisie to jeszcze schemat jest taki sam w przypadku misji "trade" - tzn. jest jakiś % ,że możecie dać coś innego w dialogu i to wejdzie ale ogólnie w 99% musicie kliknąć w zależności od opisu misji "trade" taką samą odpowiedź/schemat i on zadziała , inne nie - słabe rozwiązanie
- Poziom misji i ich nagrody - tak jak jest w poradniku na steamie , walka z x2 przeciwnikami lub misje trudne (na czerwono) dają minimalnie większe nagrody kompletnie nieadekwatne do ilości strat jakie możecie dostać - słabe rozwiązanie ogólnie bo się namęczycie i nic z tego nie macie - wręcz odwrotnie większe starty $$ w naprawie więc jaki jest tego sens?
- Augmenty - znowu totalna losowość ,jak macie "farta" to przejdziecie pierwszego bosa byle kim i jakim mechem. Liczy się po prostu szczęście i lekka znajomość gry (+ gdyby można było augmenty ulepszać ,a nie dostawać ich tonę bo nie ma co z nimi robić to byloby to ciekawe rozwiązanie - nawet gdyby ulepszenie dawało przykładowo 1-2% więcej), to samo dotyczy "rare" blueprintów naprawdę możecie do pierwszego bosa nic nie dropnąć albo nawet 3 (co wciąż nie znaczy ,ze bd super dobre lub takie które potrzebujecie)
- "ulepszania globalne" dają bardzo niewiele (tzn. te za lvl up ogólny jak skończycie grę/przegracie) - tu akurat jest to zrozumiałe w końcu taki urok gry ale nie powalają i realnie trzeba by było naprawdę dużą liczbę godzin spędzić aby realnie odczuć ten bonus.
Reasumując gra to czyste RNG - brzmi super i na papierze wydaje się świetna ale zwyczajnie gra nie szanuje waszego czasu, flustruje bo "nie siadł" wam ten augument lub brak ulepszeń które potrzebujcie.
I żeby była jasność gra wciąga ale moim zdaniem limit rng jest za duży aby mieć z tego świetną zabawę ale podkreślam to moje zdanie, może wam się spodoba.
Игра имба, советую
[h1]Ironcast — на захисті Британії від французьких мехів[/h1]
Цікава візуально гра про битви великих роботів на вулицях Англії. Геймплейно представляє собою roguelite, гравець проходить битви одна за одною перед зустріччю з фінальним босом на мапі. У перервах між перестрілками можна покращити свою машину та замінити деякі компоненти. Самі ж битви — це таке собі переосмислення «Три в ряд», тільки жетони одного кольору треба з’єднувати однією лінією, по прямим та горизонталям. Таким чином будуть заповнюватися різні системи робота, як от кількість патронів чи енергія, а потім вони витрачаються на атаку чи захист.
Одразу кидається у очі, що гра дуже сильно спирається на випадковість. У гравця, як такого, нема контролю яка зброя чи покращення йому випадуть. Так само складність боїв дуже умовна, іноді ворог декілька ходів нічого не робить окрім захисту, а іноді за атаку знімає 1/4 здоров’я. Вмерти можна просто у будь який момент, ніколи не знаєш кого зустрінеш. Останній бос першої мапи теж виявився складним, але далі — гірше. На другій мапі навіть звичайний бій складніше битви з босом. Наче звичайно для жанру? Ну... Після смерті досвід переходить у глобальні рівні, але вони як на мене майже не дають ніяких бонусів. Тож наступний похід буде майже на тих самих умовах. Якщо пощастить, апгрейди будуть випадати правильні, а якщо ні — далеко не пройдете.
Тож у висновку мені більш не сподобалось. Так, світ та ідея наче прикольні, але вистачило двох забігів щоб побачити як усе працює. Гру рекомендувати не можу через сильну залежність від рандому. Пограйте краще в український Menace from the Deep, там веселіше.
Good game, although tiring in the long run and not particularly encouraging for further attempts. RNG can be irritating + there are some unmissable unnecessary animations.
very good game
Skill helps, but it's too much RNG. Some people can win in the first run if they get good RNG, I'm 16 hours in and have only seen the final boss once, couldn't do anything because of the RNG. Lose frequently in the middle of runs that take a few hours just because of RNG. You can't beat the boss unless you get good equipment, which is all random. You can't complete a stage if the nodes that keep spawning are owns you don't need. If you lose, you restart, there is a global level that carries over, but I don't feel it's a major help. It's an interesting game, but if your goal is to beat it, it can end up being a huge waste of time depending on RNG.
[h3]RANDOM GAME 13/218[/h3]
The idea is interesting in theory, but in practice it's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ snoozefest
Incomplete game portioned out and priced absurdly high for the extremely limited entertainment you can have with this product.
Great game all around. I was wary of the 'Match-3' mechanic being present in the game, but it is really used differently here and the game has so much more.
It it basically a Roguelike, tactical, turn-based, Match-3 game (in that order regarding the importance of my 'tags'). It will not be for everyone, but if anything above tickled your brain, at least try it out.
不是三消，是划线消除。
操作还挺多的，远不只是棋盘上。
要手动开火，手动维修，要顾及的方面很多。
整体美术不错，音效很棒。
对我来说玩起来比较繁琐。爽感不足。没中文。
玩起來蠻特別的肉鴿遊戲，看介紹以為是單純三消類型遊戲，殊不知那只是取得戰鬥能量，基本很常被修理(綠色)跟經驗(黃色)給占掉重要能量.......與其說是策略遊戲，不如說是看臉遊戲......
另外可能是因為肉鴿關係，敵人強度的增長提升太快，感覺這遊戲需要先農個10小時以上才能真正體驗戰鬥的來回拼鬥感，痛苦。
7/10 Ich mag das Spiel. Anders als bei anderen Roguelikes macht den Charm des Spiels eher aus, nach und nach den Run zu perfektionieren, indem man lernt, welche Missionen lohnenswert sind und welche man eher meiden sollte. Somit kommt man dem Endgegner erst immer ein bisschen näher, um dann später immer knapper zu verlieren, bis man schließlich obsiegt.
Ich habe das Spiel 2015 durchgespielt und jetzt 2024 noch einmal.
Vielleicht kommt ja doch noch ein Nachfolger...
该游戏有个非常大的缺陷，就是敌人即使只开1级的闪避，哪怕是9%，都能随便闪开你的攻击。而你的闪避起码得30%的时候才容易见效果
gg
I had a lot of fun with this one, the story was engaging as well.
Since it is a match 3 game, RNG is absolutely a thing. Outside of that I felt the challenge to be fair and it felt good to score those satisfying wins when you wreck the enemy mech.
Art style is good, music becomes a bit repetitive after a few hours, but wasn't a huge deal to me personally.
The 100% was a bit of a slog though and I found myself tired of the game after that. Before then, I got my moneys worth out of it. Price feels good (13 euros as of writing this).
Sounds good, doesn't entertain.
The mechanics are different from the classic Match 3. You don't have to move the tiles but trace a path. Honestly I would have preferred the classic and widely appreciated mechanics.
💋
NVS
这游戏的随机数就纯脑残，要么全是绿色金色你不要的关键时候全来了，然后正常游戏中除了刚开始刷的暴击战斗后面就看不到暴击块了，对手两滴血连续闪避我两次给我干死了？？？
----------------------------------------------------------------------
第二次回来评测还是没话说：
一场战斗对面能闪避我3发导弹
而且对面可以维修冷却打两次再充能两次护盾闪避
到我这边完全做不到这么多事情何况还需要看脸，子弹能量冷却维修总有一个是你需要的时候不来的，也总有一个是你不要的时候占位置的，那凭什么对面就不随机啊，这么随机纯看脸？
第一回合不能开火这个设定纯脑残设定，你哪怕改成特殊任务有这个效果我就认了，对面武器那么op你好不容易打掉了敌人回合就是能修好打你，还不用担心冷却维修跟弹药够不够，为什么不给对面的AI也做一个棋盘让他也跟你一起拼运气大家脸黑一起黑呢？
对面30多滴血杀我800滴血的情况在我脸足够黑的情况下完全有可能发生，不其实已经发生过了，我的暴击打对面通通miss，对面经常护盾暴击闪避暴击就算了，打我还暴击，关键我的回合给我三次行动的棋盘上面杂乱无章，消掉三个没用的照样想要的不来，终于来了之后冷却又不够了，技能基本每局都是那几个没用的
就这游戏的随机上来说完全对玩家不公平，第一个你武器装备纯看脸掉，掉的不好这局就是白打浪费时间，而且钱就那么点，哪怕BOSS真的有幸能打过boss（一局有两个BOSS）掉的装备再厉害你维修钱加一个750小装备都很难攒多少钱，想赚钱困难的收益也是看脸的，普通的前期小怪总有那几个56~100多随机伤害却总能给你次次打80以上的小怪，到你自己这反而只有被对面盾削减后可怜的30~40
第二个对面完全没有随机，AI是维修打架防御都不误，因为AI没有棋盘，每次都可以做到并且想打你就是可以连打两次，到你自己这经常会出现那几个很烦人的情况，想要的不来不想要的一堆，并且玩家这里还有个金钱块，占位置，战斗中最没用的块。
简而言之这游戏的看脸程度相当大，你可以打一整局每次就掉一个好一点点的装备，简直是温水煮青蛙到了boss那就原形毕露一点办法没有，也可以一局就两把出了3个稀有装但到最后能有前用的就一个两个，如果心态不稳定又不乐意花时间耐心死打非常不推荐玩这个游戏，有时候你的运气可以气死你，如果你运气好你也不会有足够的钱强化成数值怪物的。
随机数确实很随机
I wanted to like it because it has a fun theme and sense of humour. Unfortunately the dominant strategy is to grind XP in easy fights, and if you don't it becomes frustratingly hard. Also lags quite badly for such simple graphics on my laptop.
Cannot fire on first turn but enemy can. Dislike purely off of that. When I finished the game on Switch, you could fire first turn.
I like the concept of a battle based around the Match 3 format but this offering is a joke!
27 hours on record, 100,000+ Global Unlock, Commander level & still I've faced the Frenchman Boss only twice and even then my weapons have absolutely no effect on 'him' whatsoever.
Working on the basis that something doesn't work first time try a different tack but success at this title seems to be based on pure luck in that it will hopefully give you all the required skills to beat the boss seemingly without any strategic choices the player makes. Shame really: It's only saving grace is that I got it for next to £ nothing
Hay 4 Problemas que puedo enumerar ahora mismo que son la razon por la cual no recomiendo este juego, y despues de ponerle varias horas, puedo decir que estos problemas ensombrecen a la parte buena del juego.
Primero: problemas de rendimiento, llegado a las 2 o 3 horas de juego, el juego da parones, como cada 10 segundos da un paron de 1 segundo, no se porque, pero tiene ese problema, lo cerras y volves a abrir y de nuevo a las 2 o 3 horas vuelve a pasar.
Segundo: Solo le encuentro sentido usar el Ironcast (los mechas) basico, es que tiene mejor balanceado sus estadisticas, porque por ejemplo el Ironcast warwick (el tanque) no tiene razon de ser, y explico. Lo unico que lo vuelve tanque es que inicialmente tiene 50 puntos de vida mas que el resto de ironcast y tiene una habilidad activa que reduce a la mitad el daño recibido en el cuerpo del ironcast, es lo unico que tiene de tanque. despues pierde completamente la razon de ser porque es el ironcast con la menor cantidad de energia inicial pero al mismo tiempo tiene los escudos que mas cantidad de energia consumen. Entonces cual es el sentido de tener un tanque que no puede tener escudos porque no le alcanza la energia que tiene???, el ironcast basico es mas tanque que el supuesto tanque.
Tercero: La unica forma de conseguir nuevo equipamiento para tu ironcast es carroñando lo que consigas de los enemigos que hayas acabado, enemigo muerto = nuevas piezas de equipamiento. segun el lore del juego, en un pais que lleva mas de 10 años de guerra, que hay un consorcio del que somos parte que desarrolla los ironcast, y me decis que la unica forma de conseguir mejoras es carroñando, no hay un mercado ni nada parecido?. Tengo una run en donde mi personaje tiene un buffeo en armas de energia, cuando recibo un arma de energia? cuando el juego decida, tal vez nunca, que me ha pasado, runs de 10 turno sin armas de energia nuevas, aunque los enemigos que hayan matado tuvieran armas de energia, el juego decidio no darme eso. No puedo ni elegir con que carroña quedarme, el juego me da lo que quiere.
Y cuarto: toda probabilidad de esquiva que se refleje en el juego, es el doble para tu enemigo, es la mitad o menos para vos. Tu enemigo tiene 30% de esquiva? 4 de tus 5 disparos van a errar. Vos tenes 30% de esquiva? 4 de 5 disparos de tu enemigo van a darte. El porcentaje de esquiva es un chiste.
de la merde se jeux les ennemi récup leur munition et énergie a l'infini vous non.
100 years war 2: steampunk boogaloo
Good but not that amazing.
could be much better yet one enjoys the story
Fúúú annyira szerettem volna szeretni ezt a játékot.... de egyszerüen játszhatatlanul nehéz... az ötlet jó, minden jó, kivéve a nehézség... és az hogy game over van 1 halálnál... konkrétan ebből áll az a bizonyos nehézség, amitől játszhatatlan. Annak idején mikor még többet nyomtam, akkor sok csatát megnyertem, most kb a 2. 3.-nál game over, mi a fasz történt??? Igy kell elkúrni egy amúgy nagyon jó ötletet... a fejlesztések többségében annyira gyengék, hogy kb mintha nem is lennének... Igy hogyan tudnám ajánlani másoknak, ha engem is felidegesit folyamat... Pedig tényleg jó az ötlet, meg 90%ban a megvalisitás is, a grafika, meg minden, bár egy I7-es laptopon gtx 960-al képes belassulni, ez mondjuk nem valami pozitiv, de ez legyen a legkevesebb... csak az időmet vesztegetem vele, mert annyira nem lehet tovább jutni rendesen sehova benne. Biztosan a DLC-ben szereplő gépekkel simán végig lehet játszani, de ez az alap 4 ez nem sokat ér és abból is a legelső talán a legjobb...
I would absolutely rim the ♥♥♥♥ out of the energy node
A lot more complicated than it looks, and incredibly fun
It is so close to being good. I want to like it and how it brings itself together but it is, in a word: unbalanced. Due to the RNG nature of a match 3 game they were close to getting a balance but ultimately failed. To have gotten it right they had so many different game mechanics that they could tweak ever so slightly. From the power up progression, the board size, the amount of 'scrap' (money), health, damage, you name it! All of it is ever so slightly below where it needs to be. You don't get any sense of progression or getting stronger. It may look like it in the menus but you simply do not.
The game obviously is too old to get any balancing done so if you aren't prepared for a purely RNG chance each run where your strategies, upgrades and planning don't matter, stay away. There are better games to waste time on.
You'll also see other reviews mention some backdoor server communications that take place. They are true. I also got the stutters as it just kept trying.
5秒 一卡顿, 后台有个任务一直在上传数据,上传势必就卡, 这个卡顿 修复前不值得买
Ironcast è un gioco con uno stile molto particolare, quasi alla bioshock, uno stile steampunk vittoriano molto carino.
Purtroppo però più che il genere, il mondo in cui è stato sviluppato e cioè a modo di Match 3, non mi è piaciuto per niente, rendendo il mio gameplay totalmente noioso e stancante.
Devo però ammettere che in ogni caso questo gioco merità molto, semplicemente non è nelle mie corde, ma in ogni caso ve lo consiglio enormemente
NO LUCK - NO WIN
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣴⣿⠽⠭⣥⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡴⠞⠉⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠶⣤⣀⠀⠀⢀⣤⠴⠞⠛⠉⠉⠉⠛⠶⣦⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡾⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠳⣏⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢻⣆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣰⠏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣠⠤⠤⠤⠤⢤⣄⡀⠀⠀⠹⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢹⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡾⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠐⠈⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠛⠶⢤⣽⡦⠐⠒⠒⠂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠐⠒⠀⢿⣦⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡞⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣠⡤⠤⠤⠤⠤⠠⠌⢻⣆⡀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣀⡀⠤⠤⠄⠠⢉⣙⡿⣆⡀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣴⡟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⢶⣛⣩⣶⣶⡾⢯⠿⠷⣖⣦⣤⣍⣿⣴⠖⣋⠭⣷⣶⣶⡶⠒⠒⣶⣒⣠⣀⣙⣿⣆
⠀⠀⢀⠞⠋⠀⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣠⡶⣻⡯⣲⡿⠟⢋⣵⣛⣾⣿⣷⡄⠀⠈⠉⠙⠛⢻⣯⠤⠚⠋⢉⣴⣻⣿⣿⣷⣼⠁⠉⠛⠺⣿
⠀⣠⠎⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢿⣟⣫⣿⠟⠉⠀⠀⣾⣿⣻⣿⣤⣿⣿⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣿⠀⠀⠀⣿⣿⣻⣿⣼⣿⣿⠇⠀⠀⠀⢙
⢠⠏⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠛⡶⣄⠀⠀⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⣾⣁⠀⠀⠀⠸⢿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠋⠀⣀⣠⣶⣿
⠟⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠺⢿⣶⣶⣮⣭⣭⣭⣭⡴⢶⣶⣾⠿⠟⠋⠉⠉⠙⠒⠒⠊⠉⠈⠉⠚⠉⠉⢉⣷⡾⠯
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⢈⣽⠟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⣄⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣴⡾⠟⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣤⡴⠞⠋⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⢷⡀⠉⠉⠉⠀⠙⢿⣵⡄⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢷⡀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⣧⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣴⠟⠋⠉⠀⠀⠉⠛⠛⠛⠛⠷⠶⠶⠶⠶⠤⢤⣤⣤⣀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⣠⡤⢿⣆⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡶⠋⠀⠀⠀⠸⠿⠛⠛⠛⠓⠒⠲⠶⢤⣤⣄⣀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠙⠛⠛⠛⠛⠒⠶⠶⠶⣶⠖⠛⠛⠁⢠⣸⡟⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢰⣆⠀⢸⣧⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠛⠓⠒⠲⠦⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣤⣾⠋⠀⠀
⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢷⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠉⠛⠲⠶⣶⣤⣄⣀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣀⡾⠃⠀⠀⠀
⣿⣤⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠛⠛⣳⣶⡶⠟⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠛⢷⣿⣷⠤⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣠⣴⠟⠋⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠈⠙⠻⢷⣬⣗⣒⣂⡀⠠⠀⠀⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⣀⣀⣀⣤⡴⠾⠋⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠛⠛⠿⠶⠶⠶⠶⣤⣤⣭⣭⣍⣉⣉⣀⣀⣀⣀⣼⣯⡽⠷⠿⠛⠙⠿⣦⣀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⢷⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠻⣦⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
TIPS TO START ON THE RIGHT FOOT :)
- Early on you'll want to focus more on shields than your evasion, Even when the enemy comes with high damage energy weapons having high shields will mitigate a good percentage of that damage. Also taking out said high damage weapon is a good way to render the enemy unable to do damage to you.
- Drawing out the fight as long as you can so you can get extra matchs from the board, more matches leads to more scrap and XP which means you will have more abilities+more health to take on the final boss. That said be sure you have the situation under control before you attempt this otherwise the extra damage you take (and thus have to repair) will undermine the point of drawing out the fight!
- Conversely you want to have a high Evasion stat as get closer to end game as it'll be near impossible to mitigate every little bit of damage. By the time you reach this point you'll hopefully have both a good shield AND a good drive system so you should be using both in tandem anyway.
- The game is much more luck based than any other Rogue-like out there, there will be times where you simply cannot win due to how your gems fall or your enemy simply got good luck and hit you through your 40% evade chance while you coulden't get a hit in because the bastard is able to keep both his shield and evasion maxed for 6 turns straight. Try not to get to frustrated although it'll probably happen.
- The best general use pilots are the first (Powell) and last (Kylock) as they let you manipulate how much energy you need to active your shields and drive systems.The best general use Ironcast is actually the first one (Dunraven) if you want to think of it in the Faster Than Light sense you start with the Kestral thinking "wow i want to use these other ships, they look cool!" but then after using them you find out "oh wait, the Kestrel is probably one of the best ships in the game!" Kylock in particular can be a beast if you get the ability that lets you change nodes to energy then use that to max out your evasion early on in a fight for super cheap.
- Whenever possible, your first turn should accomplish the following, in descending order of importance: Bring up at least two levels of shield, get an overdrive, fill up your ammo, fill up your energy, fill up your repair.
- Whether or not you make that massive 10+ symbol match should depend on how confident you are that you can win in the next turn or two without the wasted resources. If you can, the extra XP is great. If not, you're probably better splitting it into two matches.
- Try to keep your shield at maximum at all times. Just about every mission gives you plenty of time to play defensively, which will save you a lot of scrap in the long run.
- Sometimes, waiting to fire for a turn to let your opponent's shields lower a bit is the right move. Especially if their shield's in overdrive.
- Don't bother wasting energy on your drive until you're getting at least 10% dodge chance per level.
- Scrap should always be used first to repair first, then only after build parts.
- Don't waste scrap on building a part unless it's either rare or at least two ranks above your current. The exception is for even halfway decent Dense Shields, which are worth their weight in gold.
- Survival missions are never worth it.
- Passive perks that reduce resource usage or give you more are almost always the best option. I'm especially fond of the "1 free coolant per turn" one.
- Active perks are much more about personal play style, but Ammo Leech is never a bad choice.
- Rapid fire weapons have way higher average damage, but single shot weapons are necessary to punch through shields. Always have one of each, ideally in whatever type (energy or projectile) that your character is best with.
- Don't forget that you can target specific areas by clicking the little crosshair on the right. Generally, your targeting order should be something like Shields > Single shot weapon(s) > Armor > Drive > Other.
- As an exception to the above, when fighting a boss, aim for shields and their highest average damage weapon. Don't bother shooting at anything else.
- Salvage missions always give you a free part or HP boost if you succeed, at the cost of limiting your targeting and weapon choices.
- The second ironcast has a very good ability, especially paired with the first pilot, and together they're a very good choice for a new player.
ENJOY THIS GREAT GAME!
Basically, a definite NO.
The game lore and idea are good: a sort of puzzle quest with Mechs in Victorian age - what could go wrong?
Answer: the game itself, it does not metter how good you are or if you manage to build a great mech, you will always be the slave of the RNG.
To be clear, you get random quests, random upgrades, random board resources (so you are not always in position to do what do you need), random hit/miss/dodge/crit chance.
Obviously, enemies do not have this kind of problems they do basically what they want each round (refill coolant, increase speed, increase shield, repair the weapon you just managed to scratch and fire at you with missiles always upgraded to the mission level). As you can imagine, you will loose almost of you runs due to pure RNG.
Add the following:
- for some reasons, you are prevented to fire in the first round. It seems legit that you ambush frech troops and only after confronting them you charge your weapons. The poor french mech taken by surprise will obviously fire everything he can at you in the first round.
- You get some small bonuses between runs, but since dev feared they could became real vantages, they were nerfed by a patch (+5% xp -> +2% xp)
- No difficulty settings
- the two best pilots and mechs have been locked behind a paid DLC content.
Summarizing all it seems that the game was explicitly designed to make you loose your time and patience under the pretense to be "a difficult game".
I like almost everything about this game. It's a fun take on a match three type game with some rogue-like elements and a very nice aesthetic. It can be quite rng based as you don't know what your options are going to be when you level up, don't know what blueprints you're going to get, and of course the combat is percentage to hit etc. The game is fairly short though so even when things align against you and things go horribly wrong there's not much time lost.
The game has one glaring problem though. After playing 15 or so minutes it begins to regularly stutter. The forums have said that the game is trying to connect to AWS which the developer used to track telemetry data. At one time this connection probably worked, but it doesn't anymore and that time out is what's causing the stuttering every 30 seconds or so. The studio has also disbanded so this likely won't ever be fixed. I messed up more than one chain because a stutter occurred during the middle of it which is not a welcome layer of 'rng'. Just a layer of frustration over what is otherwise is a pretty fun time.
No Thanks
Thx, I hate it.
The match 3 machanic is made more complex by having to think about what you want to match/ what you need. The ressources are very limited tho, i regularly ran out of what i needed and even once ended up in the situation that there was only one very sh*tty option of what i was able to connect. With only three moves each turn I was then very limited with what i was able to do with my remaining ressources.
The fights are all very difficult, there is only the distinction between medium and hard, i didn't even try the hard ones as the medium ones already destroyed me. The upgrading system is sh*t, you have to spend the majority of your scrap on repairs and you have to wait way too long to get new blueprints.
The permadeath sysstem doesn't make me want to try again, as neither the fights nor the enless walls of text game me anything to look forward to.
Ironcast is a game that needs to be approached with a very specific mindset. You must accept things will often be outside of your control, and skill alone will not always constitute a win. It’s a core tenet of stoic philosophy - you're at the whim of random number generation deciding whether or not you get to act this turn at all. If you can accept that, you'll come to know Ironcast as the best Match-3 game on the market, that is not yet another dating sim or smut.
The premise of Ironcast is simple: complete as many objectives as possible in preparation for the big boss fight. The objectives don't necessarily involve combat, or killing your opponent. Some involve diplomacy - as in, choosing the right dialogue options - others are about preserving gear to use as your own, or collecting specific gems, or surviving an enemy attack.
The gem board is naturally where most action happens. Combat and movement involve collecting resources within a 3-turn span before the enemy gets to play their own. There is an exception to this rule: getting an extra turn after defeating an enemy, when fighting multiple ones. The board is bezeled in fashionable Victorian-esque decorations, and the Steampunk mechs are placed opposite of eachother waiting to act their moves out accordingly.
Ammo gems (purple) let you fire your weapons, two of which can be carried at a time. The weapons should preferably serve two different purposes, i.e. one to take down shields, another to damage exposed enemy subsystems. The weapon variety is fairly poor, however the types that do exist get the job done well. It is often better to soften a shielded target up with a laser or missile, then pepper it with machine gun fire or flak.
The weapon tiers vary solely based on stats, and scale linearly as the game progresses. This means you cannot get worse weapons than the tier you've last obtained, but also can't get better ones, or sell ones you don't need. The ammunition type also does not correlate to the kind of damage it can do - energy weapons are not especially effective against shields, and projectile weapons are not especially useful against hull, like the way it works in FTL.
Energy gems (orange) power your defensive countermeasures. By default, Ironcast need to be fueled or powered each turn to keep them moving or shielded. There are 3 tiers to each measure, giving exponentially better evasion or damage reduction. Shields are surprisingly capable, however in the lategame it is usually better to spec into evasion, as it has a chance to completely negate damage rather than to merely soften it.
Repair gems (green) allow repairs of specific subsystems, which is a nice segue into talking about how health works. Each Ironcast has its drive, its shield, and its two weapon modules. Each part can be targeted to deactivate its accompanying function, as well as damage the overall HP of the mech. Once overall HP reaches 0, the mech dies. Other than two abilities, there is no active healing in the game, it has to be done in the hangar between each op.
Therein lies the biggest source of player agency in the game - choosing what systems to target on enemy mechs, or repair on their own. It's also where it's most evident the AI cheats - it will be able to repair damaged systems no matter what, and then activate them immediately, sometimes leading to a stalemate; that said, if you manage to get the AI to repair, it will likely not attack (to simulate a limited resource board), and so the cheating is not blatantly obvious.
Coolant gems (blue) allow to use other resources and modules, as each action (barring repairs) consumes coolant in addition to its main gem. Running out of coolant means your Ironcast will be overheating, and taking incremental damage to its systems and hull. You might have enough ammo or energy to power up, but can you afford the cooling? It's a nice additional layer of resource management and decision-making to top the basic system play off.
To account for the restriction, the coolant pool is the largest for each Ironcast, and there are plenty of means to regain coolant that aren't collecting the resource from the board. This allows for certain flexibility while balancing the ammo and energy systems, so that players have to choose between playing defensively or offensively against different types of opponents.
Finally, scrap gems (yellow) do not have an immediate effect on the battlefield, but serve as looted currency that allows to potentially purchase new gear. It's also used to repair the mech in the hangar, or improve resource caps. The implementation of the currency system is restrictive, probably for balancing reasons; without collecting scrap, you will not be able to purchase a weapon, or worse - spend all money on repairs, without making tangible progress.
There are also unique gems that do not belong to any one pool. Overload gems (white) empower your next action, be it firing an extra shot from a weapon, or gaining extra evasion from activating the drive. Without those, systems have a default overload chance of 5%. They can also act as a bridge between two nodes of the same resource. Link gems (red) allow to create multi-colored chains, and where most turn efficiency and optimization comes from.
You can attempt to keep Link or Overload nodes to prepare for a big chain, however those take precious space away from more useful resources, and so another aspect of decision-making is introduced into the game. Should you keep the gems for later, or clear the board now to make space? Moments where you get to make these decisions are where the game shines.
The AI you fight is well-balanced, in the sense it lets you play the game instead of immediately obliterating you. It is given leniency so that it doesn’t target each subsystem until it is destroyed, like the player is likely to do. It manages to spread damage evenly among subsystems and gives you a fighting chance so you are not immediately immobilized or de-shielded, then annihilated without a way to respond.
Another source of player agency stems from Ironcast abilities. The abilities are the safety net of the player from losing runs to RNG, which is what makes the AI "cheating" acceptable. Using them does not cost a turn or resources, and is where skill and game knowledge come into play - as choosing the right Passives and Actives are crucial to reaching the endgame.
The Passives range from less resource consumption, to better gun damage or accuracy, to an increased chance of certain gems appearing. Frankly, some effects are marginal, but they still grant tangible means with which to improve your gear. Actives make or break runs, and getting one ability can change the tide of battle. Since the AI cannot use skills or abilities, its mechs get much more health, and stronger weaponry, eventually rivaling those of bosses.
Each player Ironcast starts with one unique Active, and can gain more upon leveling up. These abilities can change gems to other gems, collect all type of gem on the board, or siphon resources from the enemy. The most useful abilities are often ones that enable you to fire an extra shot at no cost, or to ignore shields, or to have shots not miss for a turn.
They're a contributing factor to the replayability of the game, otherwise weakened by the same missions appearing in every run, a limited selection of mechs, and limited guns to use against them. Admittedly, a disappointing amount of content for a Roguelite, however a completionist would certainly get their money's worth.
Not many games embrace RNG the way Ironcast does, giving you just enough control over the battlefield to make the experience tolerable. RNG can work in your favor, or in favor of the AI, it's truly a chaotic ordeal - where a 5% chance to overload can decide whether an hour-long run lives or dies. It's an enjoyable game, provided you can embrace its quirks.
Going to be honest I was having a good time until I died to a boss because coolant decided to stop spawning, causing me to have everything maxed out but no coolant to use it safely with.
Why is this game so fun lol its pretty hard too but surprisingly a very good time very glad i tried it!
同样的三消+rpg，这个游戏的质量和puzzle quest一代比起来真的就是屎。
我也不知道你完美结合了FTL里的什么（you配么？），对方钢坦克27闪避能连闪我4炮，这不叫roguelike，这是godlike。
UI也是灾难级，基本上就美术风格可以正面说说了。
毕竟是8年前的独立游戏，言尽于此吧。
정말 간단하고 직관적인 구조의 퍼즐형 게임
메카가 정말 로망의 디자인인데 아쉽다
I recommend this unlikely mashup to anyone who can enjoy Match 3 or roguelite games, as it might be my favorite match 3 hybrid. The core gameplay is that matches most often give resources that can be used for various mech actions: Attack, defense, or repair. There are some exceptions such as powerups, links, or crates. Between missions: The player collects rewards, picks from a selection of new abilities if all of a mission is completed, and can buy other upgrades. There is some variety to missions, as they have a variety of difficulty, some have multiple enemies (only facing one at a time though), some require getting a certain number of crates, some are just trading, etc.
This is only an FTL-like in that this is a roguelite, there's a big boss at the end, and each of 7 day's missions (one per day) can be selected from a group of a few per day.
There is progressive XP gained from playthroughs that give permanent bonuses, unlocking more loot variety, and unlocking new mechs & pilots, which should make this easier for people who aren't into roguelites.
The whole point of games like this is to adapt & overcome with what options you are given, whether its your match board, reward options, or shop options. So if you expect to play only one specific way, then you won't enjoy this game for long.
Runs various Amazon Web services in the background.
I actually like this game, I had fun with it, I would give a neutral review if I could, and I would certainly buy a sequel to this or another game with a similar concept.
But, as it stands, the game is often more frustrating than it is fun.
I think the core of the game is great (it is a brilliant concept), but there are too many small issues and missing quality of life options, to recommend it. At least not without warning people to expect lots of frustration.
Many of the issues are minor things that would be easy to fix. For example, how about a warning when I try to attack a system I'm not supposed to attack in a salvage mission? There is no reason you would attack that system anyway, but because of one misclick, you lose a 3 hour long run. Or how about a warning when you try to pass a turn with all your moves still remaining? Simple fixes for these. But this kind of lack of forethought is seen throughout the game, that leads to many small issues that the developers have never addressed.
On top of the issues, the game is difficult, it has perma death, with no save and reload functionality. In fact, if your game or computer crashes mid mission, your run is lost. I really don't see the need for that. I understand the game wants to prevent you from save scumming, but let people do that if they want. It would only improve your game, if you had a functional save and load system, and would get rid of a lot of frustrations, like when you lose a 3 hour long run, right before the final battle because of a misclick. At the very least, make an "ironman" mode which then deletes your save like the current version, and an "easy" mode where you can save and reload, and maybe experiment with full choice of augmentations and unlocks. I've seen people who thought René Durant is the final boss of the game (he is not, he is the midgame boss, final boss is way cooler), before giving up, because the game was too frustrating, and never got to see the full narrative. The narrative which was actually cool. So that's a shame.
The developers do not seem to be updating and working on this game anymore. But I still hope at some point they (or someone else) decided to make a sequel or expand on this concept. There really is something great here, if it was worked on a bit more.
Exceptional art design, and engaging rpg elements do a lot to elevate this one. Great fun if you have any love for connect-3 games.
Mid
TLDR
Not Recommended
Good:
Overall a fun sort of goofy mech game, linking nodes and fighting is a fun concept, progression outside of runs is nice to have.
Bad:
Bad luck is easy to get. Makes the game not fun. Don't like spending several turns standing like a lemon while someone shoots me full of holes.
Deal Breaker:
Micro-stutters 10-15 minutes into a session. Even on main menu. Long running issue. Never fixed. Supposedly due to sending info to amazon.
The reason why I am not recommending this game and am advising you NOT to purchase it like I foolishly did is the game's performance.
For some strange reason the game will run fine for 10-20 minutes or maybe 30 at most before starting to freeze roughly every 5 to 10 seconds, maybe a bit longer for nearly a full seconds.
From what I've read, the game is sending data during every instance of said freeze to amazon weirdly enough. Someone who claimed to have blocked it entirely mentioned that their game would no longer boot up properly due to failing to respond.
So:
Why does this game have to send data that often?
Why does it make the entire game freeze?
Why wasn't this fixed in the eight years since the problem was first acknowledged by the game makers? (or at least people in the forums that appear with the 'developer' tag)
I'm getting the impression that this was just a comment without intent or the service was something that they couldn't remove without the game falling apart.
I mean, it wouldn't have been too hard to turn the feature off or allow and option to right?
It's the only thing that really makes the game unplayable for me.
The rest of it like the 'bad luck' mechanics where a 10% dodge will proc three times in a row for the enemy, but once for you in a blue moon, or not getting enough ammunition nodes to fire your weapon for three turns in a row and summarily getting pummeled by a low level tank or mech is obnoxious... but, at the end of the day that isn't why I put the game down.
I don't like enough the idea that data being sent locks up a game for a second several times a minute. Is it a lot of data or a bad system, or is it both? What data are they sending?
It just bugs me and is likely a sign of tablet/phone-itis more than anything.
Either way, it ruined a vaguely interesting concept and I am sad now.
The End.
Good mix of strategy and puzzle
i think i installed to many candy crush mods
Superb game. Wasn't expecting much from a free random key giveaway but I can say I truly hit the jackpot. Very fun and certainly another great little game to bolster my enthusiasm towards match-3 games made with real passion. I would pay for it even though I didn't, and may end up doing so, I want to gift this to some of my friends.
A gem-matching game with mechs set in steampunk England? Sounds amazing! What could go wrong?
. . .
Make it absurdly hard and tedious without any meta progression and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rng.
This here is a prime example of why most indie devs fail even when they have a great idea - they're too far up their own auteur asses to even consider concepts such as fun, relaxing or aproachable
It's fun, but the poor rng gets old fast - you could have upgraded your mech a lot, but have it be brutally ko'd by some strong weapon
This is just awful
通过逆风笑认识的这个游戏，说实话，这段时间要不是因为没法玩别的，这游戏我不太想去玩了。基本过关只能靠运气，游戏的难度设置不合理，同时剧情格调单一，充其量也不应该卖出48块，顶多20块钱，内容很少的一个小游戏
——来自小黑盒用户我叫阿慎的评价
I kind of hate this. It's repetitive and boring. Puzzle games generally are repetitive and boring but this game is also what some people call an RNG game. I have never used that term before, I just looked it up. Yeah, just randomness - inconsistency.
I was not sure if I was the only person to experience this, but I think that a lot of battles are unfair and the game has a really weird thing of dying to improve. A lot of metroidvanias have that, but that's very different. You have to die in order to decrease difficulty of fights... but death is permanent (after you die, you keep global points or whatever you want to call it), so yeah it's weird. It's really boring when you have to make a ton of attempts at hitting the enemy because most of them completely miss. Anyway other reviewers have said a similar thing.
I don't know a reason to recommend it. If you want to play a match game, go play a match game but don't play this. It's kind of funny. Imagine you are in the middle of a war and you just walk in slow motion towards the enemy while playing a match game - each match causing the death of everyone around you.
"I need more energy, time to put energy things in a line - it's a very efficient process"
[hr][/hr]
At least one person said this is a rip off of Candy Crush and to that I say what are you smoking? Must be some pretty good stuff to get you that out of touch of reality. Matching games (or match 3 games as people like to call them) are a type of game. Every type of game had a game that invented the type - that does not mean the developers of the first game can sue anyone who makes a game with the same mechanics. Someone invents something and it is then something other people can use, unless it is patented (like patenting a mechanical machine) and I'm pretty sure you can't patent a basic mechanic. Copying Candy Crush would be cloning it or having a game be visually similar. I highly doubt Candy Crush was the first matching game.
Don't get me started on games that have the same style of Cuphead. Nobody owns 1930s rubber hose style animation. People learnt about the style and started using it.
My own rant is reminding me of a case where this large company was trying to sue an idie development team because one of their employees left and started working for the indie team. They claimed they copied a lot but it was found that they literally copied nothing and everything that was the same was assets from an asset store that anyone is allowed to use.
스팀펑크 기계에 타서 로봇전투하는게임
gg
This game has to be the most unamusing game I've ever played. You have to be some 46 year old Facebook mother if you find any of this game fun. Literally played for 7 minutes and was bored even before I launched the game. Out of any Candy Crush ripoff, this one's got to be the worst. I got this for a dollar on Fanatical's $1 Pinata thing.
