Ruin Raiders

A pretty soft recommend, if it's on sale, and if you have already finished various games that do better at the same genre ("I Am Not A Monster" is the one I would recommend the strongest). The leveling system is pretty weird, being capped until you upgrade the base, which you can't do until all your guys die. It's very difficult with a team capped at level 2 (the first run), probably doable but hard with a team capped at level 3 (my second run), and pretty easy with a level 4 team and tier-2 equipment (my third run). The items are weirdly unbalanced - for about the same price you can get a 50% resistance to fire, which is approximately completely worthless, or a +2 armor, which is amazing and *also* protects you from fire damage. Stack a couple of +2 armors on rhinos that naturally have +2 armor and you're basically impervious to damage other than poison and armor-breaking attacks. An assault rifle appears to be strictly worse than a pistol, and you start with pistols for everyone - I might be missing something since I never tried using the assault rifle, maybe it has a hidden difference that isn't mentioned in its description or stats. The interface was annoying a few times - if you miss one of the buttons slightly your guy will run off somewhere you didn't want him to, wasting his actions and probably getting himself killed. There should probably be a bit of an inert border around those buttons because I doubt anyone is *intentionally* clicking on the board between/beneath the buttons. Despite these grumbles, I enjoyed playing the game.

Funny and quick tactics game; perfect difficulty to be a challenge without suffering the wrath of RNG gods.

Cool turn-based roguelike. It has some interesting hidden lore with diaries you find through exploration.

This game is a great time. It's a little buggy sometimes, and it's definitely a lot shorter than I thought it would be (I was able to beat the whole game on my 3rd run), but it's pretty enjoyable if you like something that's on par with mario and rabbids: Kingdom Battle in terms of difficulty. It's well thought out, and the roguelike aspect is well implemented.

Good game whether you're new to roguelikes or an experienced player, pretty fun. Also, love the animals and their names <3

Pretty excellent turn-based roguelite RPG. Fun combat, interesting character equipment and leveling up systems, some fresh base upgrading to make your characters even better and more. Plays really well and feels good. Feel free to check it out!

Low budget xcom with a Rougelike Spin. Was bored to tears after the first few battles

there's just not enough to make this game interesting. Classes are barely different, with one saving grace being that you can build them around the gimmick (example - cat's ability allows them to ignore the 'heavy' trait of weapons once per few turns). More powerful gear is gatekept by upgrading the base, which feels absurdly expensive, to be honest. All enemies have the same ranged attack and one gimmick ability - same as for the heroes, but here the variety is so non existent. Despite the artificial difficulty, the actuall difficulty boils down to whether you want to buy 20 medkits to use if you actually get worn down, and even if you dont the game still lacks any tension, every enemy but one is pretty much to be approached the same way. It feels like a competent proof of concept more than an actual game, because, yeah it is competent, just empty

Ruin Raiders is a turn-based tactical roguelite that blends squad strategy, procedural exploration, and a quirky cast of anthropomorphic animal soldiers into a single, combat-focused descent into hostile ruins. Developed by OverPowered Team and published by indie.io, the game introduces itself with a strong premise: you lead teams of animal raiders—dogs, cats, rhinos, birds, and other creature-soldiers—into ancient, ever-shifting labyrinths in search of weapons, upgrades, and the elusive resource needed to strengthen your base. Each expedition is a one-way journey downward, and every decision, misstep, or stroke of luck can determine whether your squad survives long enough to return home with valuable loot. The game’s concept immediately sets it apart from more grounded tactical titles, leaning into a stylized sci-fi aesthetic that ties its mechanics and personality together. The core of Ruin Raiders lies in its turn-based combat system, which emphasizes positioning, cover, and the smart use of each unit’s racial traits and class abilities. Every soldier has two action points per turn, allowing for combinations of movement, skills, attacks, overwatch, reloading, or item use. This structure ensures that encounters require careful planning rather than reckless aggression. Enemy groups vary in type and behavior, forcing shifting strategies as you descend deeper into the ruins. Early-game battles are forgiving, allowing players to learn the basics, but the difficulty escalates rapidly once stronger enemies and bosses appear. Weapons and gear add another layer of decision-making, with dozens of unique guns, melee tools, and special items offering a range of tactical approaches. Discovering new equipment—whether a high-impact rifle, a shock-based blade, or a support gadget—provides bursts of excitement that keep the loop engaging. Exploring the ruins forms the second major pillar of gameplay. Each run is procedurally generated, with rooms containing enemies, loot containers, traps, shops, shrines, and environmental hazards. While the layouts are simple, their randomness introduces enough variation to prevent early runs from feeling identical. Collecting Entium, the in-game currency, becomes the primary goal outside of survival, since it allows you to upgrade your base and unlock permanent improvements for future squads. This meta-progression defines the roguelite loop: you fail, return to base, upgrade essential facilities, unlock stronger unit classes or better starting weapons, and try again with a slightly improved chance of pushing deeper. The structure rewards persistence, with small victories slowly compounding into more viable late-game attempts. However, the progression system is also one of Ruin Raiders’ biggest points of contention. Many players will find that early and mid-game runs are heavily defined by grind. Without certain upgrades, the ruins quickly become overwhelmingly difficult, and it’s common to hit difficulty spikes where survival feels nearly impossible until enough Entium has been accumulated through repeated failures. This creates a rhythm where progress often comes not from improving tactical performance, but from enduring the cycle long enough to unlock necessary buffs. For fans of roguelites, this may feel familiar and even satisfying, but for those expecting a more balanced tactical curve, the difficulty spikes can feel punishing or artificially prolonged. Visually, Ruin Raiders strikes a balance between cartoonish charm and rugged sci-fi atmosphere. Its animal characters are expressive without being overly cutesy, and the environments, though not highly detailed, convey a consistent sense of ancient technology and danger. The animation work is functional, and the UI is clean enough to keep the focus on tactical play. While the presentation is not remarkable, it suits the tone of the game and contributes to its identity. A handful of technical hiccups—such as minor bugs, awkward pathing, and some unpolished combat animations—occasionally disrupt the experience, but they are not severe enough to overshadow the core gameplay loop. Ruin Raiders offers respectable variety among weapons, classes, upgrades, and squad compositions, and this flexibility becomes the primary driver of replayability. Experimenting with heavy tank units, sniper-like marksmen, healers, or hybrid roles helps keep the experience fresh even when the environments and enemies start to repeat. Boss encounters, while not deeply complex, serve as satisfying milestones that break up the structure of each run and add tension to late-game exploration. Ultimately, Ruin Raiders succeeds as an enjoyable, mid-scale tactical roguelite with a distinctive theme and solid combat fundamentals. It does not push the boundaries of the genre, nor does it attempt to deliver a deep story or groundbreaking mechanics. Instead, it offers reliable turn-based action, a steady progression loop, and a creative cast of animal warriors that give it personality. Its shortcomings—including repetition, grind-heavy progression, and limited narrative depth—are noticeable, but not enough to diminish the game’s core appeal for players who enjoy tactical challenges wrapped in a roguelite structure. For fans of games that emphasize replayability, squad customization, and incremental growth, Ruin Raiders provides a satisfying and thoughtfully crafted adventure into the depths. Rating: 6/10

Well, the game is good in many aspects, and needs work in many others. I beat the game on my first try, so I suppose the game is rather easy? - The worst problem is that you cannot save the game and come back anytime you want. The game saves when you clear a level, which is usually at least 30 minutes of playing. The game has 9 levels, so 9 savepoints. - Unlocking stuff costs waaay too much, for stuff that you don't even need anyways. I finished multiple runs and haven't unlocked everything yet, and the game won't become any harder. I mean, what's the point? - On the QOL side, there's no quick button on the Controller for OVERWATCH, so it's a bit of a pain to press RT RT RT RT RT every turn. If you press LT, the games shows a message "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO END YOUR TURN????" , and hell no, I didn't ask you. - QOL2 : If you don't move and shoot, your turn ends, so you lose 1 action, and I'm good with that. However, reloading cost 1 action, so Shooting and Overwatch really should "become" Reload&Shoot and Reload&Overwatch in a single easy button, when your gun isn't full. It's a pain to press all the RT RT RT RT, reload, RTRT shoot every time. Ugh. Game is well made otherwise. I use this one to introduce my 5 year old neighbour to Tactics Game.