Xenomarine

Xenomarine, developed and published by Fourfold Games, is a modern interpretation of a classic roguelike framework, combining procedural exploration, tactical turn-based combat, and a grim science fiction setting that emphasizes isolation and survival. It draws heavily from the genre’s traditional design principles—permadeath, randomness, and system-driven progression—while presenting them through a more accessible visual style. The result is a game that feels both familiar and demanding, offering depth for those willing to engage with its systems while remaining largely uncompromising in its approach. The premise is straightforward but effective: you are a lone marine trapped within a hostile, alien-infested station after your squad has been wiped out. From the outset, the game establishes a tone of vulnerability, placing the player in an environment where resources are scarce and danger is constant. Rather than relying on a structured narrative, the game allows its story to emerge through gameplay—each run becoming its own tale of survival, failure, and gradual improvement. This minimalist approach to storytelling aligns with the roguelike tradition, where the player’s experience takes precedence over scripted events. Gameplay unfolds in a turn-based, grid-based format, where every movement and action must be considered carefully. The pace is deliberate, encouraging players to think ahead and anticipate threats rather than react impulsively. Exploration is driven by procedural generation, with each run presenting a different layout, item distribution, and enemy configuration. This ensures a high level of replayability, as no two attempts feel exactly the same. However, this randomness also introduces variability in difficulty, sometimes creating runs that feel significantly more manageable—or more punishing—depending on the circumstances. A key strength of Xenomarine lies in its depth of systems. Players can acquire a wide range of weapons, armor, and equipment, each with distinct properties that influence combat and survival. Progression is flexible, allowing players to develop their character through a combination of skills and gear rather than being locked into predefined roles. This encourages experimentation, as different combinations can lead to vastly different strategies. Whether focusing on stealth, ranged combat, or more aggressive tactics, the game supports a variety of approaches, giving players the freedom to adapt to each run’s unique challenges. Combat is tense and methodical, often hinging on positioning and resource management. Limited visibility plays a significant role, forcing players to move cautiously and consider the risks of every step. Enemies can emerge unexpectedly, and encounters can quickly become overwhelming if not handled carefully. This creates a constant sense of tension, as players must balance exploration with survival. At times, however, this system can feel unforgiving, particularly when unexpected threats arise from outside the player’s immediate awareness, leading to moments that feel more punishing than instructive. The learning curve is notably steep, with the game offering minimal guidance in understanding its mechanics. While this design encourages discovery and mastery, it can also make the early experience challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with traditional roguelikes. Success often comes through repeated attempts, as players gradually learn how different systems interact and how to approach various situations. This trial-and-error approach can be rewarding for some, but it may also deter players who prefer a more structured introduction. Visually, the game adopts a clean pixel-art style that effectively conveys its dark, industrial setting. The environments are functional and atmospheric, with lighting and design choices that reinforce the sense of isolation. However, there is limited variation in the visual design of levels, which can make extended sessions feel repetitive. While the procedural generation adds variety in layout, the overall aesthetic remains consistent, sometimes to the point of monotony. Audio design is similarly restrained, relying on ambient effects rather than a prominent soundtrack. This choice supports the game’s tone, emphasizing solitude and tension, but it also contributes to a somewhat sparse atmosphere. While effective in short bursts, the lack of audio variety can make longer sessions feel less engaging. Pacing follows the traditional roguelike loop, with each run representing a fresh attempt at progression. The inclusion of an alternative mode that allows for continued advancement offers some flexibility, but the core experience remains centered on repetition and mastery. This structure rewards persistence, as players gradually improve their understanding and refine their strategies, but it also means that progress can feel slow and demanding. Ultimately, Xenomarine is a game that fully commits to its design philosophy. It offers a deep and challenging experience built around tactical decision-making and procedural unpredictability, appealing strongly to fans of classic roguelikes. At the same time, its steep learning curve, limited variety, and unforgiving mechanics may limit its appeal to a broader audience. In the end, it stands as a solid and thoughtful entry in the genre—one that delivers meaningful depth and replayability for those willing to invest the time to master its systems, even if it does not significantly evolve beyond its traditional roots. Rating: 7/10

Niezły zabijacz czasu. Można przysiąść niezobowiązująco na kilka minut, a można klepać i kilka godzin bez wytchnienia. Klimat spoko. Dźwięk i grafika ujdą, zważywszy że jest to niskobudżetowy projekt (chyba nawet autorstwa jednego gościa). Ma drobne bugi w mechanice, które można wykorzystać do ułatwienia sobie gry, ale znajdźcie je sami ;) Największa wada: tylko jeden zapis gry, niezależnie od wybranego trybu rozgrywki. Druga, drobniejsza: nie trzyma tego zapisu w chmurze, więc nie przeniesie go automatycznie między różnymi kompami.

Одобрямс. Годная игрушка, не жалею о покупке.

Xenomarines is an interesting game, but its complexity falls short past learning (and memorizing) the controls. While it isn't anywhere near as complicated as a game such as Dwarf Fortress is, what with the convoluted UI, it can still take some getting used to. Learning the game's mechanics in Xenomarine are absolutely essential, because playing on the normal (Roguelike) mode is quite a task. There isn't much to manage asides from health and status effects, and enemies tend to be the "similar-yet-differently-coloured" sort. Remembering what each enemy type is is essential, because some have very nasty effects. I've played maybe ten runs in the time I have on it (Around an hour and a half as of writing this review), and none of them have gone very well. Still, its fun, and it wasn't particularly expensive. I can recommend this game if you get it for a few bucks and enjoy rogue-like games (Though note its not really like Rogue.)

Pretty good roguelike with a space marine setting instead of the usual fantasy setting. This game is easier than nethack, but still can satisfy the need for a roguelike experience. For those that struggle with it, it has an adventure mode to avoid starting the game over when you die. As such, it can be a good entry point to get a feel for roguelikes or to get your quick fix. As a side note, the dev overall has been pretty quick and responsive to fix bugs mentioned in the discussion section.

[h1] Featured in my Lost on Steam New Episode! [/h1] An unboxing for video games! You can watch the highlights of this game and the two others featured this week here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7ahFoxWuQ8 I started a new short segment called "Lost on Steam" which features games that have few reviews for one reason or another. Definitely not necessarily negative, just games that slipped by people. This is one of the featured games this week! Did you ever play Pixel Dungeon or Shattered Pixel dungeon on Android? This plays very similarly to that. Each move / action / attack / is a single turn in the game and you have to choose wisely. Each time you take a single action the enemies will get one too. You move a space, the enemy moves a space. You attack, the enemy will most likely also attack. Balance is really key here. The game offers you many different types of weapons / upgrades / perks to keep you interested and busy, and the random layout of each stage keeps the game fresh for you. My BIG and only issue with the game is that just TURNING your character to face another direction, takes a turn. This mean if they are behind you you have to use two turns to turn first to the left or right, and then another turn to be looking 180 from where you started. It just makes the game a little too tedious. That's the best criticism I can come up with. The rest of the game is great fun and a super tough challenge (at least for me). I'd highly recommend checking this out if you're into the genre. Join the Curator group for more reviews and "unboxing" of unknown games! https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34634494/

Extrem cooles spiel, story is eher nicht so vorhanden aber dafür ist das rough like gameplay richtig cool .)))

Jogo muito bom, tem um pouco de terror, RPG de turno e estratégia. Único ponto negativo pra mim é que o modo adventure não funciona, então sou obrigado a reiniciar o jogo do zero sempre que morro, o que acaba por deixar repetitivo demais. Não sei se é um bug só aqui ou se é global esse erro. Quem quiser conhecer um pouco mais do game, eu fiz uma live mostrando pros meus seguidores: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/442818506

undetectable instakills from hostile large turrets! accuracy 65% means 10%, empty your magazine for nothing because you cannot 100% land a hit! swarm you with red double action enemies on level 2! get totally useless upgrade terminals on the first level! spawned traps and neutral bots never react to aliens! turrets and bots gets angry at you randomly for no reason! super cool colorful aliens resisting damage sources also smashing you with all the debuffs are not fighting you alone! sometimes this game just goes stupidly unfair and you cannot do anything about it. got superheavy armor and a heavy gun with explosive AOE,carrying plenty supplies at level 25 got smashed by a swarm of colorful bullet-proof dudes at level 26 gud game.10/10 not very well-balanced tho. managing with light and scanning resource is quite good at starting levels. you can always miss 10 times in a roll with over 80% accuracy too. quite a LUC check for a good weapon and it is nice to have a tensed crawling until colorful mobs appear, it is still somehow not a very nice choice to make mob aliens resist more than one damage source while they could dump tons of debuffs on you at time same time. F**K THE MULTICOLOR ENIMIES I INSIST

turn base hayatta kalma oyunu:) labaratuar benzeri bir binada gözlerimizi açıyoruz, kat kat keşif yaparak ilerliyoruz. her katta türlü uzaylı yaratıklardan kaçıyoruz, loot yapıyoruz, workbench benzeri yapılarda kendimiz geliştiriyoruz. oyunun sonunu göremesem de, bitirme şartı 10 haneli bir şifre var bunu bazı katlarda bulup çözmemiz ve bulunduğumuz yapıdan kaçmamız gerekiyor. oyun zor ama keyifli, map her seferinde yenileniyor, çıkan lootlar, yaratıklar farklılık gösteriyor o yüzden tekrar oynanabilirlik sağlıyor.