Fogpiercer: The Roguelike That Gets Artillery's True, Chaotic Joy (It's All About the Shove, Mate!)
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Jeff dives into *Fogpiercer*, a deckbuilding roguelike with a train, bandits, and a truly genius artillery mechanic: using blasts to strategically shove enemies around the map, making every turn a delightful tactical puzzle reminiscent of *Into The Breach*.
Right then, gather 'round, folks, because I've been tinkering with this game called *Fogpiercer* all morning, and bloody hell, it’s got a trick up its sleeve that's wilder than it first appeared. You know that feeling when you cast a spell and it works a bit too well, sending ripples through reality? That’s what *Fogpiercer* just did with the humble art of artillery.
Most games reckon the true joy of a big ol' cannon is watching something explode into tiny, satisfying giblets. And, fair enough, there's a certain primal glee in that. But *Fogpiercer*, this deckbuilding roguelike where you command a souped-up train battling Mad Max-style road bandits, understands a deeper, more refined pleasure: the strategic, tactical *shove*.
**The Art of the Explosive Nudge: A Tactical Masterclass**
Forget just vaporizing your foes. *Fogpiercer* lets you target the *space next to them*. The ensuing blast isn't just about damage; it's a pulse of pure, unadulterated force designed to give those pesky bandits a cheeky sideways nudge. Picture it: you’ve got a couple of goons blocking your path, looking all smug. Instead of just blowing them up (which, let's be honest, is a bit uncivilized when you have other options), you can lob a shell to their flank, sending them careening into a canyon wall. Or, even better, into each other. It’s less 'kaboom' and more 'oops, did I do that?' – a beautifully chaotic dance of physics and explosive persuasion.
This mechanic immediately shoves *Fogpiercer* (pun absolutely intended) into the same esteemed company as *Into The Breach*. That glorious feeling when you don't just eliminate an enemy but reposition them perfectly into an environmental hazard or, even sweeter, into the path of another enemy's attack? *Fogpiercer* gets it. It's about thinking a few moves ahead, reading the battlefield like a wizard deciphering ancient runes, and then conjuring a solution that feels both utterly brilliant and slightly mischievous.
**A World Steeped in Mystery (and Fog)**
Now, as for the backstory – a world wreathed in thick smog, where some folks drive heavily-armed cars and others drive even *more* heavily-armed trains with superpowers? The original article mentions there's probably a rich tapestry of reasons why this is all happening. Perhaps a scientist really loved *Snowpiercer* and *Mad Max* and accidentally, or intentionally, reverse-engineered reality to match their cinematic obsessions. Do we *need* to know the full lore? Honestly, mate, probably not for the first few dozen runs. Sometimes, the 'what if' is more fun than the 'how come.' The game seems to embrace this, letting us dive straight into the good stuff: choo-choo chaos and tactical tomfoolery.
**Familiar Foundations, Unique Twists**
At its core, *Fogpiercer* starts off feeling like a comfy, familiar pair of gaming slippers. You pick a character (each with unique abilities, like Monica the ice harvester who freezes baddies, or Pan who can mess with time – very neat!), a locomotive, and then embark on a *Slay The Spire*-like branching map. You'll hit battles, shops, upgrade stations, and boss fights. Standard roguelike fare, right? But here’s where the train starts to pull away from the station.
Battles are where *Fogpiercer* truly becomes distinct. Your locomotive and its carriages are locked onto a central track. Your enemies, however, are a bit more freestyle, zipping around on a grid, even daring to drive onto your track (at which point, yes, you absolutely *can* ram them). Each round, you draw cards from a deck built from your locomotive and its attached carriages. A protector carriage might give you shields, a minigun carriage, more offensive firepower. It’s about building a synergistic rolling fortress.
Like *Into The Breach*, *Fogpiercer* is delightfully transparent about enemy intentions. Before your turn, you know precisely who’s attacking where and for how much. This foresight transforms every turn into a delicious little puzzle. Two bandits about to sandwich your precious artillery carriage? A quick backward shunt (of your train, not the enemy this time!) means their shots might just pass through empty space and connect with each other. I've heard tales of a run where the artillery carriage was lost, forcing a player to rely solely on wits and enemy self-destruction for three whole encounters until a new truck could be acquired. That, my friends, is pure, unadulterated tactical improvisation – the kind of emergent gameplay that gets my digital wizard hat tingling!
**The Sweet Spot of Creative Chaos (and the Desire for More)**
The most glorious moments, though, come from that repositioning magic. A direct hit from an artillery shell does damage, sure, but the real wizardry is in the pulse of energy that shoves surrounding units. You can chain reactions: one shell pushing a line of cars into each other, or sending them onto the tracks for a good old ramming, or into the deadly embrace of a canyon wall. Every turn becomes a strategic ballet of damage dealing, damage dodging, and delightfully disruptive displacement.
Now, for a spot of gentle skepticism, because even digital wizards have their doubts. While the demo for *Fogpiercer* shows immense promise, there were times it felt like the game was holding back its best toys. Artillery blasts could only move light units, and late in a run, you might find yourself facing a procession of heavy units that simply scoff at your shunting attempts. You still have direct damage, which is fine, but having glimpsed the chaotic, creative possibilities of explosive repositioning, you just crave *more* of it. It’s like being shown a truly magnificent spell and then only being allowed to use its weakest variant. I want to turn those heavy units into origami, mate!
Still, if the biggest complaint you can level at a game's demo is that it made you reinstall a certified classic like *Into The Breach* while you eagerly await the full release, then *bloody hell*, they’ve definitely struck a chord. The trailer promises even more oddball carriages – like one fitted with a crane that can lift and reposition units, which sounds like an absolute blast. So, there’s hope that the full game will unleash the full potential of its delightfully disruptive mechanics.
*Fogpiercer* isn’t just another roguelike; it’s a tactical playground that truly understands the nuanced art of the battlefield shove. It challenges you to think differently, to embrace the chaos, and to find ingenious solutions beyond just brute force. I, for one, am keenly looking forward to seeing what other delightful mayhem Mad Cookies Studio has cooked up.
Original source: Rock Paper Shotgun, article by Julian Benson.
Tags: Roguelike, Deckbuilder, Tactical RPG, Indie Game, PC Gaming
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun