There are times when you are happy to know what you’re going to get. You see a cool weapon and you want it, so you grind, strategize, and fight your way toward it. And then there are times when you want to build the most unexpected, craziest-looking thing anyone ever saw while on the move and improv blast your way through a roguelite gallery of monsters. That’s when you choose Guns and Dragons.
This eclectic addition to the roguelite genre is brought to you by the South Korean studio ABUTTON Inc, where the team’s roll of honor includes Counter-Strike Online, Wars of Prasia, AxE: Alliance vs Empire, Super Fantasy War, Blade & Soul 2, and Argent Twilight. Guns and Dragons is not yet on release (it’s marked as “coming soon”), but the next Steam playtest for this far-out safari through arms manufacturing on the fly starts next month (November). Wishlist it on Steam now to stay updated.
In advance of the playtest, let’s take a look at what we know now, and the reasons why this title is likely to move from wishlist to purchase when that “coming soon” comes due. Guns and Dragons is a coop roguelite for up to four players, with a “build, don’t loot” ethos that drives its creative gameplay. There are no random gun drops, you claim runes as you fight and forge them into guns on the spot. You may be in a medieval-flavored world of ruined castles, dungeons and mythical monsters, but this isn’t the Dark Ages of weaponry.
You play either as Sieg, a gun-maker, or as Eryn, an elven archer in a magitech world where magic and machinery collide. In a single run, you collect the necessary runes, but also pick up artefacts and level up your skills while you evolve your skills mid-fight. As this is a coop adventure, your weapons are not just cool individual creations—the weapons have an effect on each other, which means your arsenal shifts as the adventure unfolds. And those artefacts you collect? They reshape how your guns and abilities work.
The main character’s professions don’t preclude experimentation, either; any character can wield either guns or bows, so swap at your base and play the way you like. Oh yes, the base. It’s your custom-built (of course) offshore platform. You use materials won in combat to fashion the perfect place to recuperate between raids. You not only build on the fly, you see, your bolthole is a place where you can upgrade your base, unlock new facilities and customize your character’s weapon functions between runs. No two runs play the same, and your skills grow as you fight. Take down enemies in order to level up, evolve your skills into stronger forms, combine your builds with friends (reminder, this is an up to four-player coop) and push deeper into this new world together.
So if the idea of being a maker and wielder of far-out weaponry appeals, get Guns and Dragons on your wishlist now, and prepare for battle.
Wishlist Guns and Dragons on Steam.