Stunning
Atmospheric
Genuine
Pixel-art
Handcrafted
From true indies
A real Game
Turn-based tactics!
Dead Weight is out on Steam — an atmospheric tactical RPG about pirates, the abyss, and a world worth saving. Dead Weight stands out from the rest — it has charm, that magic that keeps you inside the game’s world.
Do you love Into the Breach and The Last Spell? — Then Dead Weight might be for you too. You need to try it — absolutely )))
This turn-based tactical RPG is about traveling between floating islands, fighting goblins, pirates, and mechanical creatures, upgrading your airship, and standing against ancient forces.
The game features multi-layered build crafting:
- layer 1: character traits
- layer 2: gear
- layer 3: skills
Dead Weight combines compact tactical battles, roguelite elements, exploration of a procedurally generated world, and long-term meta-progression. You’ll assemble a crew — or go solo if you can’t afford one yet. Then you fly off on another expedition and try to reach the Kraken — the big bad holding the world in its grip.
Why “try”? — Because it’s not that simple. A game that looks easy can punish you hard for a careless attitude. It’s turn-based roguelite tactics — remember Into the Breach? — Misclick once or twice and you’re starting a new run ))
One of Dead Weight’s greatest strengths is its atmosphere. It works at a full ten out of ten here: the visuals, music, sounds, characters, story, and the feeling of a journey all come together — everything works as one and serves the overall atmosphere, the overall design.
This world is a pleasure to look at and to feel. Among the floating islands, you want to linger a while longer and even live aboard the airship for a bit, then rest a little between expeditions, head back into battle, and eventually try to save this strange, beautiful, slightly battered world.
Battles in Dead Weight take place on small arenas, so positioning, turn order, and the specifics of each ability matter enormously. A mistake of just one tile can put a character in danger, while a well-chosen position can completely change the outcome of a fight.
One of the game’s core mechanics is tied to the abyss, which is everywhere — only a handful of islands somehow still hold on and haven’t been swallowed. It seems the gods themselves intervene and keep this world afloat. Some abilities let you push enemies off, dropping them into the abyss. Sometimes a single push :D can instantly remove a dangerous enemy, no matter how much health it had left.
Into the Breach has a similar mechanic, but in Dead Weight it plays a far more important role than simply destroying an enemy. Every foe dropped into the abyss raises the madness level. The higher it gets, the more likely extra enemies and corrupted enemies appear, and the harder the following battles become.
As a result, an easy solution to a current problem can create serious trouble down the road. You feel like a champ — you defeated an enemy with a single push — but over the long run you’ve raised the difficulty. Then again, if you can handle it, you’ll get bigger meta rewards, and what could be sweeter? )
It’s neither a purely good nor a purely bad choice. The mechanic lets everyone regulate the pace and difficulty of their own playthrough. The abyss constantly offers an easy victory, but sooner or later you have to pay for it.
Three regions — three different enemy types
Each region of Dead Weight offers not just new enemy art but its own tactical character.
Four different heroes — awesome
The first victory over the big bad is only the beginning
Dead Weight’s grand goal is tied to the Kraken and the liberation of the world, but we don’t want to spoil the details in advance. There’s a secret in the game that we’ll all have to reach on our own.
You just want to keep playing and playing. What’s waiting at the very end? What set of debuff mechanics? What will the story tell?
Game link — https://store.steampowered.com/app/2646720/Dead_Weight/
Similar games: Into the Breach, The Last Spell.