Ahead of the Game - Backpack Stars lets you manage a mouthy goblin's backpack with mergeable weapons to save the day
These goblins have got nothing on you
- Manage someone else's backpack with weapons
- Save the princess with roguelike buffs
- Merge stuff to form bigger stuff
It's all about bullying a mouthy little goblin in this week's Ahead of the Game series, where we tell you about a new mobile endeavour that's playable in one form or another despite its unofficial launch.
Being such a narrative-driven player, I'm always attracted to a good premise first and foremost, even when the game doesn't necessarily need it. That's exactly the case with Backpack Stars, because even though it's simply meant to be an idle backpack management RPG, it still manages to craft such a compelling background story that's too hilarious not to highlight.
I'm particularly enamoured by the way it tells such a ridiculously entertaining intro in such a ridiculously short time. Essentially, some beefy goblins invade the king's castle and kidnap the princess, tossing away the stationed guardian knight and embedding him into the ceiling. You arrive just in time out of nowhere to defend the princess's honour, and because you're just inexplicably cool, you toss away the remaining goblin's knife (effectively embedding it into the knight-on-the-ceiling's poor behind in the process).
And so begins your quest to rescue the princess, but not before holding the aforementioned scrawny goblin hostage and stealing his backpack. Said backpack is where you cram a bunch of weapons in on your quest, which is just too funny to me. Throughout the tutorial, the goblin will tell you NOT to put anything inside his backpack, because that's just plain rude. He also tells you you'll never earn the princess' love, but you dismiss him by saying he talks too much and proceed to hang him by his waist on a rope.
I can only assume you'll be dragging him along with you on your adventures from now on, which involves fighting all sorts of monsters that charge at you automatically. You'll then need to strategise the most efficient use of the limited grid that represents your backpack, whether that's making room for new weapons, merging existing ones to upgrade them into bigger ones, or adding more slots depending on the luck of the draw.
The roguelike element means you get to pick random boons as you go along, and each time you finish a run, you go back to the main menu, summon for more weapons, and upgrade accordingly before heading out again. It's a lovely loop that feels similar to Quack Bag: Duck Mafia in my experience, and I absolutely love it.
So, how do you play Backpack Stars?
Now in early access on Google Play, Backpack Stars does feel pretty polished even in its current state. I'd say give it a go, as it's totally free to try at the moment - it seems rewarded ads are the way monetisation works here so far!
