Ahead of the Game - Fleet Fortress is roguelike tower defence with merging and space management (whew!)
A hodgepodge of genres
- Manage a limited grid by maximising space
- Merge weapons together to upgrade your gear
- Pick roguelike boons to defend your ship
It's all about combining different kinds of genres to see which one will stick in this week's Ahead of the Game series, where we tell you all about a new mobile endeavour that's playable in one form or another despite its unofficial launch.
What is it about backpack management and space efficiency that's making the waves on mobile recently? Inventory management seems to be totally on-trend these days, and Fleet Fortress is jumping on the bandwagon with a ship-based take.
Much like Star Overlord, you'll fill up a grid with weapons and equipment before heading out into battle to fend off relentless forces charging towards you, all with cute chibi-esque visuals.
It's a mix of tower defence and roguelike as well, because while you're bringing on the pain, you're also unlocking randomised perks every so often, whether that's boosting your attack power or increasing your speed.
The twist here is that you'll need to be a pro at maximising the space in your ship, because while you can load up everything from humongous rockets to the humble trooper, the grid is extremely limited.
Thankfully, you can merge similar weapons to form an upgraded version of them - or, you can watch ads to expand your real estate and more.
Ah, the ads. This is where things start going downhill for me, at least in its current early access state. Fleet Fortress seems adamant to make you buy things, because the ads, while rewarded, are very, very long, and extremely annoying (from what I've played, at least).
I'm not sure if I've just been unlucky enough with the ads I've been shown, but if this is going to keep up throughout the official build, it might just be the thing that turns a lot of players off.
So, how do you play Fleet Fortress?
Still, it's currently in early access on Android, so there's hope for it yet. But for now, if you're curious to see how you can combine backpack management, roguelike runs, tower defence, and merge mechanics together, Fleet Fortress might be worth a look.
