Ahead of the Game - Leap & Clash is a roguelite platformer with auto-combat (and not tower defence, apparently)
Climb the tower or drop to your death
- Automated fights with special perks earned every stage
- Tap to jump through randomised levels
- Upgrade your hero with rewards across different Acts
It's all about laying out platforming plans 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.
Some people can master the perfect precision and tactical timing platformers demand, while others are simply far too clumsy to have the right hand-eye coordination to survive. I am, unfortunately, part of the latter, so when I dove into Leap & Clash incorrectly assuming it was a tower defence, I was horrified to find out it was anything but.
Before you question my sanity as to why I'd mistake something titled Leap & Clash as a TD, let me preface this by saying that wasn't the original title when I first downloaded it. It was initially Tower Rush: Run & Battle, so please lower your eyebrows - I'm only human, after all.
Still, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the platforming in Tower Rush - er, Leap & Clash - was actually automated, and all you really need to do is tap for double-jumps, hold for long jumps, and try not to fall to your death. Levels are randomly generated, with perks you can choose from after completing each run, as you would expect from a roguelike.
What's interesting is that you get to see these perks in action in the next section of the platformer, in which you battle foes (also automatically) before moving on to the next stage.
I do wish I could play a more active role in combat as opposed to just literally watching my stickman-looking hero duke it out with his equally stickman-looking foes, but I suppose that's where the casual nature of this platformer comes in.
It's still enjoyable as it is, though, and ideal for pick-up-and-play sessions thanks to its one-touch controls.
So, how do you play Leap & Clash?
It's still in early access on Google Play, and given how the title itself changed in just a matter of days, I'd say the devs are still working on it behind the scenes before it's officially launched. Give it a go if you're curious about this interesting mix of genres - and, like me, you might just be pleasantly surprised!
