Moonlighter ended up being one of my favorite roguelikes of 2018 – and, per our Moonlighter review, one of the better games of the year – so it's exciting to see its developer unveil a new game, especially when that game involves Lego.
Developer Digital Sun is now working on an RTS game called Cataclismo, which has been ambitiously pitched as They Are Billions, a base-building banger, meets Lego. The Lego influence comes in the form of "brick-by-brick" construction for the bases you'll be using to defend fortresses from waves of aptly named Horrors.
Cataclismo is still in early development – so early, in fact, that its planned Kickstarter isn't even live yet. It does have a Steam page though, and it confirms a Q2 2024 target release date. There's also a newly updated demo which has gotten good feedback so far, and the Steam page outlines the bones of the game:
"Build and defend the towers and walls of a besieged humanity struggling to live in a world blighted by a dangerous mist," the page reads, immediately bringing the opening of Demon's Souls to my mind. This mist ain't gonna fight itself.
"Piece together walls, bridges, and towers with straightforward, brick-by-brick construction. The tougher your structures, the better you'll endure the relentless assault of the Horrors. Should your walls be razed or your barriers breached, fold time itself to give your soldiers another chance to survive," Digital Sun adds. I don't know how one goes about folding time – perhaps as you would fold a bedsheet, just start with the corners – but it sounds fun in an RTS context.
Digital Sun's trademark minimalist art style is back, and I'm really digging the mix of intricate base-building, tense resource management, and siege warfare promised here. There's word of limitless medieval castles in creative mode, too, which could give the game a whole new dimension. The perspective looks to be a great fit for this kind of combat, and if it's as good as Moonlighter, it may well end up being one of my favorite games of 2024.
Speaking of indie strategy games, this new Godzilla game is straight-up Into the Breach.
