Developers Zen Studios are best known for their Pinball FX franchise, but this time they’re branching out into a turn-based, tactical, RPG in the form of Dread Nautical.
Supernatural forces have overwhelmed the Hope cruise liner and it’s up to you to band together with other survivors to make it out alive. You play as one of four unique characters and you’ll have 20 procedurally-generated decks of the ship to search for potential team mates, resources, and food.
Convince the other survivors to help you and you’ll get access to their special abilities. Mix and match to make the ultimate evil-fighting team. Beware, use the same team members too much and they’ll end up panicked and ineffective, so you’ll have to swap them out from time to time with others taking refuge in your safe haven.
Plan your strategy and spend your action points well, because weapons and other items degrade over time and your enemies are everywhere.
The “distinct art direction that mixes low-polygon assets with art deco design and modern rendering effects, perfectly straddling the line between cartoon and horror” may not be to everyone’s taste, but it could be entertaining.
Dread Nautical launches on 29 April 2020 for PC (EGS), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.