Rogue Fortune is a roguelike combining fast-paced combat and inventory management
Are you in the mood for a new roguelike? Today, Glowmade, the studio behind last year’s King of Meat, has revealed Rogue Fortune, a roguelike that hopes to stand out from the crowd. Combining puzzle-based inventory management, fast-paced Hades-style combat at a unique approach to riches, it’s a very intriguing prospect indeed.
Guildford-based Glowmade was founded in 2015 by Johnny Hopper, Mike Green and Adam Sibbick. They’re veterans of the UK games industry and between them they have a huge amount of experience and history working on franchise such as Fable and Little Big Planet.
But Rogue Fortune is something a little different for the team, and something we’re excited to see more of. If you’re a fan of roguelike action games, you’ll undoubtedly be able to hit the ground running in making your way through its chambers, using a variety of weapons to lay waste to the enemies standing in your way.
Slicing and slamming is only one part of the adventure here, though. As you start playing, you’ll find yourself in the Well of Eternal Riches, where you’ll be granted your wish of being rich beyond your wildest dreams. The problem? You’ve got to escape a series of cursed chambers, where your money will drain away with every attack or dodge. Holding onto your money is a balancing act, then, between protecting yourself or your wealth. Do you spend some of it to offer you a better chance, or do you risk everything to get out with as much of it intact as possible?
While that element alone makes Rogue Fortune intriguing, it’s secondary to the game’s inventory management system. Glowmade describe gear placement as a “core puzzle”, and key to having a successful run. Not dissimilar to the likes of Diablo II, every item in your inventory forms a geometric shape, so everything you pick up and want to keep hold of must be carefully considered.
But beyond fitting them together like a jigsaw, items interact with their neighbours, offering various buffs, power-ups and more. It seems that relics found during a run can only be integrated into your backpack at specific points, giving you time to consider their layout. Having a relic placed correctly can be the difference between barely surviving and unleashing devastating attacks thanks to the way that items can interact with each other.
It sounds like there’ll be a lot to consider in Rogue Fortune then. Even more, given there are multiple playable characters to choose from, all having their own play experience. One that stood out to us, that we can’t wait to try out, is a cat with nine lives – but who can only take one hit before dying.
Johnny Harper, co-founder and studio head of Glowmade says that Rogue Fortune came about by “us considering how we could take the moment-to-moment thrill of a roguelite and blend it with a deep, strategic puzzle mechanic.” The studio also says that the game is designed to be played in sessions lasting 30 minutes or so for “fast, immediate action”. It’s a system that rewards experimentation, and with so many different strategies to consider, no two runs will ever be the same.
If Rogue Fortune sounds like your sort of thing, keep an eye on the official website for more information. It’s coming to PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, Switch 2 and PC in 2027.
