Umair
Everwarder, the new roguelite tower defense game, is begging to be explored. Where most titles in the genre glue you to a single spot, this one gives you the freedom to roam, collecting crucial resources and uncovering evolving enemies. After receiving plenty of praise during Steam Next Fest, the full game will finally release on February 6. We’ve spent some time playing, and there’s plenty to get excited about.
Story-wise, Everwarder is charmingly minimalist. You’ll play as a tiny mote of light traversing a shadowy world bathed in galactic blues and purples. When a fellow blob of light becomes trapped in a crystal, and you vow to protect it from incoming threats, you feel real empathy for these glowing specks. Without dialogue or body language, Everwarder paints an evocative picture of a friendship in need of defending.
Each level begins with most of its map shrouded in shadow. Sections of this darkness can be destroyed, either by your mote of light or by small crystals that you can construct. The currency for these crystals is dark energy, which you generate by destroying more chunks of shadow. It’s a cyclical process – beat back the darkness to create more tools with which to beat back the darkness.
These shadows also hide danger, however. Revealing new parts of the map also creates enemies that make a beeline for the crystal you swore to protect. The dark energy you hoard to construct crystals is also your crystal’s health – and it’s game over if it ever reaches zero.
To avoid this, you’ll need to spend pure energy on offensive units. You’ll start a level with enough energy to summon a few helpers, but you’ll need to kill enemies if you want more. Plus, you’ll need to keep a close eye on the ‘nature’ of your units.
Each type of unit deals a different nature of damage (physical, piercing, or magical). Sections of darkness will have an associated nature, and these produce enemies of that nature when destroyed. Like in rock-paper-scissors, some natures are particularly strong or weak against others. As you clear more and more darkness, you’ll need to position your units carefully to fend off all manner of enemy types.
The core gameplay loop is simple, but Everwarder constantly evolves. You can upgrade crystals and units during a run. Plus, your speck of light can freely move around the map while these tools do their jobs defending the crystal.
Scout ahead to find beacons that expand the zone where you place units, or discover the portal that must be powered up to trigger the level’s unique boss fight. Or chip away at shadows containing minerals, which cause an Ascension when enough are collected.
Ascension offers three artifacts to choose from, each of which upgrades a particular unit type. Unit types have a variety of colored gems that multiply how effective these artifacts are. For example, an artifact might increase the unit’s fire rate by 4% for every purple gem it has. Choosing this artifact doesn’t leave the others out, though – your other unit types gain more gems when they’re not enhanced, meaning future upgrades will be even more potent.
A run ends when your crystal’s health is depleted or you defeat the boss. It can be tempting to charge at the boss as soon as you discover the portal, but Everwarder rewards patience. Take the time to build and upgrade your army, gather as many artifacts as you can, and bulk up your crystal’s health by clearing shadows to ensure success.
Whether you pass or fail a level, you return to a hub world, where your hard-earned experience can be turned into upgrades. Unlock new artifacts and gameplay features, or improve the range and effectiveness of your units and crystals.
Once you’ve geared up, you’re ready to take on a new level with an entirely different layout – or, if you’re feeling particularly brave, a tougher version of the same level. This adds beefier enemies to the fray that evolve as they journey towards your precious core crystal.
Everwarder is a fight to keep light shining in dark places for as long as you can. It achieves a lot with a little, and no two runs are ever the same. This is a gem that’s worth discovering when it drops on February 6.
Everwarder is the work of solo developer qLate, which makes its smooth gameplay and polished feel particularly impressive. Hailing from Ukraine, qLate is also a fourth-year bachelor’s degree student who balances academia with game development.
indie.io, whose services and management tools help platform hundreds of independent videogame developers, is the publisher behind Everwarder. It’s one of many games indie.io has supported to help keep the world of video games diverse, creative, and interesting.
