Here's an indie that takes classic RTS and runs it into a modern roguelike

Rogue Command - Release Date Reveal Trailer - YouTube Rogue Command - Release Date Reveal Trailer - YouTube
Watch On

An upcoming indie RTS will take the classic formula of a base-builder and slap you with a roguelike twist. Rogue Command, from first time developer feneq, sends you on a classic roguelike run of linked RTS skirmish matches and serves up random choices of units and upgrades after each one that you can use to cobble together a new build order of units to win the next fight. There's a demo out now and it's set to release into early access on November 18.

"Rogue Command is first and foremost a classic RTS game. Control your units, build your base, harvest resources, explore the map, defend positions and come up with a plan of attack," say the developers.

"But instead of learning your build orders by heart, every time you start a run you are faced with the challenge of coming up with a new build."

New blueprints between missions won't add just new buildings, but units, turrets, healing towers, super weapons, and buff abilities—it seems like there are plans for a lot of variety in what you build and when you choose to build it. Different leaders, called Engineers, will also be available to change how each run starts.

Rogue Command will also feature randomized maps, as you'd hope for from a roguelike. They'll be made up of procedurally generated biomes and ruins with technology to capture, or surprises to fight, alongside your enemies' oncoming waves of units. There's also mentions of randomized weather effects. 

"Lure the enemy into fog that slows them to a crawl or stun them by blowing up static bushes. Launch surprise attacks in the shroud of a sandstorm or wait for a rainstorm to tackle powerful enemies reliant on burning damage," says the developer.

You can find Rogue Command on Steam, where it will release on November 18. There's a demo available now.

Contributor

Jon Bolding is a games writer and critic with an extensive background in strategy games. When he's not on his PC, he can be found playing every tabletop game under the sun.

Read more
Tempest Dynasty faction
The first multiplayer demo for my most anticipated RTS, Tempest Rising, is out now
A mountain block dropping into place in Drop Duchy.
Drop Duchy is an unholy fusion of city builder, roguelike deckbuilder, and Tetris, and you can try it for free right now
A spellcaster and muscular barbarian face down against an army of skeletons.
This 'overwhelmingly positive' Steam Next Fest autobattler demo feels like someone bolted a Path of Exile-style map onto Halls of Torment, and I fear for my future productivity
Former Age of Empires developer says the RTS genre's stuck in a rut: 'you're still playing the same game'
Chip and Clawz pose heroically against a comic book background.
Done with apocalypses, the new game from XCOM creator Julian Gollop is a bright, Brutal Legend-style action-strategy inspired by Pikmin and Clash Royale
Earth vs Mars screenshot - Martian troopers vs Earth light tanks
Relic's new project is a 'smaller indie-style' game about a martian invasion of Earth
Latest in Strategy
Tzarina Katarin Bokha, the Ice Queen of Kislev
Total War: Warhammer 3 rolls out a cool Kislev overhaul, changes befitting Tzeench’s magic, new projectile units and creakier skeletal horses
Civilization 7 Great Britain - Modern Civ art (via YouTube)
As Civilization 7 struggles to keep up with Civ 5 player counts, a new patch is coming tomorrow with still more UI changes and gameplay tweaks
Battle Brothers
Nearly 2 years after its last update, the excellent Battle Brothers gets 'a bucket load of fixes' and free new content
King wielding his axe against would-be assassins in Norland.
Medieval colony sim Norland is getting a 'damn big update' that completely overhauls the game's mechanics: 'We're rolling out some radical changes to the core gameplay'
Age of Empires 2
Former Age of Empires 2 dev claims Microsoft demanded its first expansion should have a Korean faction, because 'StarCraft sold 3 million copies in Korea'
Endless Legend 2 Kin faction reveal
It's turtle time: Endless Legend 2's first faction is the fortification-loving Kin of Sheredyn
Latest in News
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event