Tactical Breach Wizards

_Not a Technical review_
This game gives you the feeling of playing a game you used to love from your childhood, but it's actually good, the writing is really nice and funny, with just the right amount of serious stuff to make you feel. i had this game wish listed for like 4 years hoping it would come good and it did. I'll always recommend this game to anyone who'll listen, the Dev's did a great job bringing their vision to life.

Normally, I don't like puzzle games, but I love tactical games. This game was a fantastic time to play through, the gameplay was great though it has some rockier levels near the end, and the story was well written and enjoyable all the way to the end. I hope to someday see a sequel of some kind, as I'd love to learn more about this world.

Humor's great, gameplay is tight. Story is surprisingly engaging (although it takes a bit of time to get going). An excellent entry in the turn based tactics genre

another very-on-brand-humorous defenestration-heavy game from Suspicious Developments!

Jogo excelente, único, bom para o Caraléo!! Super recomendo: história bem feita, personagens carismáticos, jogabilidade mega divertida, e gráficos estilizados provando que o que faz um jogo bom é conteúdo!
Vale a pena cada centavo.

Great gameplay but honestly the conversations and the humor is best!

Wizards with M4 assault wands. More of a puzzle game than an XCOM-like. Pretty good.
8/10

Look, I know what you might be thinking: 'Text-based? No voice acting? What is this, the dark ages?' But reading is actually a skill I'm quite fond of, and the fact that you're doing it right now tells me you're no stranger to it either.
At its heart, this is a puzzle game, set in a dystopian world where wizards are doing turn-based... um... tactical breaches.
The 'Rewind' button is a great way to start every move or action anew, or if you prefer, you can go all the way back to the very beginning of your turn. This way, you can re-evaluate every bit of your assault again, and again, and yes: again. Besides the puzzles, this game truly shines with its humor. The dialogues are witty and left me chuckling more than once.
I'd give 10 out of 10 wands for this little magical gem

Highly recommended.
Plays like a mix of x-com and a puzzle game, in the best way possible.
Story and characters are fun, snappy and with surprising depth.
Has a really good mix of humour and seriousness!

Fun game with a fun theme. Optional goals in each level manage to keep challenge up without restricting progression much. I found the later introduction of some team members a little detrimental to balance in their respective progression but it wasn't too severe.

Being able to rewind actions without consequence turns this into a cozy puzzle game that does not penalize for experimentation. Levels are well designed, and I found myself implicitly trying to go through each mission taking zero damage in the least amount of turns - the systems make me feel very clever when I'm able to pull that off.

As I'm getting more picky about games as I'm getting older, this is the first true 5/5 game I've played in quite some time.

Much like Into the Breach, this game treats tactical combat as a puzzle rather than a strategy game, with an excellent difficulty curve if playing on Hard. Again and again, you're surprised by the stuff you're able to pull off against seemingly impossible odds, and the five characters at your disposal feel truly and genuinely unique.

Bonus 1: the dialogues are surprisingly human for video games in general.
Bonus 2: runs well on Steam deck.

Set in a world where magic and military tactics intertwine, players command a team of "spec-ops wizards"—each with unique abilities—to navigate through challenging missions. The game emphasizes strategic planning, allowing players to anticipate enemy moves and adjust tactics accordingly. A notable feature is the "rewind" mechanic, enabling players to undo actions and refine their strategies without penalty.

The story is lauded for its witty dialogue and engaging character dynamics. Players lead a diverse team, including roles like a Navy Seer and a necro-medic, through a narrative that blends espionage with supernatural elements. The game also critiques traditional military tropes, offering a fresh perspective within the genre. Innovative tactical mechanics with a forgiving rewind system. Engaging and humorous narrative with well-developed characters. Encourages experimentation and creative problem-solving.

Tactical Breach Wizards offers a refreshing take on the tactics genre, combining challenging gameplay with a compelling narrative. Its emphasis on character interactions and strategic flexibility makes it a standout title for fans of turn-based strategy games.

8/10

A surprise standout to add to my collection. One that not only tops my favorite games of recent memory, but of all time, honestly.

Going in, I already knew I was going to enjoy the gameplay. Plays just how it looks - a mix between XCOM: Chimera Squad and Into the Breach. Not particularly too difficult, but the additional confidence challenges provide a good extra difficulty without being too overbearing. Each of the playable characters also have their own depth that add just enough complexity to their kits that make you feel like a genius for coming up with creative solutions to some of the harder levels. Overall, fantastic and varied gameplay that always feels engaging, no matter the level of strategy you choose to indulge in.

Now, what actually made this game REALLY standout was the writing - in more ways than one. To start, Tactical Breach Wizards' contemporary/urban fantasy setting is extremely well thought out and well-historied -- world building decisions that make a ton of sense based on both the technology level of the setting as well as its available magic system. All fantasy settings live and die by their magic systems, and while it doesn't really take the forefront of the gameplay, it's essential to understanding the cast of characters and their motivations.

The entire band of misfits you gleefully call your squad all have their own fleshed out storylines that aren't just cookie cutter protagonist stories. Throughout the game, you really get to know them inside (no really, it's like therapy lol), and out. Plenty of banter to keep the mood light between the therapy sessions, and the general humor hits surprisingly well considering its more campy/comic-booky nature (and honestly just makes the game feel more like a comfort game to me). The weakest part of the writing is probably the plot weirdly enough, but it likely only feels that way because the story is so character-driven and you invest so much in these characters that you forget the plot was originally supposed to drive the story.

Honestly, just brilliant writing and satisfying gameplay, with a sleek UI/UX and comforting artstyle to boot. Highly recommended even if you aren't into tactics/puzzle games and are just into good stories/characters.

Great tactics game. Was intrigued by the awesome setting (SWAT wizards?! hell yes), but they've certainly outdone themselves with the clever writing of the characters and conversations which I did not expect in this kind of game.

Gameplay is solid fun, you may want to increase the difficulty level if you're used to these kind of games. There's a lot of characters, abilities and perk upgrades, which can seem overwhelming at first. It's different in this regard from other games like the astonishing Into the Breach; which offers enormous possibilities from just few abilities and characters. I was worried initially but found it was mitigated well through the rewind and 'foresee' functions to quickly try alternative paths, and missions being split in separate smaller breaches also helps to reduce the cognitive load.

Strongly recommended, great game for the deck.

Tactical Breach Wizards is one of those exceedingly rare games where I didn't feel like I needed to worry if it was going to end up as a bad purchase. It's what I've come to expect from Tom Francis and his team: high quality, light humor, a decent story, appealing visuals, and engaging mechanics from start to finish. Thanks for keeping my faith in the gaming industry alive, Suspicious Developments.

Absolutely incredible at every point, it's quickly become one of my favourite games of all time. Brilliant writing, gorgeous art, and extra objectives to complete on each level that accentuate the tactical depth this game has to offer.

Actually funny dialog, which is hard to pull off. Excellent gameplay; the missions are each little puzzles with a lot of diversity among all the characters. Less replayable than Into the Breach, but has a good story and each individual mission is more fun and interesting.

Tactical Breach Wizards is a combination of Into the Breach turn-based tactical gameplay, X-Com visual styles, a healthy dose of dry humour, and an amazing low-fantasy setting (please, please make more games in this setting - although history says they won't). All characters are balanced - well, more like equally overpowered - so everyone plays a role in the well-designed levels. The unlimited rewinds encourage experimentation. The game's length is just perfect, neither too short nor overstaying its welcome.
Waited for this one for a long time and it REALLY delivered. Damn, I wish I was this good at my job as these guys (also with the seemingly relaxed release schedule). One of those games that makes you remember why you love videogames - felt the need to review it immediately although it's clearly not lacking in plaudits. Eagerly awaiting the next game from Suspicious Developments - hopefully it doesn't take as long (although it will). I wonder what Lucas Pope and the FTL guys are up to these days...

I confess I'm not that great at puzzle games or strategy games, but as far as strategic puzzle games go, this one seems pretty great.

Like many indie games, a unique and charming concept that took years to bear fruit. One would never have guessed that the original idea would get turned on its head so handily by the simple concept of throwing people out of windows, transforming what would have been an ordinary shooty gunman scenario into a wacky, tripped-out world of movement-based puzzling and questionably ethical takedowns. And, somehow, the writing remains thoroughly chuckle-worthy without being too post-Whedon.

Loved this. Good world-building, snappy dialogue, interesting character development, and gameplay like a cross between a board game and a logic puzzle. I'm delighted that I picked up this game.

Insanely good game.
The tactical/puzzle gameplay feels fresh and genuinely clever.
The story is engaging, and the characters dialogue is extremely funny.
HIghly recommended.

Clever writing. Clever gameplay. Doesn't overstay its welcome.
Has many optional challenges and stages if you're craving more gameplay once you've finished the story.

This game is a lot of fun. It's a turn-based combat puzzler where you can retry moves until you find the right combination. Fairly addictive. Nice music and humor. Doesn't require tons of brainpower. It's kind of comparable to Into the Breach, another nice turn-based combat puzzler game.

Review after a playthrough of Tactical Breach Wizards in 2025, which took about 18 hours for me. I did not clear all of the optional 'dream' missions nor complete every optional objective in the game in that timeframe. TLDR, if you like turn based tactics games this is a solid one with some really cool ideas coming from the "modern wizards" concept. If you are into puzzle games too they you have hit the jackpot with this one.

So this game comes with a new vocabulary word for me. "Defenestrate" : Verb : To throw (someone) out a window. That's kind of a core action of this game. Positioning yourself correctly so that you can knock one (or more) enemies out a window successfully defeats them. That adds a nice layer to the importance of your position in these maps outside of just 'look for cover' like in many other games.

The wizard powers are pretty cool when applied to this type of game. One of them can see one second into the future, another has non-lethal lightning powers, and another's got a low temperature fire. My favorite concept is the necro-medic, who can heal the team up after she kills them. Conceptually it doesn't stop there either, the story is really solid and plausible in a world like this. Its also layered with the sense of humor in the trailers, which I enjoyed.

While the tactical gameplay is the core, they added optional objectives to the game that make each map a puzzle. The optional objectives just give "confidence points" to the character that achieved them so that they can buy cosmetics in the game. They stress in the game that these are optional achievements, but I could not walk into a map and see an optional objective that said "Finish in One Turn" and not try to do that. So I did that for like, almost the whole game. Some of the objectives require certain perks that your characters get through leveling up, so you may not have the right skill at the right time. However, once you are through with a map you can go back and play it again at any time with a different setup. So if you are into that, its not an issue.

As for cons, for me adding those optional objectives changed the game to a puzzle game. Its a little bit of a different vibe like that and it wasn't really what I came for. I still enjoyed it, and this con is totally on me; but for me it changed the game.

So in conclusion the tactical combat is solid, the games writing is actually pretty good, and the game respects your time. There's optional missions that I can still do, and the game has steam workshop support so should have long legs. There is a lot to love here.

There are small aspects of this game I don't like, like the pop-psychotherapy sounds like stuff you hear from people who self-diagnosed mental disorders. Every time it tries to get snarky or make a bridge to real world politics, criticizing "centrists", glorification of revolutions, it's the game at its weakest. It's done in a shallow way. But other than that... amazing art, amazing gameplay, I can't help but recommend it. The only things you'll miss here is a deeper and more serious exploration of the setting, the characters and the politics of it.

I find it funny that nowadays I hate the trope of the villain that is reedemable, good at heart, but misunderstood, and I like that this game had the courage to have a truly evil villain. However, the funny part is that the villain is my favorite character, I love her powers and design, and I wish she was an anti-hero type and reedemable hahahaha. I find her powers so interesting I wish we had a bonus level where we play as her against hordes of enemies.

Stellar Tactics Game.
I did not anticipate the writing to be this good.
Flawless.

this game is what XCOM wants to be. strategic breaches, reverse necromancy, and straight up brute forcing your way through a level. 10/10

A dang fun game. Challenging without being frustrating. A lot more character development than I would have expected. I really grew to care about these weirdos.

It's great and totally deserves the IGF Excellence in Design Award. Tom, John, John, and Steve packed this game with so much thoughtfulness and attention to detail. And content! Wow, there's a lot in here.

The writing and characters draw you in and give the gameplay context. The character abilities and level design combine to make you think about how to beat each level using different strategies. The optional confidence goals add flavor and prompt you to discover combos you might not have thought up. Moreover, the game respects your time, has impeccable usability, and lets you play the way you find most fun.

I left everything on default and went for as many Confidence goals as I could. It's a tactics game, but playing this way felt almost like a puzzle, and kept the tactics formula from going stale.

It's a fun little turnbased puzzle game.

Gameplay is a lot about using your characters abilities, to get the best outcome.
while the game might have an optimal way to complete missions, you are still able to complete them your own way.
which gives you alot of opportunity to experiment with the abilities your characters have.

One of the features that the game has, is the ability to preview the outcome of the turn, so you always have an idea of what's going to happen.
If you don't like the way the round has been going or an action you did, wasn't the correct one, you can always rewind back as far as you want, that being to the start of the turn, granted you can't change anything when you commit to ending the turn.
Because of this, failing is quite hard, but i still had it happen occasionally where i had to restart, because i had miscalculated my actions and i was in a situation that was hardly winable.
It didn't happen alot and i wager it more based on the individual, more than the game being unfair.

Throughout the game, you will be introduced to more and more abilities, and a bunch of the missions will be created with said new abilities in focus, so you can get a feel for them.
It's a great way of doing, and it was explained greatly.
This is also true for the enemies and other enviromental objects, that all bring some new challenge to the table.

Besides the main game, there's also 2 modes.
Dreams and proving grounds
Dreams are challenges that is unlocked throughout the game.
These dreams will be themed similar to the missions that unlock it.
And the challenge gives other twists and takes on the gameplay.
Proving grounds are about surviving until you've completed the given objective.

It's both more gameplay, but also gives you more challenges to complete, as well as being able to obtain confidence points.

Both in the main game and in the 2 extra modes, you can obtain confidence points, these are gained by completing optional objectives during the various missions.
Like "let noone take damage", "finish the mission before level 2" and so on, it's to give more of a challenge for those that seek it, and by gaining confidence points, you're able to
unlock outfits.

Story is okay, and while there was some interesting narrative, you don't get a lot of it, since the game is rather short, but for what it's worth, you get a decent story out of it.
Just don't expect it to be the primary focus of the game.
Wish there was a bit more, but what we have are fine.
It does try to juggle between being serious and cracking jokes left and right, and frankfully it does not land alot of the time.

Visually it looks okay, the enviroments does look somewhat simple, but it helps to make the important objects stand out better.
UI is clean and comprehensible and made a lot of sense when going through the various abilities.
characters have this neat style that fits the theme and enviroment well.

If you like tactical turnbased games and/or puzzle games, this is quite the fun game to play.

I don't frequently write reviews but this game is really great! When I saw the trailer randomly somewhere I guessed it will be fun, reminded me of the old X-Com games but more story based. Basically that's what it was and it didn't disappoint.

The characters are great, the story is fun and a bit absurd at the start, it gets more serious later. But it has heart and passion poured into it all over and you can feel the love and care that went into this game. There are a lot of elements, dialogues, the map, the dreams that wouldn't be needed - but they really add to the characters and the feel of the game.

The only complaint I have is that the main story is a bit short. But I didn't see any significant bug during my run which is a huge plus.

Also, I'm sure this will be on the very short list of games I'll actually max out just because I really don't feel like leaving it yet.

When I decided to get a Steamdeck 3 months ago, I of course immediately started browsing indie games on Steam to see what was out there. I enjoy some casual turn-based combat, and this looked interesting.

Ended up purchasing it and discovering that it was exactly what I had hoped and more. The art style, the characters, the writing and intuitive gameplay all worked perfectly together to create a fantastic experience. That is to say, this game has it’s own unique personality that is a delight to get to know as you play.

If you have any interest in turn-based tactical combat games, a sense of humor, an appreciation for intelligent writing and character dialogue, and a Steamdeck, I HIGHLY recommend this game. Steamdeck optional.

it's more of a puzzle game than a turn-base game like XCOM, but really fun non the less

I really wanted to like this game. I tried to force myself to play through it. In reality, it's a stupid puzzle game with very few real solutions.

Highly recommended for those that enjoy turn based games. There's a lot of interesting movesets that can also be changed via upgrading moves. And you can play through the levels normally or choose to accomplish more difficult goals. The dialogue between stages is also quite well written, a lot of fun and doesn't take itself too seriously.

First in foremost, this is a puzzle game, and only after - a turn-based tactical game. And definiterly not an rpg.
You will spend most of the game rewinding and precogniting turns, which makes me say its not a "real" turn-based tactical game, but a gimmic-based tactical puzzle. You dont live out the consequences of your turn-to-turn actions because you constantly rewind and reposition.
But this is just my personal problem. The presentation and gameplay are still great. If you can handle the semi-millenial writing, get this game for the nice detective story.

Only come here to say after defeating the final boss.
This is the best strategy game I've ever played in the last decade. Could be two decades if you don't count some remastered old games. Flawless gem.
Oh man I'm not even a strategy game fan at all.

As a turn based tactics game, the gameplay is more than passable, with a lot of versatile abilities, though in general the unlocks plus infinite undoes ensure you are too broken to be threatened. The challenge therefore lies in going for achievements instead of winning fights, which may or may not be someone's cup of tea.

However the true award goes to the writing, which is somehow better here than in the vast majority of narrative focused games out there. Interesting world building, often hilarious, and even occasionally poignant, it is some of the best in class.

9/10

Came into this game not expecting much, but found it an incredibly enjoyable experience. Absolute masterclass of a game 100% worth the purchase.

Just finished this game, about 15 hours of tight solid content (with more challenge missions I haven't done). The writing is hilarious with interesting characters. Cool visuals and unlockable outfits (some with extreme drip). The pace of the game is well-maintained with new characters and abilities being added to your arsenal. The game also does a good job of varying the characters you play with and the levels encourage different tactics so you don't fall into a rut of using the same ability to breeze through. I would say it's more of a puzzle game than a tactics game, but if you like either this game is right up your alley.

Overall highly recommend. The devs obviously spent a lot of time fine-tuning the experience and it shows in how incredibly polished this game is. It's one of those games that you could use to argue that video games are art and capable of telling interesting stories, as it does just that while being an absolute blast to play.

I enjoyed every aspect of this game - the writing, the art design, the world building, the mechanics - everything. I enjoyed skipping a level guilt free because I wasn't in the mood to bang my head against it, I enjoyed min/maxing a turn 1 win.

I would love to play more games in this universe, read more stories with these characters, anything. (Wild shot - I'll write and design all the tacticool staff rifles if you do a Gunsmith Simulator crossover)

Bought this game near full price. No regrets.

The game has a great storyline, bits of humor. Gameplay is very solid, if you liked into the breach you will certainly like Tactical Breach Wizards.

If you didn't like into the breach, and the reason was that the game felt a bit empty, then this game really fills that void. Give it a chance, it really combines the best of ITB gameplay with a fun and interesting storyline.

Soundtrack is very fitting for the game.

Graphics are good for what they try to achieve.

Optional content give more replayabiliy, the main game I would say is 12h and the extra content give you at least as much to go through.

Cool characters, worldbuilding, and puzzles. 10/10

Both for fans of tactical games and puzzle games. Cute writing, challenging gameplay, and a nice low-poly art style. Nothing but praise from me!

such a fun concept with such incredible execution. an absolute must play

Tactically it's not difficult, if you do the optional challenges it's more of a puzzle than a tactics game but really we're all here for the story. The writing is incredibly good and there's funny little bits all over the place. Watch the end of mission frames carefully, there's some gold in there. Best game I've played in years.

Overall, the gameplay loop is an interesting concept I enjoyed. At times, the dialogue can be a bit goofy but it was a good game to play and 100%.

More people need to play this, period. Waited almost 5 years for this to come out and it's every bit as good as I expected it to be.

The developers have managed to capture what's fun about a game like XCom, and distill it into a very pleasant and well thought-out puzzle game. Tactical Breach Wizards is easy to recommend to anyone who enjoys turn-based puzzles.