Into the Breach

Absolutely fantastic game. While not as groundbreaking as FTL, into the breach is a wonderful addition to Subset Games' catalog. This game is a puzzle game hiding behind a tactical rougelike, with great art and music to boot. While not for everyone, those that enjoy this specific genre will hopefully find it a blast. Can't wait to see what they do next!

Definitely one of the best Strategy and Casual games out there. The game's mechanics are simple and precise and no aspect feels totally random or unfair. Similar to chess, losing means you made a mistake somewhere along the way. It also incorporates some Roguelike aspects, like upgrading your mechs or pilots between runs or unlocking new weaponry.

All-in-all it feels like a lot of heart and care was put into this game. It's really easy to pick up from time to time and get back into it. I rate it a 4/5.

Into the Breach is the perfect game for when you have 15-20 minutes to kill. I mean that as the highest of praise. The gameplay loop is addictive and it was difficult for me to put down. I found myself thinking about it when I wasn't playing, and how to best strategize for my next timeline. Tiles, tactics, and tone are all on point. The mech squads you can choose from have such vastly different play styles that it almost feels like a new game.

I will say the game has a steep learning curve initially, and if you're like me, you'll fail more than you succeed. But the failures never felt like punishment. With each disaster timeline, I felt as if I was learning and honing my skills like any time traveler worth their salt. The game also runs beautifully on steam deck. Graphics and music are wonderful. I loved the art style, and found myself chuckling at some of the pilot dialogue. Overall, if you're looking for a game that's excellent on handheld or you just want some tile tactics to tickle your brain then you'll love Into the Breach.

It scratches the itch I have for a good mech game. A good game that makes you think and strategize for every move you make. You can even lower the difficulty if you just want to have a good time smashing bugs.

I beat the first two levels and it was pretty tough on normal. Its more of a puzzle game. There is tons of ways to beat each mission but I dont think this game is for me. Not really a thinking ahead guy. If the first two levels how the rest of the game is, I'm not interested. The story feels too close to Pacific Rim. Also not a really a huge fan of the gameplay starting right away with no real explanation of whats going on. I played it for less than 20 minutes. Im a huge fan of strategy games like Endless Space 2. I just dont think Im the target audience for this game. The game does seem to have a lot of content so its not a bad game by any means. Just not for me.

Fun and surprisingly difficult. Runs perfectly on Steam Deck.

Finally gave it a try and really liked what I found. Humans in mechs vs giant bugs, whenever you lose you get to choose a surviving team-member to send back in time to try to save humanity next campaign. It's an interesting balance between roguelike and roguelite, since your favorite pilot can die forever, but the maximum pilot level isn't very high so you don't technically lose much progress, and each has unique special abilities as they level up which seem to be different from pilot to pilot. It's also painful but not crippling to lose a partymember -- I really miss a few that heroically gave their lives to save strategic points, and that was a choice the game forced me to make.

The combat is fantastic, and you balance dealing damage vs pushing enemies around -- and pushing enemies can make their planned attacks miss, or even hit eachother. It really feels like the kind of mecha fights where occasionally a swing goes wide and takes out a building -- because you will absolutely do that several times before getting the hang of not taking down half the city.

The difficulty is on the high side, and the numbers of enemies are intense -- I'd advise starting on easy mode before gradually easing upward.

All in all, terminator / starship troopers / gundam, with a tight gameplay loop and good design all around.

One of the best games ever made honestly.
Simple but deep, frustrating in a great way. Incredible amount of influence on how you want to play.

The importance of moving enemies is such a cool and fun mechanic. And there's so many more to play with, fire, environmental effects, smoke, etc.

Not a big story, but the world building and setting is really cool as well. Everything comes together to make something magical that I can just play forever.
Thanks for making this!

Pretty good, nice visuals, music, UI, QoL features the roguelike game loop is nicely balanced and difficulty feels on point...as a huge rogulike fan and gamer that loves a good challenge I can highly recommend especially to anybody that likes the mech settings (its not my favorite, but still enjoy it a lot). Plus points for ethical pricing, no DLC/MTX bs.

A very fun (and sufficiently difficult) game with a lot of replayability. Loved the pixel design, premise of the story, music and even the Japanese dialogue that captures the personality of each character. Would recommend to anyone who likes a turn-based, chess-like games with rogue like elements:) Kudos to the developers!

I tried getting back into this, I really did... but it is just too frustrating to play. It has a critical design flaw whereby hours of work can be lost due to one or two screw-ups. Puzzles in this game are extremely hard, even at the easiest mode. In addition, there are often far too many enemies to handle, especially if you fail to contain breaches (which on some maps, it is impossible to contain them). Another frustrating mechanic is that the core design of the game is to show you exactly how the next turn will play out, but several aspects are completely unpredictable (such as where breaches will occur, or what enemy will appear next), giving this game all the frustration of playing chess against a grandmaster, with occasional random generation that just screws you, even if you play well.

Additional annoyance points for the 1-2 second delay in animation between each turn, wasting your time as you painstakingly wait for the enemy to take their turn.

FTL was a fantastic game, ItB is a second album (slump).

Great replayability, short levels, one more turn before I quit. Maybe 2.

This game is chess 3. Not funny, I understand, but that one got me thinking. This game is as not hard as it seems, cuz you gotta think deeply. This is a typical strategy game, just a roguelike, like what I appreciate alot. Gonna play other games like this one!!

Really good game. Just be aware going in that if you're coming from FTL this game will be very different.

This is an excellent tactics game that's essentially Chess with mechs and kaiju. Very fun, addictive game. I hope you enjoy this game as much as I have.

Super fun game. I was a fan of Faster Than Light, and assumed this companies lightning wouldn't be able to strike twice. So color my expectations high but respectful.

This game is so much fun. There is so much diversity to how you can design your squad and the art style is an absolute homerun. I think I prefer this game to FTL, possibly because it's quite a bit more polished, and the progression is a bit less punishing.

The way this game truly feels massive, while being such a tiny puzzle game, is beyond commendable. The way the mech's attacks moving enemies feels is exactly the strategy I would hope for from an Evangelion-esque world. And the simplicity of such a design choice still leaves me in awe. I have played 9 hours, and I'm sure that number will reach FTL in no time.

What's up with "rogue-like" balancing where every game needs to always be "night-mare" difficulty? I have 1% and 2% skill-based achievements for two of the most hard-core "action-RPGs" but in this chill puzzle-game I'm sweating to win on easy mode!

Don't get me wrong, even on my first-ever play-through on normal I was pretty close to winning, it's not that I can't beat the intended difficulty. It's just that it's not the experience I'm going for when playing a puzzle-game.

Ten enemies on-screen; each with a different attack pattern and on-death effects; every single point of structural damage at any time could be the difference between winning or losing a run; and you only get 3 pieces to handle all of that with (losing a single one also being run-ending on higher difficulties)... is just not what I want on a glorified Solitaire-skin with big robots.

Then you can say, in all fairness: then why are you playing a "rogue-like"? To which I'd reply I am playing a "rogue-like" that offers an easy mode that is so official it even unlocks all normal-mode achievements! While the easy mode is, indeed easier, it's by no means easy. It's basically a 50-50% chance I'd win or lose a run, which is the definition of fair, not easy.

Maybe I got some bad luck on my first few runs; maybe I need to unlock more meta-progression to achieve the true intended difficulty? Either way, my experience has been disappointing so far.

I do like Into The Breach. It's not the best-game-ever and it has a lot that could be improved-upon but it's incredibly novel; nails its theme and delivery; has no bugs at all; is fun and engaging and mentally-stimulating and well-worth-it at 60% off... but why on Earth does its easy-mode need to be harder than anything on 80-hour JRPGs, just because it's a "rogue-like"? Sad!

something about it keeps me coming back. The turn based, strategy elements + atmosphere and mechs for sure.

Fun game and very replayable

Remarkably difficult but in a fun thinking kind of way.

This game is fucking amazing. A simple strategy game that you can pick up and put down whenever, with interesting mechanics and near endless replayability.

it's indeed a puzzle game.
With chess strategy like.
And a bit of Sokoban.
Pixel graphics.
Simple but straight to the core of strategy.

Highly addictive and replayable.

A masterpiece. 100% would recommend.

This is a difficult strategy/puzzle roguelite where far too much of the difficulty comes from getting RNGed. Unlike Slay The Spire, you will have an unpleasant time with certain runs and certain squads, based entirely on the random moves of the opponents. With many squads it's worse: you're hoping for good luck, not just the absence of bad luck.

When you combine this dependence on luck with playthroughs that are not fast, and with punishment for starting over instead of playing through, the game can be grueling. Unlike Slay The Spire, you don't gain really gain overall roguelite positives from tough runs and mistakes during runs. That might be fine in a more balanced strategy game, but this game is like poker with an RNG bonus to the computer opponents. To add to this, the second a run starts going well, the game rubber-bands the difficulty upward such that you're right back into the same mess with getting RNGed.

There are OCD masochists out there who will play roguelites over and over hoping for a luckier start. I've had my fill. This trend of making roguelite games both difficult and luck-dependent even on normal difficulty is a trend that has to die.

It's a short but incredibly well-crafted game! Every moment was engaging, and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Absolutely worth both the time and money!

Awesome strategy game. I'm a big fan of turn based strategy, and there's no strategy game like it in my opinion. I've beat the game a bunch of times on the mobile version before I got it here, and it's still worth it. The game also allows you to use the developer console and I consider that a massive positive, since it lets you play your game how you want. I used it to get my progress back so I could jump in where I left off. Not much more to say, it's a classic for a reason.

Great game, feels distinctly like a puzzle and makes you feel smart every time you pull off a perfect no damage of an at first glance impossible situation, also can be unforgiving if you make a wrong move so be careful on how you move, the attacks you use and their order.

Into the Breach: what if chess made you consider the horrors of interplanetary war? Also, there's mechs.

lost two absolutely winnable timelines in a row because I accidentally clicked spacebar on a keyboard with 0.3mm actuation point. Otherwise a cool game.

good fun and many variable options to keep exploring

Pros: Perfect game, no notes, I love this COMPUTER and CONSOLE title that is played OFFLINE.

Cons: Imagine paying 100 bucks a year in subscription costs to play this game on your phone and you can't play it without an internet connection and you can't just buy it to have it in the future. That's wild to me.

I like Roguelites and herd good things about this game. I was hoping it was like Advance Wars I used to play. I'll admit, this game is simply too difficult for my play style. Looking for something a little more relaxed

Someone else has said this before but it's notable regardless, this game functions more as a puzzle game disguising itself as a turn-based strategy game.
However, it's still really fun due to the amount of unique ways to approach every encounter with all the various squads and weapons.

Definitely worth your money if you're into puzzle games in a turn-based setting.

the tactical depth on offer here is immense for what appears to be a very simple game. you can put as much time as you want into it, with commensurate outcomes. easy recommend if you like tactical/strategy games. doesn't ask too much of you but provides a good amount for value.

A brilliantly made and utterly compelling, kaiju themed, tactical puzzle game.

If that sounds like your bag, it probably is.

This game is so good. Really scratches the itch of a slow burn puzzler, quick progressing roguelite, and mech battler. 10/10 should play.

I love that Into the Breach is simple to learn, like Chess. It's also incredibly complex, like Chess. Great art style. Masterful pacing that constantly tricks me into spending hours when I only wanted to play for 20 minutes. It's solving chess puzzles with giant mechs and bugs. 10/10

A short disclaimer before you buy this game.

This game is hard. Like, really hard. Especially if you were the kid who sucked at chess. I'm trusting you not to refund it immediately after losing one game. Odds are you'll be 20 hours deep before you win even once. But this game is really satisfying once you learn the various strengths and weaknesses of the mechs. Trust me. Subset Games knows how to make a fun experience.

One other thing. Just like with their previous title, FTL - don't feel like a baby because you're playing on Easy. No one will judge you for that. Just do it on Easy. It'll save you a lot of pain and suffering, even though you'll still lose. You don't think you'll lose on the easiest difficulty? Think again. These game developers demand some REAL skill. That's why this game is so fun after you unlock a few mech squads.

fun little turn based game. Once you're used to the mechanics, things get easier (naturally). there's enough variation between the squads and each situation you get into that I found the game fun enough to 100%.

Great strategy game that finds a balance between rewarding creative plays, and punishing poor play. Fun throughout.

Note: Between this version, the Switch version, and the iOS version, I easily have more than 200 hours in this game.

I rate this game a 10/10. Simply put, this is one of the best strategy games of all time. No other turn-based strategy game I've played has been able to fuse the strategic depth, mechanical simplicity, and infinite replayability of Into the Breach. I never write Steam reviews (this is my first one), but I had to write this one just because I feel so passionately that the game deserves it (and partially also because I hope this inspires Subset Games to make a follow-up).

This game truly makes you think -- and it does so in a way that is challenging without being frustrating; brilliantly simple while still being very deep and rewarding. You will learn and become smarter as you play this game. If you're even remotely interested in strategy or puzzle games, I highly suggest you buy this game. It will reward you for good thinking, and there are so many moments in this game that will make you feel like a strategic genius in the best way possible.

Gameplay: Into the Breach is a masterclass in game design. The mechanics are fairly easy to learn, but the skill ceiling is high. I love how the strategy in the game is deterministic for the most part -- while the map and spawn locations of both your mechs and the enemies (kaiju-like creatures called the Vek) are random, all moves are telegraphed, which really allows you to think through how you want to play. Each mech squad is also designed synergistically around an interesting game mechanic, many of which are ingenious and change the way the player interacts with certain elements of the game (e.g., one squad focuses on smoke, another focuses on getting Vek to damage each other, etc.), which makes you want to experiment with different strategies. The availability of different squads makes different runs feel fresh, and the different weapons, pilots, island rewards, and skills pilots get as they level up adds some nice randomness. It's the perfect blend of rewarding strategy (no frustrating moments of "95% chance to hit" shots missing) and replayability to unlock new pilots, achievements, and mech squads. One of my big issues with FTL is that failed runs often feel like they're due to bad luck instead of skill -- that feeling is not present in this game. I also love how you can undo moves without restriction (before you've attacked) -- it helps you plan and think. In this game, nearly every defeat -- and conversely, every victory -- is explainable and understandable, and you can learn from your mistakes. Wins feel very satisfying and well-earned thanks to the way the game is designed.

UI: The UI gets a special mention for being extremely user-friendly and well-designed. Each weapon has a little clip that plays when you hover over it, making it clear what the effects of different tools are. The damage numbers are not crazy big, allowing you to calculate and plan without getting in the way of the core gameplay mechanics. The turn order and interaction of various systems in the game are communicated very clearly and make it so that you fully understand why certain things happen the way they do.

Graphics: I really like the pixel art graphics in this one -- they increase readability, and I never have any issue with understanding the moves or damage numbers on the board. I also like how they include the option to add grid coordinates to each game board, which both enhances the experience and makes tiles and strategic moves easier to communicate. The pixel graphics have another hidden benefit, which is that they don't date the game much. I can easily imagine the visuals of this game being present in a game made today, and that timelessness helps this game persist as an infinitely replayable gem that I'm happy to open up and play anytime.

Music: I love the music in this game -- the atmosphere that the music helps create is simultaneously exciting, but also great for focus and thinking. I often use the music of this game when I want to focus for work because it feels perfectly designed to be played in the background while you're doing something cerebral.

Theme/Motif: I love the time travel/sci-fi theme of this game. It feels both exciting and grounded at the same time. The game feels inspired by movies like Pacific Rim, and the world, despite not being a core focus of the game, contributes to the overall atmosphere of the game. The only strange thematic inconsistency for me is that you're meant to be saving the world, but the perfect population count you can save in this game is 30,000 people. It doesn't detract at all from the game experience, however.

Replay value: In case it hasn't been clear in my review so far, this game is infinitely replayable. The fact that they added additional content via the Advanced Edition for free is the cherry on top -- there are so many great new mechanics, mechs, enemy types, and strategic possibilities added by the expansion. And I love how you have the option to customize what specific aspects of the new content you want to include in a given run. You can tell this was a labor of love by the developers.

Final verdict: As mentioned, 10/10. Probably very obvious given how much I'm gushing about this game.

I sincerely hope that Subset Games somehow makes a sequel (or spiritual successor, or follow-up) to this game. I absolutely love strategy games, and with this being one of the shining jewels in the genre in my opinion, I hope to be able to play more games like this. On that note, if you enjoy this game, another game I recommend that scratches a similar type of itch is Tactical Breach Wizards. Also a well-designed game, and I can tell it was inspired by Into the Breach.

In summary, Into the Breach is one of the greatest strategy games ever made, and one of my favorite games of all time. If there were a pantheon of video games that should be preserved for future generations to learn from and enjoy, this should absolutely be one of them. Again, I hope that Subset Games somehow develops a follow-up. I would love to play the next evolution of this game.

If you've read this far, and you're still somehow on the fence about buying this game -- please do it. You won't regret it.

This game is GOATed. Turn-based tactics with mechs. Mech-based turns with tactics. Tactics-based mechs with turns.

Like playing chess, but more fun, and with one of the best soundtracks of a game ever.

Played this game over 100h in GOG, bought it here just cause I love it.

This is the best game I've ever played. Love everything about it from the story to the amazing game play.

I am not a big strategy gamer, but this game is easy enough to pick up and incredibly satisfying to master. I hope this studio continues to make games like this or will continue expanding what they have.

Into the Breach is a game I had played before sporadically, with little to no deep focus into its mechanics or story. Now that I have seen the credits roll, I am ready to talk about what a great game it is.

First, the Habbo-like pixel art caught me at once. It is not particularly beautiful or detailed, but it is enough to give personality and clarity to the game. The colors, the characters, the sounds and the different graphics are needed and enough. The music sets the mood quite nicely and the story is just weaved well enough to give it a setting and support the rogue-like structure.

It is indeed a puzzle game, where you have to think your moves and manage your resources. Everything is a resource: your mechs' HP and attack, your energy, your movement and your upgrades and weapons, as well as the enemies HP and attack, their movements and their timing. I got a bit obsessed on having my grid to the fullest and that kept me from enjoying the game, since it can become quite difficult.

Really. There can be so many things happening at once that you may overlook one or the other pretty easily. But, at the end of the day, that's the key to the puzzle: being aware of what may happen and taking advantage of it. You just have to trade, all the time: trade your pilots' life, your energy and your cores just to reach the final island. Of course: this is a rogue-lite and failing is part of moving forwards, or at least just staying were you are; it never goes backwards.

With the rewards you are able to unlock new mechs with different abilities and start again, crushing bugs just to end them and go out and save other timelines suffering from the same infestation. I have only tried the first group of mechs at the time of writing this, but I feel a big sense of satisfaction nonetheless.

I would say that the conglomeration of the many moves and attacks happening at once can be a bit overwhelming, hence confusing and not that obvious, but every time I failed I felt it was only because I was not careful enough. That being said, sometimes the games puts you in such a predicament, that it is not easy to decide what resource to spend, and, even if that's manageable, the cost can be quite large for little return.

Great game. Complex due to layers of simplicity overlapping, with plenty of replayability and... well, mechas stomping on bugs.

7/10

Edit: I forgot to say that I played in the standard difficulty with no other add-ons on the run. It proved to be difficult even in these settings for me. Maybe not that good at puzzles, huh?

Brilliant strategy game, highly replayable

The perfect blend of tactics, puzzles, and roguelike mechanics

It was unfair alright, almost impossible, but against all odds i saved the Earth.
You're welcome.

frequently does not explain mechanics and then punishes you heavily for not understanding mechanics it doesnt tell you about

Surprisingly addictive, tight little tactical game with neat pixel graphics and a great score. Short, but extremely replayable.