Disclaimer: some the assets used to create the mockup diagrams below belong to Redhook studios and I do not own any copyrights to them. These mockups are meant to portray an idea and will never be used for any profit.

Experience auto chess like never before – unforgiving and unconventional, I present a new take on the genre, intertwined with well known and revered RPG and roguelike gameplay systems.

The game is all about its vast replay value, continuously forcing the player to make informed choices based on a set of altering, unique circumstances within every single run. Players will be encouraged to adapt their actions to RNG-based systems in order to try out new strategies and playstyles. Procedurally generated maps and encounters (enemy positioning on the grid) along with many other features such as events with specific, ‘double-edged blade’ outcomes will make the gameplay both engaging and challenging.

Core player actions come down to managing the economy: the more gold (the main player resource) you have, the higher your income but higher gold count means that your team is weaker and you are more likely to lose the next encounter. This is where the game’s depth comes into play with its easy to play, hard to master design philosophy.

I want to do for the auto battler genre what Slay the Spire did for the card game genre. It is my belief that there is enormous potential within the auto chess formula and I wish to create a unique, compelling single-player experience with auto-chess inspired gameplay mechanisms.

Due to auto battlers being multiplayer-focused, the most prominent titles of the genre have some design space restrictions such as symmetrical balance and whatnot. My game will have no such restrictions given that it is designed solely as a single-player experience which opens up a lot of very interesting concepts to play around.

On top of that, I intend to add other already well-established systems from RPG/roguelike games that a huge portion of the target audience should be familiar with such as randomly generated, exponentially scaling itemization (only within a single run), perma progression* and much more.

* -placeholder, rough concept for a permanent progression system which some roguelites are known for. Meant to portray the overall idea and design philosophy rather than act as a balancing starting point and whatnot.

Some of the game’s core pillars are as follows:

Improved-upon auto chess formula negating the stale meta with most optimal builds that the genre is known for. When playing auto chess, usually after the first 10 turns or so (a rough estimate, this depends upon a specific title but you get the idea), players decide upon a build and from that point onwards just hope for specific hero drops. In my opinion, this is where the biggest flaw of auto chess’ fundamental design lies. With the addition of the stress system and permanent character death, switching to a new build is more often than not the most optimal choice making the entire experience fresh and interesting within a single run (and also more skill-based)!

Classic Roguelike and CRPG features and gameplay sub-systems. These include procedural maps and enemy placement, consequential permadeath, player progression systems and much more.

Loot! Gear comes in many shapes and forms with varying parameters including rarity, completely changing every single run depending on what you get and forcing you to adapt and make specific choices such as what character builds to pursue.

Easy to play, hard to master with a steep learning curve. The game should be easy to pick up by new players, allowing them to grasp the basics rather quickly within the first minutes of gameplay. At the same time, all the nuisance and depth should give a clear edge to more experienced players that have spent numerous hours on the game and familiarized themselves with a significant number of the potential outcomes.

The game is meant to be set in a dark fantasy setting and should strive to have a Lovecraftian, menacing vibe to it.

Obviously, all the most popular auto chess titles are worth looking into in regards to UI/UX design and whatnot.

Some potential titles worth looking into in terms of other gameplay systems inspiration/art style:

Darkest Dungeon

Slay the Spire

Urtuk

Gloomhaven

While all the auto chess titles are developed and designed in a 3D space, the game logic could easily be translated into a 2D space. Whether I’d want to do something like seen on the above screenshot or perhaps like the one below is yet to be determined and up to consideration.