New release: Skyshine’s Bedlam

Word reaches me that Skyshine’s Bedlam (previously known merely as Bedlam) has now been released into the world! Developed by 3-person studio Skyshine, Skyshine’s Bedlam is a squad-based roguelike set in the post-apocalypse.

The narrative premise:

As the technological marvel of Bysantine falls victim to overcrowding, class distinction, corporate conflict and organized crime, there comes word of a hopeful place beyond Bedlam, somehow unblemished by the Barren Age: a distant utopia called Aztec City!

You are the mysterious Mechanic, last of a once-thriving guild of intrepid explorers dedicated to charting the blasted wastes in their Dozers — massive metal titans specifically designed to traverse the hellscape. With the reconstructed Dozer called Boneshaker, it is now possible for people to travel from Bysantine… through the savage lands of Bedlam toward a new future!

This game looks a bit like what I would expect if Mad Max: Fury Road and Wasteland 2 got married, then produced a child by way of The Banner Saga. “The Banner Saga?” you ask. Yeah–this game actually uses The Banner Saga’s engine, and as you can see below, they’ve mostly stuck to the whole 2D rotoscoped animation paradigm (at least for the combat):

Speaking of combat: combat in Bedlam is chess-like, in the sense that it is both turn-based and lacking a set turn order–you and your opponent trade off making moves, but any unit can move at any time.

The game is a roguelike, so you can expect a procedurally generated world, random encounters, and (of course) permadeath. There are four enemy factions to contend with in the game world: marauders, cyborgs, mutants, and AI. (If this page is to be believed, it is possible to make allies of some of these groups, or at least individuals who come from them.)

You can snag Skyshine’s Bedlam on Steam (and seemingly nowhere else) for $19.99; Windows only.