Developer: Finji
Publisher: Finji
Release: Out now
On: Windows
From: Itch.io, Steam
Price: 20/$25/ 21
I spent a non-zero amount of time over the weekend imagining a dark future where the incredible popularity of Twitter account Can You Pet The Dog? led scores of indie developers to include ill-fitting snozzle-scratching mechanics in their games. Should this dark time of Very Good Boys come to pass, a game you couldn t accuse of jumping on the dog wagon is Finji s Overland, since it s been letting players stuff actual wagons with dogs for a couple of years now.
Overland is a turn-based tactical game, in which each dog (or person) under your control has two actions to do stuff on a grid, after which things that want you dead get a turn to do stuff on a grid. It s also a survival game, in that you need at least one of your dogs (or people) to survive in order to keep playing. It s a roguelite, in that it offers harsh penalties for failure, and it s also a puzzle game thanks to the discrete problems it presents for you to overcome. It’s whimsical, but very tough.