Grade: A
Turn-based survival rogue-lite where every choice must be weighed carefully
Spoilers Below!
I’ve never played a game quite like Overland. It’s a turn-based game set in an apocalyptic USA, where a party of travelers is trying to find safety while alien creatures are terraforming the environment. Overland has the feel of an epic tabletop board game with a campaign mode. On the gridded map with an isometric view, you manage your turns to grab supplies, fight off the monstrosities, and escape to the next area. There is no winning, just survival and escape before being overwhelmed by mobs of strange alien creatures.
Overland Lore
The game backstory starts with a small-ish asteroid crashing into the western USA. Out of the asteroid, some small strange creatures begin to change the surroundings, which is first more of a curiosity than a danger. Over time, the environmental changes pick up steam to the point where society has collapsed. Scattershot survivors are trying to make their way to a safe zone.
The remaining humans have heard of a safe zone on the west coast. The problem is that the trip will be treacherous and difficult. As you go through each map (which is procedurally generated, so no two are alike), you have to figure out how to scavenge for gas and supplies while outmaneuvering creepy crawly alien critters.
Brutal Survival Mechanics
If you carefully stay ahead of the curve with gasoline, weapons, and supplies and take only very calculated risks throughout, you’ll mostly be ok. It’s a slippery slope, and one bad decision quickly snowballs into a party wipe. Overland’s edge between “ok” and “we’re goners” is very thin.
In my first playthrough, things were going okay, and we had made it all the way to the Rocky Mountains. My trio of Adrian, Nettie, and Amber were kitted out with good weapons, night gear, and medicine. On this map, I spent too much time collecting items, and suddenly a mob formed between me and the exit that I couldn’t push past. I just backed up the car, and I thought this group was goners. Suddenly, I got lucky and something unexpected drew the mob away.
Overland Death Spiral
The environments introduce more varied and complex hazards as you progress through the game. If one thing happens to a party member in Overland, it can quickly result in a death spiral.
In this run, I noticed some strange alien fauna that formed on the ground and learned that if you end your turn in the exotic fauna, you get hurt. Poor Adrian ended his turn in the danger zone and was quickly killed by this unexpected new complexity. The duo of Amber and Nettie party ran away while we left our companion behind.
Soon after, Nettie found out the hard way that if you hit one of the new creature types, it splits into five different smaller creatures that all have their own turns. Unfortunately, Nettie didn’t recover, and Amber escaped on their own.
Then, it was just Amber on the road alone. She made it through a few maps on her own, but with only one character, the action economy is not in your favor. Amber did her best but eventually, was surrounded in the darkness, and died a gruesome death.
I recorded the Overland Death Spiral in the video below. May you learn from this party’s mistakes!
RP evolves in your head to create a dramatic tension
The RP isn’t said out loud between the various characters, and you mostly imagine it in your head as you go. There are lot’s of opportunities to have scenes filled with dramatic tension. Will you leave people behind and save yourself? Should you kill competing scavengers grabbing up the precious fuel you need? Is it better to sacrifice a party member so the others can escape? Should I murder the traders and take their stuff?
There was one moment in a run where my bearded ax dude, “Bub” was stuck after pulling a roadblock out of the way and couldn’t get to the car. He had to fight through 5 or 6 aliens as 20-25 more spawned. I would have left him behind if I were being smart, but Sonya and Jasper just couldn’t. Bub nearly got eviscerated but somehow fought off the horde and made it to the car at the final possible second. This type of thrill is the highlight of the game.
All Dog Full Playthrough
In my last run, I tried an all-dog walkthrough and had my most successful run by far. I made it to the other coast. I am so glad Team Fingi, Inc. added the all-dog mode as one of the final patches to the game.
Some playthrough Highlights:
- I started with my good boy Goose and picked up packmates Udon and Byron. Those three characters made it to the end.
- I found a van that could hold four characters. Vans are great for people but have lousy gas mileage and can’t hold a lot of equipment. Also, Vans can’t go off-road, so getting stuck is easier.
- The party barely avoided a huge explosion that wiped the front half of the map. The van was severely damaged, but I could drive out just in time.
- Team Dog switched halfway through from a van to an SUV, which could only hold three people, but had better storage.
- I made the tactical decision to kill all strangers in this playthrough. I had my car stolen once by a stranger and decided that Goose, Udon, and Byron would be an untrusting crew. This resulted in the traders shunning me and refusing to trade. So my crew had a bad rep.
- Gasoline was tough throughout, and this was a constant stress and worry throughout the entire 4 hours.
- Towards the end, in the Arizona desert, the terraforming had blocked off big areas of the map and you had to cut your way through the stone just to get basic supplies. This was the most brutal mechanic of the game.
Overall Impressions
The end was satisfying. You were left with an understanding that the world had been fully terraformed, and you had the hope that you could survive in the new alien environs. But, was it just the terraforming process that was dangerous or the new lifeforms that sprouted up? You are left with the question in your mind as the credits roll.
Overland wasn’t a perfect game, and some of the UI was wonky. However, even with that little complaint, this game had a lot of successful thought and effort into making it a memorable survival experience. I felt these impossible choices in my bones as I went through my playthroughs and left some maps with significant regrets.
Overland’s a good game. You should play it and make your own unique stories. Noone’s tale will be quite the same, and I think that’s the best part of this game.
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