Arco

Arco is genuinely something special. Plenty of games have tried to blend turn‑based strategy with real‑time action, but almost all of them stumble somewhere. Arco nails it. The combat feels fresh, fluid, and cleverly designed, and its RPG elements tie everything together in a way that makes every encounter feel meaningful. After trying it, I found myself excited to wake up just to play more. The control scheme initially reminded me of classic turn‑based CRPGs - where you select an action, time pauses, and then you simply watch your character carry it out. You’re more of a spectator while the character moves and attacks on their own. But Arco goes far beyond that. It gives you direct control over how your character moves, runs, and positions themselves during the turn, blending the clarity of turn‑based planning with the agency of real‑time movement. It’s a smart evolution of the formula, and it works beautifully. Arco is a truly unique experience, and I’d love to see more games experiment with ideas like this.

Absolute masterpiece of indie gaming. 10/10 emotional story with great writing and a killer pixel aesthetic. The core gameplay loop is also well executed. It reminds me of Tactical Breach Wizards, Shogun Showdown, Let's! Revolution!, or Into the Breach a bit. It's faster and maybe a bit simpler than those but maintains a turn based tactical feel. The story though, so good! Relatively simple western revenge tale but masterfully paced and delivered. I'm tempted to go back in and get the alternate endings. I played it all on the Steam Deck with no performance issues and it seems like I'm a bit slower than most because I also had a few hours in the demo that weren't counted and it took me around 20 hours for a single playthrough.

Excellent twist on a tactics game - what if you took the rhythms of a dual-stick shooter & made them a turn based tactical thing. Short but not a wasted moment. Gets a lot of emotional mileage out of simple but beautiful sprite work and music. Every vocal track drop hit. Fast favorite from the last few years, absolutely worth a try!