Next jump: Shmup Tactics

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics is really, really awesome. You like turn-based? Check. You like clever chess-like logic moves that make you feel like a boss when you pull off a slick combo? Check. You like FTL-like procedural generation and tough-but-fair gameplay? Check. And believe it or not, they mixed bullet-hell with turn-based gameplay... And it worked brilliantly. There is some serious meat-on-the-bone for a mere five bucks. Tons of polish, too. The pixel art is beautiful, and the music is spot-on. They hold your hand to get you started, and even have a very detailed in-game manual (which, by all fairness, you will read if you want to have any chance of winning). The tutorial actually is a bit overwhelming, which is great because there is a lot of complexity here. Just dig in and you'll figure it out in time. All you need is a mouse, and the keyboard is optional. Essentially, the core

Judging by the lack of reviews at the time of writing this, I would guess that this game isn't selling very well, which is a damn shame. While it may not have the depth of FTL(which I assume is a partial inspiration), it is exactly what's advertised... which is a criminally hard thing to find these days. It's brutally difficult, and could use a balance patch or two in my opinion, but when you string together a X9 combo on your 1st turn? Feels good, man... John Goodman. On a personal note, on a whim a few weeks ago, I googled "turn based bullet hell", and viola, this popped up! I love bullet hell/smups, but I have a degenerative neuromuscular condition that makes it nearly impossible for me to play them. So, the fact this game even exists is cool, and the fact that it isn't a trainwreck is just awesome. Buy this game and support the developer if it looks even remotely interesting.

Well now, it's time to review yet another roguelike... or is it a turn-based strategy game? Bullet-hell? Yep, Next Jump: Shmup Tactics is all three of these things at once. These genres seem like they absolutely should not go together... it sounds totally nonsensical. But not only is the combination viable, but it works out really well here. In this game, your overall goal is to reach the Dragon Mothership and defeat it, because apparently they stole your space beer (???) and ran off with it. Like any good shmup, this means a long battle through about a kersquillion enemy ships on your way to fight the boss at the end. As this game is part roguelike, everything is procedural, so you'll be getting a very different experience every time. You start on the map screen, which is similar to that of FTL, though I personally enjoyed this version of that mechanic more than the way FTL did it. Th

Very fun little arcade game!

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics is really, really awesome. You like turn-based? Check. You like clever chess-like logic moves that make you feel like a boss when you pull off a slick combo? Check. You like FTL-like procedural generation and tough-but-fair gameplay? Check. And believe it or not, they mixed bullet-hell with turn-based gameplay... And it worked brilliantly. There is some serious meat-on-the-bone for a mere five bucks. Tons of polish, too. The pixel art is beautiful, and the music is spot-on. They hold your hand to get you started, and even have a very detailed in-game manual (which, by all fairness, you will read if you want to have any chance of winning). The tutorial actually is a bit overwhelming, which is great because there is a lot of complexity here. Just dig in and you'll figure it out in time. All you need is a mouse, and the keyboard is optional. Essentially, the core