Slay the Spire modders’ roguelike auto-battler Tales & Tactics gets an early access launch date

We already knew the folks behind Slay the Spire mod Downfall were making their own standalone game, Tales & Tactics, and now we know when we’ll be able to play it. Tales & Tactics, in case you’ve forgotten, is best pitched as a mixture of Slay the Spire and Dota Auto Chess; in other words, it’s a fantasy roguelike (like StS), where you can pick up abilities, gear and whatnot during each run, with auto-battling combat (like Auto Chess) - except here it’s on a hex board.

Those runs will happen over the course of the Grant Tournament, a contest that sees the player work their way up to showdowns with the Tournament Champions. Those champions will seemingly remember previous encounters with the player and adjust their moves to counter you if you just try the same approach each time.

One difference from the likes of Auto Chess is the lack of a timer, so you can take as long as you like to plan your turn. There will also be adjustable difficult options and choice of how much randomness occurs between different runs.

Tales & Tactics comes from Table 9 Studio, the team who previously created seriously impressive Downfall - a massive mod for Slay the Spire that introduced new characters (including bosses), modes and more to boot. Picking up the game for a full release is the indie publishing arm of Yogcast Games, who you might remember from multiplayer kitchen chaos sim PlateUp.

You’ll be able to give Tales & Tactics a go for yourself when it hits Steam early access on August 3rd, with a demo due to land during this week’s Steam Next Fest if you really can’t wait. If you're after more choice demo picks from this year's Next fest, Katharine has a top list here.