Game Theory: No, seriously, go play Tactical Breach Wizards

Every Friday, A.V. Club staffers kick off the weekend by taking a look at the world of gaming, diving in to the ideas that underpin the hobby we love with a bit of Game Theory. We’ll sound off in the space above, and invite you to respond down in the comments, telling us what you’re playing this weekend, and what theories it’s got you kicking around.

Earlier this year, we wrote about the demo for Suspicious Development’s new tactical puzzle game Tactical Breach Wizards, which took the language of strategy games like X-Com (and also wizards) and combined them with the “Oh shit, the game is telling me how it’s going to hurt me, how do I stop that?” puzzling of an Into The Breach. At the time, we called said demo “one of the more enjoyable hours we’ve spent with a game of late,” and stated that its release date couldn’t come soon enough; now, that release date is here, so what the hell are you waiting for? Go play Tactical Breach Wizards!

If that dose of superliminal messaging isn’t enough for you, we’ll note here just how much more there is to the game than what was in that already generous demo. That includes a surprisingly good story that blends Tom Clancy-esque international espionage shenanigans with creator Tom Francis’ uniquely funny writing style (and wizards). As readers of his old PC Gamer features will know, Francis is a guy who likes thinking out every weird potentiality of a scenario, and having him apply that instinct to both a world where magic impacts special forces training, and to the question of “What would be a cool power to implement in a turn-based tactics game?” pumps out a new delight every few minutes. Playing through Tactical Breach Wizards in its full version is basically a toybox that spits out a new dose of joy every mission or two, whether it’s adding new abilities to existing characters, giving you an all-new one to play with, or doling out perk points that let you get really, genuinely silly with what your existing powers can do. At times, that freedom can get a little overwhelming, but the game is so well-tutorialized, and so smart in its pared-down scale, that you can almost always push through the decision paralysis to find the fun.

And all of it is shot through with that humor, which makes everything you accomplish in the game feel that extra dose of rewarding. (We would have said we couldn’t remember the last time a game had us genuinely waiting to see its next joke, except we just recently played through Thank Goodness You’re Here!. Even so, TBW gives that game a run for its money, while also having infinitely more interesting play.) It extends past the writing, too: There’s something undeniably hilarious about, say, having a “medic” character whose powers only work on the dead—thus encouraging you to have her shoot and kill perfectly healthy members of your own squad so they can revive with a mana buff.

In fact, we’re in the rare position of not having finished Wizards just yet, not because we don’t want to play it, but because we’re savoring our first-time experience with the game. It’s rare to play something this fresh, this brain-taxing, this joyful, and it feels like a shame to race through the playthrough. (Not that the game is hurting for content: One of the elements added that wasn’t visible in the demo was a series of challenge levels that encourage players to think out all the bizarre applications possible for their characters’ powers.) It is going to be extremely difficult for anything to wrest our “game of the year” laurels away from Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, which represents 50 pretty sublime hours of vast and mysterious exploration. But a concentrated dose of all the things that are most purely fun about strategy games? It’s got a shot. (And wizards.)