Preview | Dunebound Tactics - Elios Must Flow

Dunebound Tactics presents you with a very different view of life in a land of endless desert. You are first put into the shoes of a sister who doesn’t want to leave her brother behind, but the grass has to be greener somewhere beyond the imperial reign in this shantytown. With her goodbyes said, she embarks on a journey she won’t return from after tangling with a powerful arcanist. But her end is not yours, as her sad tale serves as a light tutorial before you take on the same journey, hopefully to better results.

Dunebound Tactics is a roguelite where you pilot a vessel with not much to your name but your party members and Elios. Elios is the most coveted substance in the realm, as it can do everything from sustain life to power your sand-swimming barge. Elios doesn’t come without a price as it is the end result of humanoids dying. Between the Imperials, lawless scavengers, and humanoids that have succumbed to Elios addiction and became Broken, this is not a friendly world to be living in. 

Terahard Ltd. have not announced a release date yet for the game, but the studio recently put out a demo as part of Steam Next Fest. As of writing, the demo has already been updated with quality of life suggestions such as video tutorials, bug fixes, and even a new main menu and volume setting. This follows a limited playtest in January, showing that Terahard Ltd. is actively incorporating tweaks and fixes in the game. It’s clear the studio is listening and taking the time to make sure this game isn’t lost in the ever-increasing pile of roguelikes or other strong releases slated for 2025.

The game will challenge you to make hard decisions such as trusting a dying stranger, managing your Elios for fuel, equipment and as funds, and whether to liquidate a party member for more sweet, sweet Elios. These decisions aren’t just for flavor, either — make the right (or wrong) decision and you may find yourself buffed or cursed. The ability to make decisions is also impacted by the classes of characters you have, their personalities, and their skills. If one of your characters is an extrovert, for instance, you’re able to sweet-talk your way out of paying a toll. I did not find the gameplay to be particularly complex or harsh, but I can see how outside of a demo environment having too many curses would bring your run to an end, since you must reach a healing station to heal outside of combat. If you don’t, hopefully you have more party members to sub in or some healing abilities on standby the next time you enter combat.

When you do arrive at a point of interest, you may find multiple things to do, but be wary of the timer. Each action you take counts down these events so you may have to choose between a battle and investigating a cry for help.

Combat is a tile-based, turn-based affair with different classes like Marines, Berserkers, and Elionists (think mage). As this is only a preview, I was not able to see anything particularly powerful or interesting beyond the Elionist’s ability to place obstacles and bonuses for pushing enemies into said obstacles. I would hope this area would be expanded and have a bit more depth to it, as that is where you’re bound to spend most of your time in a turn-based RPG.

The in-game menu was unavailable in the demo build that I played, so I don’t know if genre-standard options like seeing enemy ranges are available outside of putting your cursor over the enemy. Additionally, while you are tasked with following leylines as part of the game’s story, I did not see them beyond following the UI’s arrow and consistent wisps of dust. Dialogue and story could also use another pass as I encountered typos and lines like, “No, not bad. Not yet.”

Though the demo for Dunebound Tactics is relatively simple, I can definitely see this game being worth its weight in Elios as the combat systems expand and harrowing choices are presented to the player. I look forward to what Terahard Ltd. has to offer and hope they can manage the journey.