Watch On

A new tactical RPG has you put together small adventurer teams and take on time-limited battles against a variety of monsters in fast runs to reclaim ancient mines beneath a fantasy world. Forgotten Mines, out today by solo developer Cannibal Goose, strings together micro-sized tactical arena battles into runs at glory as you build up resources and treasures to recruit ever-better adventurers and get deeper into the earth.

“One millennium has passed since an excavation found the gates of hell in the mines of Dorvgrad, and the under-Earth became glutted with monsters,” says the description, which is about the exact amount of story I need for a micro-tactics RPG. That it fits into Steam’s recently-added dwarf tag is just icing on the cake.

Forgotten Mines’ design appears to be all about choices, time limits, and efficiency. You only have a set number of turns to clear out the enemies, as few as eight, as many as fifteen. Taking down the baddies is inevitable, but making sure you have the combos and setup to take them down fast enough is the key.

The appeal of Forgotten Mines is definitely about the variety of stuff at your disposal: Your job is to fine-tune what’s available in order to make a team that can go as far as possible as fast as possible. The first step is putting together a team of three that will carry you long term using the classes you have: So early on you might pick a heavy-hitting axeman for big enemy brutes, a fast dagger-wielder to set up flanks, and a versatile mage to control enemies. Your characters then have personality traits, species, equipment, and abilities to tweak, with new legendary gear uncovered as you explore.

You can find Forgotten Mines on Steam for $8, though it’s 15% off until August 6. It’s developed by Cannibal Goose, and published by Ishtar Games, who also published enjoyable tactics roguelike The Last Spell.