Loot Rascals

Loot Rascals for PC and PS4 is a science-fiction RPG belonging to the roguelike subgenre. The game is the debut of Hollow Ponds - a studio founded by the core members of the crew that had once produced Hohokum, under the auspices of Sony Computer Entertainment.

Plot

Loot Rascals takes the player to the future times when mankind is conducting large-scale operations aiming to colonize different "corners" of space. The player takes on the role of an astronaut whose ship crashes on an unknown planet filled with aggressive, organic life forms, as well as murderous robots. One's goal is mainly to survive; finding a way to return home is a secondary task.

Mechanics

In Loot Rascals for PC and PS4, the player explores the game world made up of hexes. The surface of the planet is randomly generated and most of it remains hidden at the beginning of the adventure. Through exploration, the player gradually discovers neighbouring hexes, which leaves them with feelings of uncertainty as to what could be discovered next. The main threat to the player is constituted here by aggressive monsters - those are fought in real-time. The game's combat system is simplistic and the outcome of an encounter depends mainly on the character's stats and how good the player is at using their character's abilities.

What distinguishes Loot Rascals from typical roguelikes, is an unusual system of looting present. Defeated enemies leave cards for the player and those represent skills. Since the player has a limited number of slots for such cards in their equipment, it is important to select the most appropriate cards in order to configure the most useful abilities.

Death always means losing several of the most valuable cards. The monster who collects them is then transferred to the game's servers in order to make an appearance in adventures of another player. When the monster gets defeated, the person who slained it can return the card to its previous owner or keep it. The latter option can be less beneficial however, because the players can also create AI-controlled, holographic copies of their characters in order to have an indirect influence on another player's experience. Such a "bot" can attack other players during their adventures or aid them – the AI makes this decision, based on the character's deeds.

Last updated on 31 May 2016