This Darkest Dungeon-like RPG Will Have Us Lead a Steampunk Circus
Circus Electrique is an RPG combining Victorian-era London with steampunk, circus management and Darkest Dungeon-like gameplay. This strange but intriguing combination will debut later this year.
What happens if we combine Darkest Dungeon with steampunk and take it all to a Victorian-era circus in London? You get Circus Electrique - a mixture of RPG and economic strategy, in which we take care of a group of circus acrobats.
The action of Zen Studios' game takes place in an alternative reality, in which the streets of the capital of Great Britain are filled with citizens overwhelmed by an unexplained craze. A mysterious plague has spread over almost the entire city, except for the eponymous circus group. Gifted with extraordinary talents, clowns, fire-eaters and other performers must face hordes of murderers and make their way through six districts to save London.
Not so dark and not a dungeon at all
If you've played Darkest Dungeon, you'll feel right at home in Circus Electrique. The game enables you to choose from fifteen character archetypes, although not all of them will be available at once. Each class will receive different abilities, stats and gadgets, which will be used in turn-based battles..
There are also statuses imposed on enemies (or by them), the position of characters affecting the battle and other elements that we remember from visits to the former game. All this is accompanied by 3D graphics, but no less stylish than in the game by the Red Hook Studios (which, incidentally, also abandoned 2D in its sequel).
Show must go on
The system of expanding the city - or rather, the circus, although it will be here not only as a base of operations - is also familiar. The show must go on, so the players will organize shows every now and then, choosing opening and closing pieces and the main attraction for the audience. This is important because only in this way will we be able to raise funds to develop the combat potential (and not only) of our circus performers.
It will also be necessary to watch out for relations between artists and their Devotion - the local equivalent of morale and stress from Darkest Dungeon. Dissatisfied members may even leave the troupe, and their mood will affect their effectiveness in battle and during performances.
Circus Electrique will be released this year on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. On PC, the game will launch in Epic Games Store and Steam.
