It's pretty much Banner Saga with a MadMax skin slapped on. If you liked Convoy, FTL, Nethack, Stone Soup, and so forth, you will enjoy Skyshine's Bedlam. The game has sort of a Tactics Ogre/Final Fantasy Tactics feel, but with a few logistical differences that make it unique but not exactly better. The art is good, and the music and sfx are pretty satisfying. Some of the instances I had where serious business was going down were made much more intense through the music. The sound effects also, when an enemy gets blown to bits, when you use a Dozer attack ability (thats the little rv tank you got there) are satisfying. When you level up you are awarded with a very satisfying announcement almost duke-nukem-esque "LEVAHL AHP".
The story has to do with delivering people from one end of the continent on the dozer to the other, all while traversing bandits, mutants, cyborgs, and AIs as they try to loot and pillage your big shiny machine, there really isn't much else to say about it. The game tries to draw a strong narrative right from the start a-la descriptive texts that will make you feel like you are playing Zork. How well it works sort of comes and goes. It is hard to get excited over text based descriptions when the world is so sublimely depicted with well drawn art.
Sadly, there are only 4 types of units. Deadeyes (6 range/ 2 move), Frontliner (1 range/7 move), Gunslinger (3-4 range/4 move), and Trencher (1-2 range/5 move). The units have varying levels of HP which are extremely important to the play. When a regular unit gains 3 kills they become vets, and gain a level that adds +1dmg per level every 4 subsequent kills. The heroes of the game (I've only grabbed 4 of the 5 that I know to exist) are variations of the first four classes. I think this is a very poor choice, because the melee heroes only get 4 move compared to the 7 move on a normal vet Frontliner, losing 3 mobility for only a bonus 5 hp.
That got way too technical, way too fast.
While the game has a lot of little intricacies that make it interesting, the limit of 2 moves per turn kinda tones everything down a bit. There are also several different races in the game, such as Mutant, Cyborg, Rogue AI, and Maurader, each of them get a specific bonus when they are in battle. These bonuses only apply to the enemy.
The game was originally on Kickstarter and I'm enjoying it pretty thoroughly. This game is definitely worth a play through, right now it is on steam for 14.99USD, which is not a bad price, but it could be better. The game is kinda short, and most of the replayability has to do with the random encounters that happen as you cross the continent in your Dozer. There are also a few bugs to the game as well. I was unable to reach the 'true ending' because the game freezes right before you arrive back at Byzantine (though it is possible the game was suppose to end moments before this).
Despite these bugs and the game's shortcomings I think the game is still extremely worth playing. I'd suggest waiting for it to go on sale for Christmas or something, and by then the bugs should have been fixed and there may be a few extra doodads and what not. Keep an eye out for this one, as it is a fun roguelike in the same league and vein of FTL and Convoy, which is likely to fly under the radar.
