Have you ever closed your eyes at night and dreamt of playing a game as a Viking?  Are you a fan of Roguelites with turn-based Strategy gameplay? What if I told you there was a game that combines both your dream and your favorite game genre? If you’ve already wet yourself with excitement then you’ll be giddy to hear that Crash Wave Games are making this dream game of yours and it just released on Steam Early Access.

The game is called Iron Tides and is well on its way of becoming the next big Kickstarter success story. Crash Wave Games describes Iron Tides as “a rogue-lite genre mash of survival, exploration and tactical combat. You are cast in the role of a viking chieftain, charged with commanding a loot-hungry warband. Engage in a series of raids, venturing ever deeper into treacherous seas as you encounter long-forgotten ruins and mysterious tribes.”

If this is the first time you are hearing about this game don’t worry, you’re not alone. A couple of weeks ago I received an email asking if I would like to try out this new game and write up a preview/review and some follow-up material. Normally I’m not into indie games. So I did what all of you are about to do, jumped on over to YouTube to check out a few videos of the game. Here, let me save your mouse from a few frantic clicks. Check out the official trailer below.

When I first got the email in my inbox I hesitated. As much as I would love to get a free game, I didn’t want to accept this invitation unless I genuinely thought I might enjoy the game. It didn’t take very long for me to make up my mind. The game isn’t what I usually play but it really looked interesting. That turned out to be a great choice.

Once I got started I found this game nearly impossible to put down. For three straight nights I suffered from a severe case of ‘one more turn’ disease. Every quest for the last 2-3 hours of the night was most certainly the final quest for the night. The game does have a story to tell, but if you’re allergic to reading a lot of text… wait, why are you here then? Anyway, you get the story of this game through the description for each of the main quests in the game. This didn’t bother me that much because the gameplay was just so damn addicting.

The game has 3 main types of areas you will visit. The first area you will encounter is an exploration area. Here you sail around looking for other ships that have crashed, docks that provide items and/or honor, enemy ships you can attack and bandit outposts. If you move your ship onto a battle tile next to a ship or output you’ll be transported to the second type of area, the battlefield. Here you choose which warriors you would like to attack with and, once ready, you will have to clear the board of all enemies. This area works like your standard tactical rpg. Each of your warriors have a specific amount of tiles they can move and a limited range for their attacks. The last area is your port, called Norhaven, where you can purchase items to help you on your next quest, or sell items plundered on your previous quest(s). You can also visit the Inn to recruit new Vikings to join your crew, or a dock where you can purchase a variety of upgrades like extra space to add crew members and/or item slots.

There are 4 types of Vikings you will accumulate through your journey. The Berserker, Hunter, Valkyrie and Vanguard. My personal favorite so far was the Hunter. In many battles I would keep my short range Vikings close to their starting position and let my Hunter venture out to deal some damage from a distance, well out of the range of the enemy units. Some Hunters also have the ability to heal other Vikings that are within 2 tiles and have a clear line of sight. You may also find that some Berserkers have a ranged attack where they can toss their axe at an enemy, but only after leveling up a few times. If you prefer close combat the Vanguard has some pretty devastating  attacks and acts as a pretty good tank, while the Valkyrie has strong attacks plus extra mobility due to a nifty little jump move. You have to be careful when using jump though. It is very easy to put your Valkyrie in a bad spot if you jump to a tile with multiple nearby enemies.

One of the reasons I find this game so addicting is because it is incredibly challenging, sometimes too challenging. One of the ways the game punishes you for being too confident is that when your Vikings die, it’s forever. Permadeath is so often an incredible turn off. I don’t feel that way in Iron Tides. Yeah it sucks to lose a favorite Hunter or Valkyrie in battle. But unlike many other games with permadeath, your play session doesn’t end immediately, even if your whole crew dies.

The game is not without flaws, no game really is. I felt the initial tutorial area could have done a better job explaining the game. I was only a few turns in and my crew was starving to death. I would eventually learn that there was a market place where you could purchase items, new crew members and upgrades for your ship. I know it doesn’t take a genius to figure how the port at Norhaven works, but I was so excited to get back out and complete another quest I never even looked around the area, I just immediately went back out on the next quest.

I also found the initial upgrade curve to be a bit steep, there were a few items that could be upgraded right away, but most of the upgrades I tend to target first were well out of my reach for most of the initial part of the game. I spent the better part of 10 hours completing side quests to build up enough honor to purchase a single upgrade. Sure, I could have gone with the extra crew member for 300 honor, but I can’t use them all.

The good news is the game is still in early access. There is still plenty of time to fine tune the game and add a few things to the tutorial for idiots like me and maybe even tweak the upgrade system to work a little faster since I clearly need someone to hold my hand while I play this game. At the time that I am writing this preview I am 29 hours into the game and I don’t see myself putting this away for quite a while.

If you’re a fan of roguelites, real-time-strategy games, or anything with a Viking theme you should probably check this out. At it’s core this game is simple, addicting, and pure fun. You can pick up the game on Steam through their Early Access program for $14.99.