Indie Illuminator - Telepath Tactics

Most of my Indie Illuminator posts up to this point have focused on new or upcoming projects. Today I thought I’d illuminate an older game I recently started playing: Telepath Tactics.

Produced by developer Sinister Design and released in 2015, Telepath Tactics is a turn-based tactics game with complex battles and a unique theme. I originally found the game after reading an article by Sinister Design’s primary developer, Craig Stern. (I’m 99% sure this piece on improving turn-based combat was the article, in case you want to check it out.) Telepath Tactics popped up on my Steam recommendations list a few months back, and I decided to finally give it a try.

Image from the game's Steam page.

I’m a few hours into the game, and here’s what I’ve noticed so far. First, Telepath Tactics takes the second part of its name seriously. After the first couple tutorial battles, the difficulty spikes pretty early, and you’ll need to think strategically to overcome the enemy’s superior numbers. The combat actually plays out a bit like a puzzle game, similar to 2018’s Into the Breach. But with several more characters involved, the puzzles are even more difficult to unravel.

The world of Telepath Tactics intrigued me right from the start. Two human sisters (the protagonists in the story so far) are adopted and cared for by a race of humanoid lizards, and the first characters who join your group include mage-like telepaths (unsurprising, given the game’s name) and a knight riding a giant mantis. While other elements seem to resemble a classic fantasy story, I’m definitely excited to find out more about the world and how the more unique elements fit into it.

Overall, the game has a lot to offer, but the UI does leave a bit to be desired aesthetically and functionally. For example, when my characters’ weapons started to break it wasn’t especially clear how and when to equip a replacement. That being said, I would encourage tactics fans to look past the bland interface and see what Telepath Tactics contributes to the genre. It’s obvious that Craig Stern put a lot of thought into what makes a game “tactical,” and implemented that thought into this game. If you're interested, you can check out the game's Steam page here.