Do you love tactics? Do you love space? Do you love cats? If you’ve made it as far as reading this article, I presume the answer is yes – and, in that case, Space Cats Tactics has got some fantastic news for you. This new Steam game blends some of the best strategy games including FTL, XCOM, and Stellaris, combining grid-based tactics on your ship with space combat and, of course, those fantastic, furry felines. If that tickles your fancy, you’ll be pleased to know that Space Cats Tactics is almost here.
Space Cats Tactics really lays all its cards on the table from minute one with that name, and it certainly delivers on all three of those pillars. Coming from solo developer Alex Nicola’s Mitzi Games, you step into the shoes of space cat Captain Mitz, who has been hired to smuggle a ship to a remote corner of the galaxy. Of course, things aren’t quite as simple as they first seem, as you uncover the nature of the ship and your mission.
Chased by government agents, you’ll have to evade them as well as anyone else who wants to get their hands on your cargo, switching between two different combat layers. You can swap on the fly between the space level, where you’ll be engaging in ship combat with any attackers, and a ship-level management view that will feel very reminiscent to those who have played FTL.
Much like FTL, you’ll have to respond on the fly to all manner of problems, whether that’s fires springing up on your ship mid-combat, clouds of cosmic gas, asteroid fields that require careful navigation but can offer valuable resources. Thankfully, you can hire a crew of space cats to help you out – deploying them to the best of their skills to help keep everything under control.
You can upgrade your ship with new rooms and abilities, making each playthrough unique. There’s plenty of encounters along your journey too, where you’ll be faced with deciding whether to be a noble captain or a backstabbing rogue. As someone who’s always on the lookout for spiritual successors to FTL, I can’t wait to give this one a shot. Plus, cats.
Space Cats Tactics releases on Steam on July 24 for $14.99. You can wishlist it so you don’t forget, or head over here to check out a free demo of it right now.
In the meantime, we’ve got all the best turn-based tactics games for you to browse if you just can’t get enough, or you can support even more small developers by checking out the best indie games to see what takes your fancy.