Turn-based strategy game Howl, aka Into The Breach as an illuminated manuscript, is out now – Rock Paper Shotgun

Lion Song developers unleash a work of "living ink"
If you happen to be a medieval monk illustrator trapped in the body of a modern videogames enthusiast, you might like Howl, a turn-based strategy game from Lion Song and Flower Collectors studio Mi’pu’mi Games. It’s powered by what the developers are calling “living ink”, an art style that fills in each papery map as you play.
The game certainly looks arresting: your cursor is a quill, the HUD is a collection of smaller parchment scraps, and the terrain is a slowly brightening wash of swirling colours, leaking beyond the outlines of trees and buildings. Lovely stuff. And what’s more, you get to beat up a bunch of wolves.
Howl consists of 60 levels spanning four chapters, and is the story of a deaf heroine with oracular abilities trying to find a cure for a “howling plague” that transforms all who hear it into ravenous beasts. Back in January, Katharine described it as a mixture of Pendragon and Into The Breach, with challenging but “digestible” puzzlebox scenarios.
You can plan up to six moves in advance, and the idea is naturally to anticipate enemy movements and catch them out, perhaps by shoving them into a pit as they scurry past it, or tricking one into blocking another. There’s also a “Prophecy” system whereby completing a map in a certain number of moves earns you Confidence points to spend on special abilities.
The virtuoso art direction (which reminds me a little of the amazing Chicory) isn’t just for show. It reflects the premise of fulfilling prophecies, with areas and stories starting out as wet ink and drying out in the course of finishing a level.
Howl is on sale now. I haven’t had a chance to play, but I think this looks good? There’s a demo on Steam, if you’re interested.
Rock Paper Shotgun is the home of PC gaming
Sign in and join us on our journey to discover strange and compelling PC games.
Howl
PC
Edwin Evans-Thirlwell
News Editor
Clapped-out Soul Reaver enthusiast with dubious academic backstory who obsesses over dropped diary pages in horror games. Games journalist since 2008. From Yorkshire originally but sounds like he’s from Rivendell.
Please enable JavaScript to see comments.
Howl is a devious tactics game that channels Into The Breach and Inkle's Pendragon
Wot The Lion's Song devs did next
Katharine Castle
10 months ago
1
Larian CEO is "frightened" by Baldur's Gate 3's success but it's "very motivating" for "our next big game"
Escape From Tarkov is adding vaulting, revised recoil, and new guns
Cities: Skylines 2's editor tools are still a couple of months away
Rhythmic hiking game from the makers of 80 Days will launch next month
Minecraft update 1.21 players are doing all kinds of crazy things with the new Breeze mob
The first original Invincible videogame, starring Atom Eve, is out today
Jusant and Shadow Of The Colossus lovers should try Chasing The Unseen's expanded playtest
Amazon Games cut 180 jobs shortly after Amazon report massive profits
The latest video game jobs on GamesIndustry.biz
Rock Paper Shotgun is owned by Gamer Network Limited, a ReedPop company and subsidiary of Reed Exhibitions Limited.
© 2023 Gamer Network Limited, Gateway House, 28 The Quadrant, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DN, United Kingdom, registered under company number 03882481.
All rights reserved. No part of this website or its content may be reproduced without the copyright owner’s permission.

source