''Backpack Hero'' is a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...

video game developed by Jaspel and published by Jaspel, IndieArk, and Different Tales. It was released in November 2023 for

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

macOS macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

and

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

(via

Steam Steam is water vapor, often mixed with air or an aerosol of liquid water droplets. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization. Saturated or superheated steam is inv ...

, GOG and

Epic Games Store The Epic Games Store is a video game digital distribution service and storefront operated by Epic Games. It launched in December 2018 as a software client, for Microsoft Windows and macOS, and online storefront. Android and iOS versions of t ...

) and

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

. Ports for

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

, and

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

, were released on June 11, 2024. Described as an "inventory management roguelike", the gameplay revolves around how well the player organizes their bag, which is based on a grid system similar to the briefcase in ''

Resident Evil 4 ''Resident Evil 4'' is a 2005 survival horror game developed and published by Capcom for the GameCube. Players control the special agent Leon S. Kennedy on a mission to rescue the US president's daughter, Ashley Graham (Resident Evil), Ashley ...

''. ''Backpack Hero'' launched to generally positive reception. The game was Initially funded via

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

and made available for

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

on August 15, 2022.

Gameplay

''Backpack Hero'' " face of the game" and first playable hero is Purse, a

rat Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

. The game features five different playable characters, each with different gameplay. Resources gathered in dungeons can be spent in a town on the

overworld An overworld or a hub world is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres, such as some pla ...

in order to upgrade buildings and unlock new characters.

Development

The game was funded on Kickstarter for US$223,893, out of a US$20,000 goal. Main developer Jasper Cole stated that the game drew inspiration from ''

Slay the Spire ''Slay the Spire'' is a 2019 roguelike deck-building game developed by the American indie studio Mega Crit. It was published by Mega Crit for its initial PC release and by Humble Bundle on home consoles and mobile. The game was released in early ...

'', ''

Into the Breach ''Into the Breach'' is a turn-based strategy video game developed and published by indie studio Subset Games, consisting of Jay Ma and Matthew Davis. ''Into the Breach'' is their second game, following '' FTL: Faster Than Light''. It features ...

'' and ''

XCOM ''XCOM'' (originally called ''X-COM'') is a science fiction video game franchise featuring an elite international organization tasked with countering alien invasions of Earth. The series began with the strategy video game '' UFO: Enemy Unknown' ...

''. He cited the original ''

Deus Ex ''Deus Ex'' is a series of cyberpunk role-playing video games, set during the mid 21st century. Focusing on the conflict between secretive factions who wish to control the world by proxy, and the effects of transhumanistic attitudes and technol ...

'' and its grid-based inventory as an additional inspiration. It was initially created as a

game jam A game jam is an event where participants try to make a video game from scratch. Depending on the format, participants might work independently, or in teams. The event duration usually ranges from 24 to 72 hours. Participants are generally program ...

game, but when its popularity drastically increased, he quit some of his jobs in order to work on it full-time. The game launched for

and

via

Steam Early Access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release development cycles, such as pre-alph ...

in August 2022, and spent over a year in development before being released in full in November 2023, when the game would also be released on GOG.com and ported to the

. Home console ports for

PlayStation is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...

and

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...

followed in June of the following year. Since launch, the game has continued to receive updates, mostly focused on bug fixes and balance adjustments, with occasional content updates.

Reception

Robert Purchese of ''

Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...

'' said he was "impressed" by ''Backpack Hero'', calling it "very charming" with "friendly pixelated characters". He called the gameplay initially "a bit awkward", but having a great deal of tactical opportunity once the player learned more about it. He noted his desire for backpacks in video games "to be visible again". Sorrel Kerr-Jung of ''

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

'' praised the game, calling it "one of the most inventive deckbuilders" she had ever played. She criticized the game's actual combat as "bland and repetitive", but also noted that "it may feature the best inventory management system ever", making each pickup feel like a puzzle. She stated that each playable character reinvented the game by drastically modifying the gameplay, saying that the game was "richer and more engaging than plenty of full games" even before its city-building aspect had been added. Jared Nelson of ''

TouchArcade ''TouchArcade'' (stylized as toucharcade) is a mobile games journalism website. It was launched in 2008 as a sister site of ''MacRumors'' by its founder Arnold Kim and Blake Patterson. ''TouchArcade'' also hosts a forum and a weekly podcast. ...

'' said that the game's concept was "anything but boring", expressing his wish that the game was released on mobile platforms in the future. Jonathan Bolding of ''

PC Gamer ''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...

'' said he "quite enjoyed" the game, saying he liked how

combos Combos, officially called Combos Stuffed Snacks, are cylindrical tubes of cracker, pretzel, or tortilla, available with various fillings. History Combos Snacks, created in the early 1980s, are a snack food distributed by Mars, Incorporated, and ...

were built.

References

{{Reflist 2023 video games Different Tales games Early access video games Fantasy video games Indie games IndieArk games Inventory management games Kickstarter-funded video games Linux games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games PlayStation 4 games PlayStation 5 games Roguelike video games Single-player video games Video games about animals Video games about mice and rats Windows games Xbox One games Xbox Series X and Series S games