So many games feature cataclysmic scenarios where the world is shook by some sort of devastating event. Perhaps this is some sort of outbreak that makes the dead come to life and feast on the living, a massive war between nations, or even a natural disaster like a flood. These scenarios lend themselves to a conflict or problem that needs solving, and are usually the result of some sort of shady agency or painfully typical foreign power overstepping its mark. I appreciate a game choosing a more creative source for its disaster though, like for example in Australia Did It.
Australia Did It is a unique Roguelike, where your job is to get cargo from one side of the Atlantic Ocean to the other. The main problem with this is that the ocean is entirely drained, thanks to some sort of experiment gone wrong Down Under. Countries and companies still want to exchange goods globally though, and thus train drivers have to journey across this dangerous landscape and defend themselves from threats along the way. It’s a creative setting that lends itself to some equally creative gameplay, and I’m already a little bit hooked.
The bulk of your time in Australia Did It will be spent defending stations, where your train needs to stop between big journeys. Each turn a new set of enemies will begin approaching from four directions, and it’s your job to deploy units that can deal with them before they destroy your train entirely. You always have a good idea of what’s coming next, and it’ll take perfect strategy and unit choice to keep the cargo safe. It’s sort of like a blend of the 2018 masterpiece Into the Breach and a tower defence game, and is just as compelling as that sounds.
The real stars of the show here are the units themselves, who are creative and plentiful. There are three basic units you can make if you have enough Cindermint, a Gunslinger who deals two damage to an enemy in a straight line, a Radshot who poisons a foe so they take damage as they make their approach, and the Nomad who simply blasts enemies back but doesn’t necessarily hurt them. Even using these basic options requires a lot of thought if you want to do so flawlessly, but merging them is where the real fun begins.
The way you make your units stronger in Australia Did It is by moving them on top of each other and fusing them together. You can only do this if they’re the same level though, and each merge increases this level. The first merge you make will combine the abilities of the two basic units, so if it’s two gunslingers they’ll deal extra damage but if it’s a gunslinger and a radshot they’ll damage and poison. Once you reach level three though they’ll turn into a new unit entirely, like the unit with a rocket launcher who deals splash damage and the shotgun unit that blasts a whole row back with pure shell-based power.
The units only continue to grow more ludicrous from there, with level five units able to do some crazy things like devastating full columns with poison and pain while scorching the earth itself. Experimenting and finding your favourites is a lot of fun, and there are so many different powerful units to add to your compendium and use to blast bugs and bots. You’ve got to be careful though because one wrong move and they’ll permanently die, and you’ll need to do a whole lot of merging to get them back.
This tactics/defence gameplay is only one side of Australia Did It though, as you still need to travel between stations. As you travel along the tracks hordes of enemies will try to swarm the train, and whichever units you have in your three carriages will automatically shoot back. There are a few things you can do to survive this as you travel too, like swap which units fire from each carriage based on the situation, focus all your offense in a particular direction, or use your super ability to resist damage and speed to your destination faster. It’s a nice change of pace from the thoughtful grid-based combat, and requires you to keep improving your line-up to make it through a run.
There’s a lot to love in Australia Did It, and this preview is only scratching the surface really. I haven’t mentioned the conveyor belt surrounding the stations that allows you to shift units all at once, the classic Roguelike buffs you can choose from after each journey, or the fact you can decide how long to stay at each station to farm money if you think you can handle it. There’s a whole lot of depth to this game, and those who master it will be in Roguelike heaven.
Australia Did It could easily be the breakout hit of 2026, with all the hooks a Roguelike needs to become one of the greats. The combination of the tactics style combat, the unit merging and the train journeys feels endlessly compelling, and I even struggled to put this preview build down. Australia Did It simply has to be on your radar, it’s that damn good.
Australia Did It is coming soon to PC via Steam.
