Wartorn is an upcoming roguelike RTS from Stray Kite Studios that follows two Elven sisters on a quest to reunite their scattered family in the wake of an invasion. Guided by the avatar of Time who has gifted them with a magical hourglass, the sisters resurrect after each death at the point when they escaped their home and took to the road in an ever-growing caravan.
Anyone familiar with titles like the Spellforce will have a rough idea what to expect from the get-go, but the roguelike element adds an extra dimension to proceedings, as does the intriguing magic system. As you travel the dangerous roads, you’ll often come across squads of mythical beings that will join you, from elven spearmen to goblin mages or even trolls and towering Treefolk. Each squad will gain experience when they survive an enemy encounter (which is a big ask in of itself), and unlock new abilities and spells.
There are five elemental schools which interact with one another in various ways: Fire, Water, Tar, Plant, and Lightning. Fire is amplified by tar, but doused by water, while lightning is enhanced by water, and water can heal squads powered by plant magic. As each run begins you’ll have few options, but through exploration of the overworld map and via the choices you make, you’ll increase the number of squads you have to choose from.
Picking a line-up of squads that can synergise and amplify one another is key to success, as is unlocking magical pages to access the sister’s ancestral Spellbook to unlock new abilities. While the runs themselves are replete with random events such as disputes to settle, refugees to help, or enemies to fight or evade, upgrades, trinkets, and unlocked spells are persistent, which adds an element of progression.
The sister, Yara and Elani, are determined to mete out justice to their attackers, and they’ll take all the help they can get. Finding your lost family members grants access to heirlooms that infer passive buffs to the whole of your small army. Shortened cooldowns on healing spells, for example, are super useful.
Wartorn’s story is told through a mix of static cutscenes and spoken dialogue, the latter of which can be a little annoying. As is par for the course these days, the sisters talk with a jarring combination of old world loftiness and modern Gen-Z quips that gels like dry concrete and wet blancmange, and during pitched battle will yell super-helpful updates repeatedly like “We’re under attack!”
By way of defence I should add that Wartorn is still pre-early access and won’t even be available until June 17, so there’s plenty of time to fix the dialogue and the overall pace of battles and travelling. Units tend to move a little sluggishly, and there aren’t many options to keep things feeling dynamic and fresh – at least in the early portion of the game. Thankfully the persistent upgrades at least allow you to improve things such as the amount of food and gold you start each run with, or the damage you do.
The overworld is also randomised, so you won’t know what you’re going to drive the caravan into next, although you’ll have a loose idea based on your choices. When you reach a crossroads, tokens will appear on each potential path to indicate what lies ahead, whether that be a mercenary trading post, bazaar, refugee group, warlord boss, trinket or recruitment chance, so you can make somewhat informed choices as you journey on.
Graphically it’s a pretty enough game with a painterly feel to the environments, though the character models are fairly low-rent. It moves just a little too slowly, though, and outside of combat zones with no objectives to chase, it can feel a little dull, even if it does present a new problem or choice every few seconds.
With a few months until Wartorn enters early access, there’s time for Stray Kite to clean up some of the issues, punch-up the dialogue and tighten some of the systems. There’s an enjoyable RTS here, which isn’t a genre usually married to the roguelike concept, which makes Wartorn interesting. A good spread of squad types and the interesting elemental synergies make up for a lack of pizazz elsewhere, and could elevate Wartorn above the competition come the early access launch.
Wartorn is set to hit Steam Early Access on June 17, 2025.