Backpack Battles

Amazing game. It has become my go to comfort game when I don't know what else to play.

Its a simple game that will be addictive to those with OCD, play at your own risk. New runs can start as soon as you lose a game. You will spend more time minmaxing than actually playing. Send help.

Was already enjoying the game in early access as it was - they have really gone above and beyond my expectations with the 1.0 release. The two new characters are so fun and there are so many new and fun items to craft and discover, and love all the quality of life additions - it feels like I am playing the game again for the first time in the best way. Highly recommend if you enjoy auto battlers with a bit of strategy regarding inventory management to get the best (and most fun) backpack item combinations

Backpack Battles is one of those rare indie games that takes a weird idea—and makes it genius. Imagine an auto-battler where you don’t control your fighter directly. Instead, you win by mastering your backpack layout, organizing weapons, armor, and magical trinkets in a grid like you’re playing Tetris, but every placement decision could be the difference between a win or a humiliating defeat. It sounds strange. It is strange. But it works—brilliantly. You start each run with a basic character class—Ranger, Pyromancer, Reaper, or Berserker—and a few simple items. As you earn gold by winning battles, you buy new gear from a rotating shop. Each item has a unique shape, effect, and interaction with others. Some weapons trigger effects on cooldown, some armor pieces give bonuses when adjacent to certain items, and some rare relics change the rules entirely. The genius of the game lies in how you fit these items into a limited grid, creating synergies, managing cooldowns, and planning for the next round. Once the fight starts, it’s hands-off—the battle plays out automatically, based entirely on how well you packed your bag. It’s one part strategy game, one part puzzle game, and one part chaos. Each class offers a distinct playstyle: -Ranger focuses on ranged weapons and traps. -Reaper uses cursed items and damage-over-time effects. -Berserker thrives on raw damage and risky plays. -Pyromancer burns everything—fast. No class feels overpowered (yet), and the meta encourages creative builds. Want to make a poison-slinging bow trapper or a fire-stacking armor tank? You can—and it just might work. Visually, Backpack Battles is charming, if minimalist. The art is cute and functional, focusing more on readability than flashiness. Think cozy indie vibes rather than AAA polish. The sound design is simple but satisfying—attacks, hits, and effects all have weight without being overwhelming. This game thrives on replayability. Every run feels different thanks to randomized shop items and the ever-changing builds of other players. There's also a ranking system, so each battle contributes to your rise (or fall) on the ladder. Losing isn't punishing—but it is informative. You’ll constantly be learning what items work together, when to pivot builds, and how to optimize your layout. What Makes It Special? -It turns inventory management into a full-fledged strategy mechanic. -No direct combat, yet every decision feels impactful. -Matches are short, intense, and deeply replayable. -It’s competitive but relaxing—a rare combo. The Downsides: -RNG can hit hard—sometimes the shop just doesn’t give you what you need. -Visuals may not appeal to those looking for high-end polish. -Steep learning curve—early runs might feel confusing until it clicks. -Currently only a few classes (more are expected in future updates). Backpack Battles is one of the most innovative takes on the auto-battler genre in years. It’s deceptively simple, ridiculously deep, and endlessly satisfying. Whether you’re a strategy nerd, a puzzle fan, or just someone who loves theorycrafting weird builds, this game deserves a spot in your library. If you’ve ever wanted to win a fight by organizing your backpack just right—this is your moment. Rating: 9/10

A really cool indie game, it gets addictive pretty quickly. The concept is well implemented. It already had me hooked back in the demo version. Most of the time, you always feel like you're building everything according to plan. Unfortunately, a lot of it is too RNG-based. From Gold rank onward, you only get guys with perfect starting builds or meta-tryhards. Even in Silver, you can sometimes get opponents with 5 dragons. WTF? The big advantage is the time independence of this game. You can simply pause your round and continue playing the next day without being trapped in a live game, very relaxing for a quick game. The game is constantly being developed, with new adjustments being released, and new content is guaranteed. Very good. In conclusion, you could describe this game as a slot machine in a casino; you hope for the next drop and the dopamine rush when you can further develop your build. If you don't get too caught up in it and consider the crafting aspect, it's definitely a very fine game.

Quite addictive and pretty fun. Easy to sink in hours without realizing it. If you love inventory tetris and/or have OCD, this is the game for you. Would love for them to update the characters' art because it feels almost dated, like the kind of character art you'd see in a browser game like (almost) Adventure Quest from back in the day. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad per se, it DOES have its charm... EDIT: be warned, game is heavily RNG reliant

spent most time tossing around items to create a perfect combination, was beaten by some random chinese dude with a gazilion items that i have never seen in game before

It's fun at first, when you discover all the build possibilities and unlock stuff. But later on (starting with gold rank), you encounter too many suspiciously perfect builds and get squashed like a fly. While not having the tools to look for the pieces you need, except constant rerolling. And if you dare to critisize an element of the game in the forums ([b]politely[/b]), you just get banned.

This game is well made and there's a time for fun early on. Progression is felt, choices are frequent and will have notable impact. There are 6 heroes to choose from with different start-up options. You could likely get tons of playtime out of this one if it's your thing, and it definitely has that 'just one more' vibe--for turns as well as runs. But I can't recommend Backpack Battles because, in the end, it's not really fun in a sustained or dynamic way. Rather, at core it's a PVP-lite meta-chasing RNG grindfest. The shine of wanting to restart again and again to see the next build wore off for me after the first 10 hours, as having learned the fundamentals my experience became chasing rank for marginal gains until my eyes were bleeding. It's just the same thing over and over; fiddle bags, make some buys, repeat. The lack of dynamic alternate modes or a more predictable challenge-based single player mode is a bit baffling for a full launch. And while I did enjoy the gameplay loop for a time, there are a few major issues with the experience. First, the UI is horrid when it comes to figuring out which items are part of which upgrade sets. The recipe screen is the laziest imaginable way to handle this-- they should have had something as straightforward as hovering over an item with a hotkey to see a ring of all other items it can interact with. Instead they made me search every time I had a question and the game presents many questions. Having to constantly flip screens and hover just to see components was terrible, and in addition to lacking an item ring for quick reference, I can't understand why they didn't just add all of the relevant crafting info to the item screen (which is the screen that has an actual search field-- though even that involves way too much tedium and clicking between tabs to get what you want). Navigating these panels became extremely dry. The other hard sell for this PVP-centric game is that ranking up means playing against players who are increasingly exploiting the more broken parts of the game, and you have limited choice but to do the same by chasing ultra rares and snowballing combos. Balance isn't much of a thing here, so I often swung between crushing my opponents and being crushed by them. Making this reliance on RNG worse, you can't really plan ahead to counter anything, and will mainly rely on the hope that the build you picked / were given early on will develop with lucky shop offerings in the long run; having no control over who you fight and knowing nothing about their build means the game is primarily based on the worst type of shop and encounter RNG and developing meta knowledge. Compare this to DOTA where build/hero knowledge is incredibly important as well, but you actually have skillshots, strategic teamwork, and stable shop and progression content to make a fun experience. In essence it all feels a bit soulless to me. So overall, if you like to climb PVP ranks, shuffle things around in bags, painstakingly try to discover builds, and don't mind RNG, sure, go for it. But I personally can't get past the lazy UI design and random nature of pretty much every aspect of the game, or the total lack of engaging/creative play modes. edit: So I pushed deeper in to see if the experience gets better with more knowledge, and it just doesn't. It still feels like a lottery, and I'll also say that the rank-up system is, frankly, cynical and punitive. I thought Gold was bad enough, but reaching Platinum, I now gain 0 rank from winning 8 of 10 matches. IMO, winning a majority (6 of 10) should always provide at least 1 point. That's about respecting player time. Instead, winning almost all matches gets you a few crumbs, but you really need 10 wins to get useful progress. This stingy math can be especially painful if the RNG system decides to put you up against a counter to your build, or if you get mediocre shop offerings early on. In my last game before uninstalling, I won 8 matches straight with a powerful build, then lost 5 matches straight and none of them were even close. One dude was simultaneously healing my substantial damage, purging all of my buffs, and buffing himself like a maniac (100+ total by 15s into the match). So having tried to be open-minded, and pushed deeper into ranks, in the end I think the devs have been way too miserly with their progression system and too loose with the RNG/balance aspects. One of those constraints is fine--tough progression based on skill would work, as would fluid progression with more randomness involved. But you can't have slow and painful + lottery progression. This is one of those time-sink games that's made to keep you playing for hundreds and hundreds of hours, but doesn't provide anywhere near the control or horizontal depth of design to make a rewarding experience out of it.

This is one of the best autobattlers I've played. Tons of item and class variety. It also scratches that grid-based item management itch I enjoyed ever since RE4. You can really feel lost when you first start out as there's no tutorial, but there are plenty of resources inside and outside of the game to help you learn. And the combat log is very comprehensive.

As you can see by my hours, I have dedicated much of my time to this amazing game. The blend of a strategy rogue-like, asynchronous auto-battling, inventory management game with amazing art, plus the amazing work done to balance everything and make frequent patches to improve game play for us players is just out of this world! I got my wife and friends to all get the game and everyone who tries it: LOVES IT. If it doesn't sound like it's for you, watch some game play and decide. If you think you might like it and you're a person who appreciates the effort put in to make and balance and decorate games: BUY IT! I'd love to see the community grow and brag about one another's backpacks in the discord. If you like Balatro or Slay the Spire or any other similar densely strategic rogue-likes, you'll love this game!

Fun, addictive, but after they included the skills to pick up items from other classes, it seems like the game is broken. I think they should focus on balancing the game better instead of adding more items, because, in my opinion, over time it becomes harder to know what is weak and strong to balance. In the past I would recommend this game, but now it is impossible, I hope to change this review in the future because I really like the game.

PROS: Splash art looks nice (that's it), CONS: sprites and overall aesthetic looks ugly, the battle system is fun but it gets pretty stale since there's literally nothing else in the game.

Way more fun than it has any right to be. Honestly, this is so accessible and scratches a very particular itch. The perfect blend between spatial puzzle and autobattler. Deeper than you might think, and maybe the ranked games are a little more solved than they should be, it's still a really fun system to figure out and to just run with. For a game without microtransactions, the systems you can tinker with here are an absolute joy.

[h1]All Hail King Goobert! [/h1] My favourite turn based strategy indie game right after Balatro. Everything is very nicely polished easy to catch on and hard to master. Few things could be more presentable (getting lost in crafting item list everytime). PS: Ranking up is slow.

great game, been playing for a long time and im so happy to see it at the point it is now, i love this game alot. The organization process in this game is so satisfying and can make or break a build. now that forcing builds is harder ranked is so fun, in late games i run into so many unique builds and its great. All the class build variations are so fun, diversity is this games cup of tea. only complaint is that i dont have any real lore on the characters or anything, atleast none that im aware of. Download this you will not regret

Very fun, handles well on Steam Deck. Highly recommend if it looks even kind of interesting to you

Been playing it since the beta. Love how the game works and how it has improved since then. At that price, its well worth the money spent

Love this game. Great puzzle game that is PVP, but I love there there is no time limit. I can walk away from the game indefinitely and when ready, come back to initiate a round. Lots of strategy. Cool to see your opponents' builds as well. 1.0 release has been great with content, but the quality of life improvements have been awesome. (Holding ALT is so helpful). Keep of the great work dev team!

game is really fun but tbh it doesn't even matter to me because it looks like absolute dogshit. looks like, worse than adventure quest. offensively ugly. but it's still good besides that so if that doesn't bother you then it's a recommend

This game is not "bad" in a vacuum, and alot of what I say here is fairly blunt, but honestly just play Backpack Hero because you get significantly more content and items, and a game that is less a victim of trying to beat a game at its own formula. This game gets even more repetitive than Backpack Hero because you run into the same exact 3 builds to fight against constantly since everyone just meta chases(also contributed to by the significant lack of items this far in when compared to the 1.0 of Backpack Hero, let alone today), so after the novelty of earning the recipes and trying things out at first wears off(about 3 hours for me) there really isn't a reason to keep playing. Even in the case of ranked, I don't see a point, as you are not sitting in a lobby that has timers, allowing anyone unlimited build crafting time which is nonsensical to me in a ranked setting, even as a player who spends way more time than average simply organizing their bags meaning the system benefits me specifically. This brings me to the final point, I would not consider this "Online" PvP in earnest. You are connected to their servers, yes, and so are the other players who you encounter, however, the disconnect of the people i'm against being snapshots of them while they were building in a somewhat similar point in time completely divorces me from the idea that I am "fighting other players" and again, might as well just play the game this takes from, Backpack Hero since you will encounter a, ironically enough, larger pool of enemies to fight since they're all designed to be different, instead of players chasing the exact same 3 builds. TLDR: Backpack Hero gives significantly you more game for your dollar, this game is not the kind of PvP you might think it is as an auto-battler, and everyone you "fight online" will be using one of three builds

Backpack Battles is very addictive and offers a surprising amount of depth that becomes apparent the more you play. You can play unranked or ranked mode, or create your own server to play with friends. In each round, you are using your earned gold to buy items and new backpack slots in a shop. These items and slots can then be arranged to create synergies, but every item takes up slots in specific shapes. Some items can also be combined with others, or get stronger by other items being placed next to it, or even become new items...there is a surprising amount of min-maxing you can do and it's very addictive. At certain rounds, you can also choose a "subclass" for whatever class you chose which helps you focus on certain tactics or items, or you can increase your stats or buy special items. Since the game is purely asynchronous PVP, you're also not being rushed; you can spend as much time as you want setting up your backpack and moving things around before fighting against the next player "ghost". The goal is to win 10 times and you can fail up to 5 times, so you are always pushed to improve your build a little bit. It's very addictive and engaging to find out cool synergies or play with whatever you like. Classes start with different backpacks, which have different effects on items placed in them, and you also have to manage other aspects such as stamina, fatigue and various debuffs. Special mention to the UI as well which is very clear at all times, showing crafting recipes with the click of a button and potential synergies by different colored lines. It tickles my brain in a good way and I definitely recommend Backpack Battles for those satisfying moments when you want to arrange a backpack, but can't be bothered to clean your own real house!

I already loved the game in Early Access. Now it's perfect with achievements. Try out the demo to see if you like it!

This game is so good and so chill. You can literally spend HOURS stitting in your inventory and organazing things without even starting the battle. 10\10

Very fun auto-battler. My only complaint is the ranked system doesn't seem well designed. It's too easy to get to Diamond and too hard to go past that. That is not just a me problem, 90% of the player base was in Diamond when the game was in beta.

Backpack Battles is a surprisingly excellent auto-battler. I love the dynamics of decision making, and was able to dive in without reading any instructions or guidance in advance; I do think it could use stronger tutorialization, but playing one 'unranked' game showed me enough of what was going on to dive into 'ranked' with no trouble. The crafting system (placing objects together in the backpacks and playing a match with them next to each other, allowing them to combine AFTER the battle) is strategically interesting. Definitely worth checking out!

Game is insanely fun has lots of different items and build variety to not get repetitive and the fact it's asynchronous means you can take however long you want to work on your bag, even combat is asynchronous, you can just pause and go as fast or as slow as you want.

If Competitive Inventory Tetris sounds even a little fun to you, then you should definitely give this game a try.

Already sank 280+ hours only with 4 character. Now got 6. The possibility and synergies is endless.

Going to be honest, when I first saw this game, I didn't get it. I didn't understand the magic, but then. Then it clicked!! And now I'm HOOKED!! This game is amazing and so much fun. The builds, the bags, the items!!! This game is one of the best!! Thank you Esty for showcasing this game! :D :D :D You devs are incredible!!! :D

Really love this game. It's shockingly deep and has kept me playing for quite a while. A significant portion of my hours are from having the game open while I'm working or just forgot to close it when stepping away from the keyboard a moment, but I got all four classes during early access to diamond. If you love the auto battler genre, this is a must buy.

This game is taking an old and already existing formula and perfecting it, and it's doing so well that many games inspired by it are emerging both on mobile and PC. I love the async approach to multiplayer. The art and design are unique and amazing. RNG and opponents are fair. Items and classes are fairly balanced and optimized over time by developers. And I already got my money's worth of gameplay and fun.

174 hours played - says it all. I unlocked all the recipes on all classes. Mission accomplished. :) Good game!

The game is very addicting and has an incredible replayability and every run feels kind of different and challenging. 10/10 already recommending!

I almost made the mistake of giving this game a pass because the aesthetics just aren't for me. And even though that hasn't changed -- I still generally dislike the visual 'vibe' of the game -- this is an exceptionally well-designed auto-battler that rivals the best in the genre. If you've spent an unhealthy amount of time playing any of the following: - DOTA Underlords - Teamfight Tactics - Hearthstone: Battlegrounds - Auto Chess you may want to give this a try. What lies beneath the cutesy graphics is a deep, strategic, highly competitive auto-battler. Each turn is an optimization puzzle where you try to figure out how to make the most of your limited bag space. It's satisfying and addictive in all the ways a well-made auto battler should be. My only reservation is that I wish the default mode was lobby-based rather than asynchronous. Don't get me wrong, the asynchronous nature of ranked play is extremely convenient since you can essentially step away and resume a run at any time. But I sometimes miss being forced to make strategic decisions based on lobby composition. Regarding the aesthetics: I would love for the developer to officially support modded sprites and visuals. The art style is well-executed but it's not for me, and I suspect many others feel the same.

Great game, developer is active and keeps adding wonderful QoL changes along with balance and content patches. An addictive puzzle to solve every time I play. Lots of paths to take, and lots of fun ways to win.

It’s a game you win through superb organization and dynamic planning skills. The first 10 hours were super fun for me—I enjoyed exploring the chemistry of different items and optimizing their positions. But after 10 hours or reaching the Gold league, you start to notice the patterns and face a steep learning curve if you want to become a pro. You can't win without more strategic planning, knowledge of different builds, and careful trade-offs between buying, searching, or saving money for the next turn. That might be fun for some people but for non-hardcore mid-age players like me, I’d rather plan my shopping list and shopping kart.

A great little autobattler - low floor but incredibly high ceiling. Really scratches that Bazaar itch since that game dropped the ball massively WRT P2W. There's an absolute ton of items that can be crafted in bizarre combinations. I honestly feel like I blinked and 11 hours passed. You won't be disappointed!

It's a really good auto-battler, I love it and you should buy it.

Great game. Lots of synergies, lots of ideas on what to do and how to do it. I really think learning hasn't ended yet here and therefore really can recommend this as a perfect game when you have 15 minutes and just want to do something... something good and fun.

If theory-crafting RPG builds tickle your brain, oh boy we got a game for you

Great game with a really good balance between characters. solid 9/10

I've never played an autobattler before, or an inventory management game. Somehow, this combo is phenomenal and a lot of fun.

yes yes yes. This game eats my time whenever I played in - in demo version, in beta tests and now when it is released.

Cute little PvP auto battler, great to pass some time. Crafting is easy, managing your inventory can get quite stressful sometimes, but it's a lot of fun! There's no live matchmaking which makes the PvP great, since you don't have to wait ages for an opponent. You get matched instantly.

This game is freaking AWESOME! I was never a big SAP fan, mostly based on theme, but also how learning it was kind of chore. It's hard to have an idea as to what "lamb" or "tiger" should do in terms of RPG stats. Even more so when the animal's effect isn't really something you'd attribute to that animal. This is like the way easier to understand auto-battler, but with the same amount of depth, twists and turns. - The way you build and edit your board(backpack) is super intuitive. - The different characters are super fun and lead to varied builds with interesting winning elements. - Things from other characters' specialization aren't useless. They tried really hard to make things useful here and there for all types of builds. One of my best runs was on Pyro, with something that would convert mana(water) stacks to heat(fire). It's just really good!

Ideal game: Very addicting, made with Godot by a German team. What's not to love?

Backpack Battles is an outstanding, charming, and entertaining 2D auto-battler strategy PvP game that showcases all the essential elements for being a successful and enjoyable gaming experience. With an extensive array of weapons, armor, accessories, and much more, you can customize your equipment and develop your own strategies to compete against other players. The game has been visually appealing from multiple perspectives since before its official launch, making it a must-have and a must-try.

Its fun autobattler inventory management. One of the best of the genre imo well refined and fun lots of class/item variety.