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One genre I’ll never get tired of is roguelite. Whether an addictive deckbuilder, thrilling bullet hell, or a combination of multiple genres, roguelites are fantastic. Thanks to a recent press event I was invited to, I’m confident to announce that the next big one is on its way — LORT. It is an upcoming roguelite made by veterans of the industry who were tired of many AAA practices and decided to make their studio to bring a game full of mayhem, customization, and most importantly, fun. The gameplay bits I was shown convinced me that this is the one that will fill a Risk of Rain-shaped hole for many players.
Let the Chaos Unfold
On the surface, LORT has everything other roguelites have. You have a lot of build variety, different characters, hordes of enemies that aim to end your run, and more. However, there are not-so-subtle details that make LORT feel vastly different from other roguelites.
For starters, it’s absolute chaos. I’ve already played a few games with roguelite mechanics that lean into the humorous and chaotic side of the genre, such as the recent Orcs Must Die. However, LORT seems to embrace the mayhem even further, not just in its enemy variety or combat. As soon as you begin, you get a counter that dictates how many days you have to beat the boss. During that time, you must scour the map to get your upgrades, weapons, and any valuable loot that can help you during your run.
Every character can equip whatever weapon they get, changing their primary and secondary attacks. Beyond that, each character has their own set of skills that range from damage to support. However, the upgrades you get after clearing places such as camps are the ones that will mold your build. A Warrior, for instance, can grab a bow, and by picking an Agility power-up, they can focus on items that scale with that stat, meaning that characters can move away from their archetypes should they choose to do so.
Boss fights looked quite intricate in LORT. Players must find an arena first and fight off a few waves of enemies before the boss arrives. By the looks of it, these bosses also have their mechanics like invulnerability windows, heavy-hitting skills, and more. And to make things even more chaotic, the night and day cycle play a huge part during your run. During the former, players can explore calmly and plan their builds, upgrades, and weapon-hunting. But when night falls, things get even crazier. More challenging enemies will spawn, and yes, they can even attack you while you’re fighting a boss.
Overall, the gameplay loop of LORT seems great. It may be familiar to Risk of Rain players, especially those who played the second one. However, I liked how player agency is at the forefront here. Instead of sticking to a particular playstyle with one character, you can create a tanky mage or a ranged warrior.
What Matters to Players
What I liked the most about LORT was how the developers are focused on “what matters to the player.” To put it simply, fun, feel, and performance are the philosophies behind the game. One clear example is how LORT is already implementing an 8-player co-op mode. This is huge, as games like Lethal Company rely on mods to achieve it. So, having this when the game launches will be amazing and something that other co-op games should focus on.
Also, the team aims to make LORT highly accessible for all players. In many cases, we see roguelite games that feature complicated systems that deter gamers from playing them. Here, it’s as easy as grabbing your favorite weapon and character and just rolling with the chaos. There are also no party restrictions regarding characters. If you all want to roll as a mage-only group, that’s perfectly fine.
While the release window is set for Q4 2025, I can’t contain my excitement. Lately, we’ve seen the resurgence of co-op games, but not all of them hit the mark. Some companies steer away from them in favor of some live service attempt that makes playing feel like a chore. LORT, however, is all about jumping in with your friends (or solo) into a colorful world with ridiculous upgrades and over-the-top action. Frankly, we needed a game like this, and I’m glad Big Distraction’s debut game will provide the aforementioned things and more.
