Star Han: Mech Generals playtest

About Star Han: Mech Generals

The coalition of eighteen lords marches on Hulao Gate. The crimson mech waiting before the gate is Lü Bu.

Star Han: Mech Generals is a turn-based roguelite. You pilot the war mechs of Three Kingdoms generals from the Hulao Gate Sector through the Red Cliffs Stream to the Tong Pass Stargate, and every fight comes down to where you put things.

Weapons, armor, thrusters and fusion cores come in different shapes. Rotate them, fit them into a 7×5 Module Grid, and let neighbors boost each other. While you hold a module, the grid shows exactly how every number will change.

• Same-faction modules side by side gain +1
• Shu next to Wu cuts Energy costs
• Wei next to Wu hits ×1.25 but hurts you too
• Two modules with a shared history trigger a Bond skill, like Zhao Yun's spear beside Zhang Fei's Serpent Spear

Fifteen classic stratagems, from Chain Stratagem to Borrowing Arrows, are chips that take up grid space like everything else.

• Empty Fort turns every empty cell into Shield
• Borrowing Arrows stores an arrow each time you get hit and adds them to next turn's weapon damage

Short on Gold? Borrow it. Loan chips occupy grid cells until you repay them.

• Mi Zhu's credit charges interest after every battle
• Yuan Shu's bank charges 12 Gold for every node you move
• Can't pay Yuan Shu? He takes your most expensive module

Each general has three talents and a personal story to unlock.

• Zhao Yun keeps half his Shield between turns and is the easiest start
• Xiahou Dun hits harder the more he bleeds and grows stronger each time he clears a debt
• Sun Shangxiang earns interest on the Gold she holds after every battle
• Zhuge Liang runs two stratagems at once, and joins after you clear a run at Military Oath 5

22 minigames, where better play means better rewards, and you can practice them aboard the mothership. 206 events, most with historical sources.

• Dig the canal
• Win a duel at the front
• Out-argue a rival
• Keep the Empty Fort's zither steady
• Hear which note the musician got wrong

After a few runs, the bosses change. Each plays differently, and the ones with recorded last words say them when they fall.

• Hulao Gate may bring Dong Zhuo instead of Lü Bu
• Cao Cao commands the fleet at the Red Cliffs
• Han Sui holds Tong Pass with his strategist
• Cao Cao comes in person to fight for Hanzhong at Mount Dingjun

When a run ends, the debrief tells you which attack killed you, how much Shield you were short, and how to arrange your grid next time. The run's biggest hit opens up into its full damage formula.

• Daily Challenge: the date seeds the map, enemies and spoils, so everyone gets the same run
• Weekly Challenge: one map all week plus an edict from a pool of fourteen that bends the rules (cheaper shops but fewer spoils, tougher bosses but richer spoils), and you pick the general
• Military Oaths: clear a run to unlock the next of ten levels, each stacking a new handicap
• Jade Seal Shards from every run unlock talents and eight extra modules in the Armory aboard the Mothership Tongzhou

31 relics, many built around a playstyle. Every relic has a Burden: you can carry more than your general's Leadership, but your Max Hull shrinks, so what you bring is your call.

• Huang Gai's Letter of Surrender keeps Burn from fading
• Ma Jun's Improvement Plans add damage to every hit of a multi-hit attack
• Ten historical pairs grant an extra effect when held together, such as East Wind Order with Huang Gai's Letter for Red Cliffs Fire

(Full game) March on nine cities across the Three Kingdoms map, one at a time, plus Changban, a stage of Zhao Yun's own, and Nanzhong, where Meng Huo must be captured three times.

• The grid you had when you took a city becomes your main army for the next one
• Spend the Provisions you bring home on a Granary, Drill Ground, Workshop and Wall, and research prototypes like the Hundred-Forged Blade and the Repeating Crossbow
• Each finished prototype brings two variant proposals and only the one you pick can be mass-produced; recruited commanders bring technology of their own
• From your second city on, Zhang Liao and Sima Yi lead counterattacks, and a city you can't hold is lost
• Every expedition rolls its weather: rain dampens fire, fog hides enemy intents
• Defeat a city's commander and you capture them: recruit, execute or release
• Cities you know well can be delegated to a general, who simulates the campaign a dozen times first to show the odds, for a smaller haul
• Captured cities can take a general or a recruited commander as governor and collect Provisions every season
• When your banner flies over the last city, the enemy's main army comes for it, and only a win unifies the realm; special endings carry generals or relics into your next campaign

It's turn-based with no timers. A full run is three sectors and 39 floors: about 40 minutes once you know the game, longer the first time. Save and quit to the main menu whenever you like and pick up on the same floor.

• Fights you know by heart can be handed to your lieutenant, who simulates them ten times first and tells you the odds
• Four text sizes, and every screen still fits at the largest
• When you move with a gamepad, an info bar shows what the focused button does
• High Contrast, a colorblind mode, animation and reading speed, shake and flash toggles
• Assist Mode cuts enemy damage by 30%

Currently included

• 4 generals
• 10 sectors (13 floors each, 3 per run with a choice of road for the third), plus Guandu, Wuzhang Plains, Yiling, Hefei and Nanzhong on the Realm Map and Changban, a 9-floor special stage only Zhao Yun can take on (the demo covers the first two)
• 145 modules, 31 relics, 88 enemy types
• 93 achievements drawn from Three Kingdoms lore and 108 codex entries
• Fully playable with keyboard or gamepad, with rebindable keys, adjustable text size and a high-contrast mode

From the game's Steam page.