Launched in early access in April 2021, We Are The Caretakers has proven to be a fun game for its fans. Recently, Heart Shaped Games’ developers announced that the game will leave early access and launch fully on January 3rd, 2023.
We Are The Caretakers is an RPG featuring a team management system; the afro-future movement inspires the game’s art direction. In the game, players must assemble a hidden group of defenders and use them in a team-building system inspired by games like XCOM. Players must protect the animals whose lives are threatened in the game world using unique turn-based combat. Another significant aspect of the gameplay is leveling your reputation, funds, research, animals, and alliances.
This game is marketing itself as a new strategy game, mixing different strategy games into one exciting system. The game promises players a unique sci-fi universe with original characters, dark stories, profound mysteries, unit management challenges, and increasing tension without any simple solutions. The game was developed by well-known developers such as IGF nominees, former Microsoft, and former Blizzard developers.
As mentioned earlier, the game has a cool afrofuturist style drawn by ex-Blizzard employee Anthony Jones. He also created various cool character designs that helped breathe life into the game’s sci-fi world. The game also includes a reputation system; every action you take in the world affects how others view Caretakers. This means that the public can either fear you or support you in protecting the endangered Rau.
The game’s combat combines squad building, RTS-with-pause, narrative, and turn-based JRPG combat. From the squad-building side, players can assemble up to nine squads from hundreds of characters. Each character is unique, as they all have different traits and abilities, and they also have their own weaknesses and personality. Utilizing 30-plus job classes, each of which is unique, players can also train their Caretakers, as well as upgrade them. Players can also upgrade their technology, and the technology decisions have an impact on the game’s world
We Are The Caretakers launches on January 3rd, 2023, for PC and Xbox Series X|S. The Xbox One port has been confirmed to be launching at a later date.