Chan Khee Hoon (Pixeldynamo) unmasks the mechanics of Skyshine's BEDLAM:

Unmasking the mechanics of Skyshine’s Bedlam

More than the sum of its influences?

Much of Skyshine’s Bedlam’s rapid ascent to acclaim is that it is often heralded as a mish-mash of some of the most popular games and films today, such as Mad Max, FTL: Faster Than Light, Oregon Trail, XCOM, Borderlands, Fallout, and even good ol’ chess. While comparisons to these greats can be flattering, they make Bedlam sound like an overpowering bowl of casserole—the result of too many components and ideas. As delicious as a steaming bowl of casserole is, throwing in all your favourite ingredients can ruin the dish.

Thankfully, this isn’t what Bedlam is about. At the heart is a focused vision of a killer roguelike; a FTL-esque, turn-based strategy game, coated with a thick layer of Mad Max-y goodness. Blossoming from a long-held childhood dream, it is a game that the developers from Skyshine Games themselves would have loved to play as a 14 year old—complete with gigantic missile-laden tanks called Dozers, steampunk-inspired infantries, and venomous bile-spewing monsters.

“This is the game that they wanted to make,” Steve Escalante of Versus Evil told us at Pax Prime. “And they kind of geeked out about it. It’s not some corporate overlord basically telling them what they should do, what features they should have—this is their game.” [...]

No “one way” to surviving the expedition

If the game’s artistic style is what attracts most gamers, then its sense of unpredictability and “wait-did-that-just-happen” might keep them hooked, albeit on the edge of their seats. Maps are randomised every round, ensuring that replays require you to adapt a new strategy each time. Feeling lucky for finally making it to Aztec City? Take a gamble by heading back to where you came from—with all your upgrades and weapons intact for subsequent journeys. Remember though: what you earned in spades can also be lost just as quickly, if not even more so. Like many roguelikes before it, Bedlam thrives on replayability, a trait that Skyshine also seeks to constantly refine.

What sets Bedlam apart from other roguelikes though is the game’s proprietary blitz battle system—which makes combat increasingly difficult and intense if they do not end quickly enough. Firstly, this battle system assigns two action points to both the crew and the enemy’s team. Every single action, from moving your unit to attacking the enemy, uses one action point. You can even use the point to collect additional resources, strewn across the battlefield, to give your crew an additional edge. However, take too long to eliminate the enemy, and the enemy can unleash a “blitz” move, which can range from doubling their action points, to using resources to cause your crew even more pain.

Other features of this battle system include Dozer upgrades, which can affect your crew’s abilities and enhance their chances of survival in combat, and powerful Dozer weaponry that can turn the tide of battles—especially if your crew is barely hanging on. With so many options and only two action points to exhaust, strategic planning is a must, since a poor decision can easily cripple your team. [...]