THE SWITCHBOARD / GRIM & TACTICAL / INDIE DISCOVERY
The enemy has already chosen its next attack. You can see it coming. The challenge is deciding whether to spend your next move stopping it, or trust your party to survive long enough to strike back. That’s the decision at the heart of VEKARRA, an upcoming dark-fantasy roguelite from Lamplight Studio.
The studio recently shared the game with us through our call for indie discoveries on X, describing a grim, tactical experience to play alone or with a friend on the couch. A closer look at its Steam listing suggests there’s more to that pitch than the usual promise of difficult battles.
When an enemy attack becomes a countdown
Combat uses a two-stage Active Time Battle system. Enemies commit to moves, then those attacks charge towards execution on a visible timeline. Some can be interrupted before they land. Rather than asking you to react to a surprise animation, VEKARRA asks you to read the order of events and decide which threat deserves your limited attention.
That is a promising basis for tactical tension. Interrupting the strongest attack could save a hero, but the skills needed to do so are tied to cooldown cycles. With no conventional mana pool to lean on, timing and party composition may matter as much as the damage numbers. Whether the system stays readable in crowded fights is one of the things we’d want to test.
Four heroes, but no traditional levelling grind
Lamplight Studio says there are eight heroes to choose from, with four taken on each descent. Victories offer skills to draft into the party’s build, while camps allow those skills to be upgraded from one to three stars. Relics, supplies and seven tactical aspects add further decisions between encounters.
The absence of experience levels is an interesting choice. Progress within a run comes from what players select, discover and combine rather than simply accumulating XP. It could make a bad decision feel particularly costly, although it also places plenty of pressure on how fairly the game distributes useful options.
A journey down that may not bring everyone home
The game is set beneath the fishing island of Vekarra, where mines and pilgrim caves descend into an ominous Abyss. Expeditions follow seeded routes through battles, elite enemies, shops, treasure, camps, narrative events and biome bosses. Losing all four heroes ends the run, though permanent unlocks can broaden the starting options next time.
A fallen hero is not necessarily gone forever: the current Steam description mentions paying a ransom to bring them back. That detail could make the decision to rescue a valued party member an extra tactical and resource-management dilemma.
Built for solo play and couch co-op
One player can control all four heroes, or two people can share the same party locally, taking charge of two heroes each. The developer says solo play and two-player local co-op are already implemented, although the game has not launched yet. Two-player online co-op remains in development and is intended for Early Access; support for up to four players is a longer-term goal for version 1.0, not a launch feature.
That distinction matters. A Steam tag may say co-op, but players need to know which forms of multiplayer are playable now, planned for the initial release, or still further down the road. The studio says its paid Early Access release will depend on verification of the co-op modes.
What will Early Access actually include?
The current target is Q4 2026 on Windows PC, with no firm release day announced. Lamplight Studio says Early Access will cover Acts 1 and 2 of a planned four-act campaign, the first two bosses and 24 of an intended 48 creatures. The full story cannot be completed in that initial version; the remaining acts, ending and further features are planned for later development.
Steam also carries the studio’s disclosure that some pre-generated visual, audio and text material, including localisation, was produced with generative-AI assistance and subsequently selected and edited by the developer. It says no generative AI runs during gameplay. That is a declared production detail, not an assessment of the game’s quality.
VEKARRA at a glance
| Developer and publisher | Lamplight Studio |
|---|---|
| Genre | Dark-fantasy tactical RPG / party roguelite |
| Platform | Windows PC (Steam) |
| Planned launch | Q4 2026, Early Access; subject to change |
| Players | Solo or two-player local co-op; two-player online planned for Early Access |
| Switchboard mood | Grim and tactical |
| Editorial status | Developer-submitted discovery feature; not a hands-on review |
Why it belongs on The Switchboard
It is the combination of readable incoming attacks and run-by-run party drafting that makes VEKARRA worth following. The most interesting tactical games make you feel responsible for a loss without making every mistake feel arbitrary. A visible attack timeline could help achieve that, provided the interruption rules give players enough information to act.
For now, this is a game to wishlist and follow on Steam, not one we can review. We’ll be keeping an eye on how its Early Access build handles combat clarity, co-op and the tension between protecting your heroes and pushing deeper into the Abyss.
Discover more: Browse The Switchboard for indie games organised around the kind of experience you’re looking for.
Editorial note: This independent discovery feature followed a public response from the VEKARRA account to Coloured Static Press on X. Details were checked against Lamplight Studio’s official Steam listing on 18 October 2026. We have not played or reviewed VEKARRA. All Early Access plans may change. Official promotional artwork and a trailer still are credited to the developer; no paid endorsement is implied.