The Lamplighters League

I picked this game up having heard next to nothing about it, except a couple of fair to good reviews, and having generally been happy with HareBrained Schemes games. I had a blast. It has a solid pulpy feel and storyline, with an art direction that matches, and the score is delightful. The turn-based tactical elements are familiar and easy to pick up, the real-time stealth components are also remarkably solid, though they can be twitchy if you are trying to lure a lone enemy from their position to kill them without raising a larger alarm. And the character skill trees combined with the random (and levellable) mystic abilities from the Undrawn Hand make for some interesting synergies & progressions. The biggest positive for this type of game were the granular difficulty settings - want the strategy on the world map to be a slow burn rather than a frantic race? Can do! Do you prefer story advencement difficulty on your tactics, or do you want to unleash Mythos-adjacent monsters with abandon? Can do. Want to suffer the total death of an agent because you want consequences? Or do you prefer that they merely flee the scenario, and need a few weeks to heal back at the hideout? It's got you covered. It does have some drawbacks. 1) Loadtimes into a mission aren't instant - but not particularly longer than Firaxis' X-Com reboots. Your mileage may vary. 2) There is re-use of maps, and it could've benefitted from a handful more, but it wasn't so few as to be a deal breaker. 3) No quicksave, and limited save slots per campaign save. For those who want a quick trigger to save, it's not there. However, as long as the enemies on the tactical map aren't nearby and suspicious, and you aren't in combat, you can save. If you are in combat, there's no save scumming each action/round. Overall it was very stable for me, crashing once, mid-mission during an entire 37 week campaign (1 week is one mission). If the above sounds up your alley, you may want to give it a try.

Ignore the hate. AND yet-another-infuriating-Paradox-decision (abandoning this gem, before it got enough updates to smooth its edges). It’s still a 5-star game. Not a 10/10 AAA, but a 9/10 indie, with minor warts but vast loving attention to minute details. Game modalities (team members, timer) are highly flexible. But even a strict timer is very doable & - mild spoiler - if one did miss the deadline, in-game failsafes help you win exactly the same. It could do with 5-6 more than c20maps for the c40 missions, but never feels repetitive, once one resists playing only DPS/attrition, & starts experimenting with the truly impressive options for indirect manoeuvre. Plus every boss run (8 missions, with a less “procedural” feel) features a unique, often gorgeous map. Same if some characters become later-game OP: Experiment. But do include Isaac, young Lord Greymoor. (Free DLC.) Jazzy battle music, some unfamiliar skill combos, precise dialogue & voice. VERY underused interwar pulp adventure theme (think Howard + Lovecraft + Teslapunk - & their UK forebears Rider Haggard, Conan Doyle, Stevenson)… All of which lends itself more credibly, btw, to recent norms of cosmopolitanism & gender parity than Euromedieval fantasy. There’s even some smoking & booze. Real-time stealth phase is *huge* fun & well thought out - if a little fiddly. Best Harebrained by far since Shadowrun Dragonfall, even superior in limited key respects: Stealth, number of missions & team members, music & aesthetics, skill options, cards (enough randomness & not too much). Worldbuilding is on par; but story & gameplay is way more procedurish, was more “handcrafted” in earlier products. Not convinced? Gog does genuine refunds. Buy at its 50 % sales (a must, that) & give it a few hours. Or if you don’t want the timewaste risk, check my profile to see if you & I have similar enough taste. Also remember to back up your main saves in a fully separate file, because *that* (now rare) bug, alas, still lurks.

I am a huge fan of the Shadowrun series by Harebrained Schemes, but wasn't sure about Lamplighter's League due to the high amount of sneaking and stealth. But I really have grown to love the game. The stealth missions are challenging from both a planning/scheming and resources management (consumables) perspective. The combat is plenty crunchy to satisfy my desire for extremely high level of turn-based fight difficulty. Graphics are plenty attractive to me, the base-building aspect is interesting and the milieu is perfect....love the 1930's, pre-WWII style. Kudos to all the folks at Harebrained Schemes...you made a stellar game. Thanks.

Good game. X-Com like, but with realtime sneaking.