When Time Treker first arrived under the radar for many players. Developed by Fuse Game and published by 2P Games, this pixel-art sci-fi roguelike blends familiar bullet-hell mechanics with customizable mech combat and procedural missions. At its core, Time Treker wants to be fast, frenetic, and forever replayable, but does it stick the landing? Lets find out!
Quick Overview
From the first boot, Time Treker greets you with a vibrant pixel-art aesthetic and a clear sci-fi theme: hop into a timeline, fight alien swarms, and try not to get overwhelmed by the carnage. The visuals aren’t pushing hardware limits, but they deliver exactly what you’d expect from a budget-friendly indie, colorful explosions, varied enemies, and enough detail to keep each objectives being visible withing the chaos.
The setup is straightforward: pick one of six pilots, each with unique stats and special abilities, then customize your mech loadout from over two dozen weapons and more than 50 attachments. Whether you prefer laser swords and chainsaws for close combat or rockets and flamethrowers for long-range havoc, Time Treker gives you tools to build something that fits your style.
The Gameplay
Combat is where Time Treker thrives, but it isn’t without flaws. Battles are fast and often overwhelming in the best way, with waves of enemies, explosive effects, and the constant pressure of dodging while your loadout clears out aliens, unless you prefer to manually aim at the same time which is an option players can freely switch to mid combat. The procedural nature of missions keeps things interesting but will mostly still consist of Vampire Survivors style map exploring.
Progression follows the classic roguelike rhythm: die, go back to your mothership hub, and spend your earnings on upgrades. These meta-upgrades, things that help beyond your current run, are intended to give each next attempt more punch. However, some of these meta upgrades can feel underwhelming or simply have little impact. Especially when weapon levels surge quickly and upgrades seem redundant. With that in mind, the difficulty curve throughout each run seems a bit steep and the upgrades sometimes do not seem to keep up.
My Conlcusion
Where Time Treker succeeds is in repeat playthroughs as expected from rouguelites. Procedurally generated objectives, combined with a wide variety of loadouts, make every run feel like a fresh challenge. If you like tweaking builds between deaths and chasing higher scores or more efficient runs, this game scratches that itch well. There are enough changes to standout from some others in the genre with mid-fight options such as manual aiming and speeding up the chaos to mention a few.
Time Treker isn’t a genre-defining masterpiece, but it is a fun, affordable roguelike with a lot to offer fans of mech customization and top-down action. Its chaotic battles and deep loadout systems make for addictively replayable runs, even if the meta progression could be more satisfying long term. If you enjoy experimenting with builds, diving into bullet-hell arenas, and taking on ever-changing challenges, there’s real joy to be found here. Just don’t expect an emotionally engaging story or a slow, methodical campaign, this one’s all about fast, frantic fun.
