Attaching strategic combat to a game about buying and selling makes Knightica for me. From the outset, it is not about how you will fight, but rather what is the most financially viable way to enter this fight and still be capable of fighting the next one.
Developed by Mad Mango Games and published by Goblinz Publishing and WR Games, Knightica is a real-time tactical Rogue-like strategy autobattler.
I really enjoy it when a game brings something unique to the table. Especially in a genre as overcrowded as roguelike or roguelite. The combination of a shop system that directly impacts gameplay with a grid-based combat style adds a refreshing twist. It might even succeed in distracting from the fact that there isn’t much of a story-driven reason to keep playing.
Grid Knights
As I have said a few times now, the gameplay of Knightica involves shopping.
You start Knightica with some coins and are shown a shop filled with characters to buy. In front of you, there is a grid that you must place your characters on for the battle. You can also buy upgrades or increase the number of grids.
After you place your characters, choosing their location and rotations, the game starts.
You do not control characters in battles in Knightica. Like Command and Conquer or Age of Empires, they fight by themselves. The victor is determined when one side remains alive.
If you win, you are rewarded and continue to the next fight(health regenerated), and if you lose, then some of your heart points are deducted. If you run out of health points, Game Over.
Before a round starts, you get another go at the shop from where you can buy new characters or upgrade old ones. The quality of characters gets better as you proceed, so do not get too attached to a character, as you might end up needing to sell them later.
Quarries of the day
While gameplay is good, a lack of internal story or reason makes play sessions feel overbearing after a while. Without story hooks or progression beyond the mechanics themselves, the appeal risks flattening.
I remember loving Shogun Showdown (another game published by Goblinz Publishing), and it was mostly because after every successful round, you were rewarded not just with tougher enemies or better abilities, but with more pieces of the plot. Each victory felt meaningful, carrying a sense of narrative progression that pushed me forward, eager to uncover what came next.
So with nothing except more gameplay to fight for, I fear that over time the desire to play would diminish.
Saying that, I still am enjoying Knightica, and might do so for a long time in the future.
Fit for a Knight
Knightica feels like a clever experiment that manages to stand out in a genre crowded with copy-paste mechanics.
Its fusion of resource management and tactical grid combat is engaging enough to keep you tinkering with builds, rethinking strategies, and wondering how far your coins can stretch before the next big fight.
It’s the kind of game that rewards players who enjoy optimisation and clever planning, rather than button-mashing or twitch reflexes.
That said, its biggest weakness remains the lack of a driving narrative. A roguelike can certainly survive on pure gameplay alone, but when you’re competing against titles that weave narrative into every run, the absence is noticeable.
Still, I find myself coming back. There’s a meditative quality in browsing the shop, weighing risks, and setting up the perfect formation that scratches an itch few games do.
Maybe Knightica could carve out a larger niche for itself. For now, it’s a refreshing, strategic spin on the roguelite formula that’s worth keeping an eye on.
