Backpack Battles is an auto battler, which means that players do not control their character in fights. Instead, they make decisions about what to buy and - very importantly - how to place it in their backpacks. All before the actual battle. The purchased items allow players to follow different strategies, such as draining their opponents’ health, poisoning them, or smacking them with a hammer very hard. Players can play at their own pace when customizing their inventory, as there are no timers thanks to the asynchronous nature of the matchmaking.
The demo of Backpack Battles was released in May 2023, featuring two playable classes, the Ranger and the Reaper. Since then, it has been updated with new content every week, with the number of items more than doubling since the demo’s release. In October 2023, the game experienced a surprising surge in popularity on Twitch, when it was showcased by many prominent streamers, such as xQc, Hafu, Northernlion, and Admiral Bahroo. Since then, it has been the most played demo on Steam, with up to almost 19,000 concurrent players at one point and over 1 Mio. downloads.
With the Early Access release, two new classes will be added to the game, the Berserker and the Pyromancer. With her Forging Hammer, the Berserker can upgrade various items. The Pyromancer can use flames to ignite weapons and armor. Both characters are showcased in the announcement trailer. The developers are aiming for a rather short Early Access phase that will be mainly focused on finishing the new classes and balancing.
PlayWithFurcifer is a two-person indie game studio founded in 2022. Follow the development of Backpack Battles on Twitter [https://twitter.com/TweetFurcifer] and the developer’s YouTube Channel [https://www.youtube.com/@PlayWithFurcifer].