

We Are The Caretakers
Heart Shaped Games LLC · 2023 · Turn-Based Combat, Grand Strategy, Strategy RPG, RPG, RTS
PC
Mixed70% · 23
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About We Are The Caretakers
We Are The Caretakers is a sci-fi strategy RPG with an epic 23-mission narrative campaign. Assemble a secret faction of protectors in squad-building systems inspired by Ogre Battle, Darkest Dungeon, Black Panther, and XCOM. Defend the endangered animals your world relies on in strategic turn-based combat. Define your approach to a global resistance by balancing your reputation, funds, research, animals and alliances. We Are The Caretakers is an exciting new type of strategy game, blending squad building, RTS-with-pause, narrative, and turn-based JRPG combat into one thrilling campaign. The game introduces players to an original sci-fi universe with nuanced characters, grim dark narrative, deep mysteries, layered unit management challenges, and escalating conflicts that have no easy or absolute solutions. It is developed by a critically-acclaimed and diverse team including IGF nominees, ex-Microsoft, and ex-Blizzard developers.
- REPUTATION SYSTEM: Every action committed in the world affects how others see the Caretakers. Do they fear you? Or will they support your quest to protect the endangered Raun, and decide the fate of the world?
- TURN-BASED ENCOUNTERS: Balance force with diplomacy in an innovative turn-based combat system. Live with the consequences as you deal with the messy reality of animal conservation.
- SQUAD BUILDING: Assemble up to 9 exploring parties from 100s of characters with diverse traits, weaknesses, abilities, and personalities. Train and upgrade your Caretakers across 30+ unique job classes.
- ORIGINAL SCI-FI WORLD: Former Blizzard artist Anthony Jones' breathtaking afrofuturist style and signature character designs bring a new sci-fi world to life.
- GROW YOUR HEADQUARTERS: Meet leaders, research technologies, and recruit allies in your sci-fi HQ. Balance their conflicting demands to save our world.
- DARK NARRATIVE: The individuals outside your squad matter as much as the rangers you deploy on each map. Follow a grim narrative from devastating losses through a hope of a better future.
- TECHNOLOGY TREE: From field-level technology upgrades, to large-scale speculative research and development, your technology decisions have a global impact.
- YOU GET A BABY RAUN: It will nuzzle against your bed long after it grows too large to reasonably do so. It is adorable.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
Really loved the idea of this, so pre-ordered it ages ago and just given it a try now it's out of Early Access. Unfortunately, it feels more like a student project - lots of interesting ideas, poorly executed. Combat's an example of this. Instead of shooting foes to death, you wear down their stamina or their will to fight, until you can take them out - do you arrest them, knowing they might not face justice? Injure them so they don't come back, at the cost of your reputation? Aggressive actions also increase a persistent 'threat' meter, increasing the risk for both sides. If your rangers are aggressive, combats are more dangerous and escalate faster. Do you go for slow de-escalation, at the risk of attrition? The actual implementation is a JRPG line-up where you fire red or blue orbs at whichever of your opponent's health bars is lowest. It's made less impactful by the way most of the art and UI feels like a Programmer Art placeholder. The afrofuturist designs are neat, but every character is a lithe person in a bodysuit with a geometric hat who fires the same low-detail orbs, with no clear way to convey their class or abilities. It all feels vague and soupy. The same carries o…30 found this helpful
[table] [tr] [th]Category[/th] [th]Rating[/th] [th]Description[/th] [/tr] [tr] [td]🎮 Gameplay[/td] [td]2[/td] [td]On the surface, it appears interesting. In practice, it’s shallow[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]📷 Graphics[/td] [td]3[/td] [td]Animations, art styles, and designs weren’t to my tastes and felt duplicated throughout[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]💲 Value[/td] [td]2[/td] [td]For the price of the game, I expected more polish. Nothing new to experience after the first 20 minutes, offering zero replay value[/td] [/tr] [tr] [td]😡 Overall[/td] [td]2.5[/td] [td]I kept playing to see if anything would change, but it didn’t. Ultimately, I didn’t enjoy it one bit and cannot recommend it[/td] [/tr] [/table] [i]I love the focus on conservation, unfortunately all other elements left me wanting more. While I wish I could recommend the game based on the beliefs it stands for, I cannot look past what played like a hollow shell of a game.[/i] [h1]📝 Main Pros and Cons:[/h1] 🟩 Pros: + Strong focus on conservation 🟥 Cons: - Poor story and character delivery - Repetitive, unenjoyable gameplay loop - Simplistic combat and skills - Resource hog [h2]I love conservation, but I don’t love…8 found this helpful
I've been following WATC for a while. The studio is passionate about what they've made and that shows in the story and mechanics. There's really no game like WATC, I recommend you check it out and expose yourself to something unique and special.6 found this helpful
I was really excited about this one based upon the fact that its squad layouts made it look like Ogre Battle. It's not. It's actually almost exactly like Northgard but with minimal building, bad graphics, slow movement, and somehow an even slower turn based combat system. I'd call it half baked, but that's probably giving it too much credit. Quarter baked? You can tell when a game is terrible by the fact that achievements that take only 15 minutes to reach aren't granted to over half of the players. They are charging a lot of money for this one at $20. Why? Just donate directly if you want to support a good cause and leave these guys out of it.4 found this helpful
We Are The Caretakers, A game that promises the thrill of protecting endangered species with the pace of a sloth on a leisurely stroll. I must say, the game's combat is so delightfully unhurried that one could engage the auto combat feature, tidy up their house, brew a cup of tea, and still return in time to see the action unfold. The concept is noble, yet the execution is awry. It's like trying to summon a dragon but ending up with a drowsy house cat instead. There's not much to the strategic depth is rather shallow beneath layers of tedium. It's a world where the preservation of species is paramount, yet the excitement of combat is as endangered as the creatures you're sworn to protect. Just take notice of most reviewers, giving this game a positive review at an hour or less of playtime. It's impossible to beat the game at this pace. I did truly get some enjoyment out of the game, I played it twice on each difficulty (normal and hard). Yet everything did fall short, characters were undeveloped, story was sloppy, and the team building was lacking in depth. In each level you capture regions of the map and complete minor tasks which gives a satisfaction for those with an addiction …2 found this helpful
I love this game. It has jrpg style gameplay but the story is very unique, basically you lead a group of park rangers equipped with Warframes (I think?) to protect wildlife and deal with poachers however you see fit (you can recruit them, accept bribes, etc which all affect your reputation either + or - depending what you choose.) Also has nice quality of life stuff, like full automation of battles for the less exciting fights as you explore the map, 2x speed both in battle and moving around on the map, etc. Please support unique indie titles like this, if you like this style of gameplay it's really interesting!1 found this helpful
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