''Hyper Light Breaker'' is a

roguelike Roguelike (or rogue-like) is a style of role-playing game traditionally characterized by a dungeon crawl through procedurally generated levels, turn-based gameplay, grid-based movement, and permanent death of the player character. Most ro ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by Heart Machine and published by Arc Games. It serves as the prequel to ''

Hyper Light Drifter ''Hyper Light Drifter'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by Heart Machine. The Microsoft Windows, Linux and OS X versions were released in March 2016, and the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions in July 2016. A ''Special E ...

'' (2016). The player controls a "Breaker" who ventures into the Overgrowth to defeat the Abyss King. The game released for

early access Early access, also known as alpha access, alpha founding, paid alpha, or game preview, is a funding model in the video game industry by which consumers can purchase and play a game in the various pre-release Software release life cycle, developm ...

on January 14, 2025.

Gameplay

''Breaker'' takes place from a third-person perspective, and the player can mix melee and ranged weapons together. Each "Breaker" can choose a class and abilities that affect gameplay. To traverse the world, Breakers can use hoverboards, gliders and climb walls. Like in other roguelikes, when the player dies, a new world is randomly generated. The game supports multiplayer, with up to three players able to join a world together. To win, the player needs to take down a series of regional bosses in order to fight the Abyss King. Between runs, the player can explore a hub city. Non-playable characters can be found throughout the world, and the player can converse with them. Like in ''

'', there is no spoken dialogue in the game, instead characters communicate information to the player through comic book panels.

Development

Originally each biome was intended to be a separate level, but due to the amount of work required to expand each, all were consolidated into a single world. Many of the game's systems are built upon those created for the studio's previous title '' Solar Ash''. Gearbox Publishing San Francisco was originally listed as the publisher prior to its rebrand as Arc Games following

Gearbox Software Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game developer, video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitch ...

's sale to

Take-Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major Imprint (trade name), publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K ...

. The game's

release was originally scheduled for late 2023, but following multiple delays, the game finally released in early access on January 14, 2025.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.hyperlightbreaker.com/ Roguelike video games Open-world video games Video games developed in the United States Heart Machine games Windows games Indie games Upcoming video games scheduled for 2025 Unreal Engine 4 games Early access video games Multiplayer and single-player video games