Never before has inventory management been so fun as it is inBackpack Hero, the newest indie roguelike wonder that dropped on Steam in the middle of August. This game feels like the fever dream of someone who lovedthe little bits of enjoymentin inventory management and thought “what if there was a roguelike game built entirely around the attache case organization inResident Evil 4”? And, somehow, it worked out andBackpack Herois a blast.
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That said, thisadorable pixel-art indie gameis pretty challenging and a bit confusing at first thanks to those very same innovative mechanics, so let’s go over some of the best tips for beginners just starting their journey with it.
10Always Keep Some Healing Method On-Hand
This first tip is something that applies to just about every turn-based battler, and that’s to always have a way of healing on-hand. And,Backpack Herois no different. As the player progresses further throughout the dungeons, of which there are three levels for each, the fights start to escalate into dangerous territory much faster.
Enemies start to open on the first turn with high-damage Attacks, Curses, or Debuffs. So, it’s always good to have a method of healing through an Item, Consumable, or Relic in those situations, no matter how overpowered a build might “seem”. And, part ofthe fun of this game is getting smarterby figuring out how to hold on to all the best items as well as healing consumables, if possible.
9It Might Be Best To Start With Purse
Usually, in games like this with different playable characters, the cast all plays differently, but have the same sort of “foundation” in their gameplay design. This is not really the case withBackpack Hero,as the adorable playable cast of anthropomorphic animals Purse, Tote, and CR-8 (alot of games about animals lately) all have fundamentally different core mechanics. So, newer players may want to ease themselves into the way this game plays by sticking with Purse for a few runs first and then moving up to Tote’s Carvings system, before finally learning CR-8’s circuitry mechanic.
This isn’t to say that a new player “can’t” start their first run with Tote or CR-8, but that first run will assuredly involve a lot more confusion than if they had just started things nice and slow with Purse.
8Hovering On Items Will Show The Items They’re Affecting
A lot of the nuances ofBackpack Hero’sgameplay are centered around the perfect placement of items. Things such as making sure conductive items are adjacent to mana, armor is adjacent to armor, and weapons are adjacent to damage-buffing Relics. And, there are a fair number of items that are a bit more complicated than just “place it next to a weapon”, such as the Pearl, which buffs the damage of items that are specifically two squares away from it.
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Thankfully, if the player just hovers over the Pearl or any items with unique effects like this, it’ll show what the item is currently affecting with a dotted white border benefiting from its effects.
7Players Can Hover Over Any Icon To Learn About It
Backpack Herohas a deceptive amount of complexity to its combat, and part of this is due to the vast number of different Effects, Buffs, Debuffs, and Modifiers on items. Just to give a few examples, there are Status Effects like Weak, Haste, Slow, Burn, Cursed, Spikes, Armor, Rage, and Dodge.
And, this isn’t even including the Modifiers that are based around the two other playable characters as well. So, new players should make it a habit to hover their mouse over any iconography they don’t recognize.
6Item Description Phrasing Matters A Lot
Next, let’s talk about how some aspects ofBackpack Herorequire a bit of puzzle-solving(whether intentionally or not) because of the phrasing of certain item descriptions. For example, most Helmets are only “active” or at least gain most of their benefits from being in the top space of any column in the Backpack. But, if a column is only one square and has nothing above or below it, isn’t that single square technically also the “top” of the column?
As players level up, they’re able to choose how to expand their Backpack and are able to create squares of space that are only connected to the rest of the Backpack on one side. And, if a player puts a helmet in that square, it’ll still activate. There are a lot of other items that benefit from this creative thinking and placement as well, so experimentation goes a long way.
5Merchants Will Only Buy Three Items
The Merchant NPCs inBackpack Heroare pretty important, as they’re a method for players to upgrade the Gear in their bag outside of combat or just to make a bit more Gold. To sell things for Gold, players need to drag the item in question over to the Merchant and drop it, and they’ll receive gold equal to the “cost” of the item at the bottom of its description. But, beginners should know that the Merchant will only buy three items per appearance.
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The next time they show up on the map, of course, they’ll buy three more. But, because of this, players might want to wait until a map has been entirely cleared before selling to the Merchant.
4Events & Event NPCs Can Be Left For Later
There are a lot of unspoken rulesin these types of gamesthat players are used to having to just sort of “figure out” on their own. Does leveling up heal the player or not? Do Status Effects trigger at the beginning or end of a turn? And finally, are events on the map only interactable once, or can players say no and then come back later? Thankfully, inBackpack Hero,events are (for the most part) non-missable. For example, with Blacksmiths, it may seem like this is a player’s one opportunity to pick an upgrade for their equipment.
But, if they simply press “No Thanks” they can come back to this square later (once they have the required Gold) and pick again. The same applies to Merchants, Healers, and so on.
3Be Prepared Before Opening Any Chest
One of the few actions that are “permanent” inBackpack Herois opening a chest. Players can go in and out of a Treasure Room all they want, but as soon as they open the Chest that says “Click Me!” they need to pick what to take from it right then and there or the items will disappear.
Players should verify to have at least a couple of empty slots ready when walking into these rooms. If they don’t, they should simply leave, sell some items at the nearest Merchant, and then come back.
2Experiment With Builds, It Usually Works Out
Backpack Heroisone of those indie RPGsthat, upon closer inspection, has some intentional balance issues all for the sake of fun. There are so many builds that are completely overpowered compared to the difficulty scale, and it’s one of the reasons why the game is so fun. Games that are built around “make every item feel strong” tend to be a lot more enjoyable than titles built around “make every item feel balanced”, andBackpack Herois proof of that.
Therefore, if newer players find some items that seem like they might synergize well with each other, try and see how far building around these items will go.
1Status Effects & Curses Are Run-Enders
The difficulty curve ofBackpack Herois certainly more centered around enemies with more unique mechanics or the use of Curses than it is around scaling damage. Sure, a lot of late-game enemies and Bosses hit harder, but they’re actually much scarier because of their Spike stacks, abilities to summon allies, and the constant barrage of storage-hogging Curses.
In particular, Spikes and Curses are a large part of the last Dungeon, so players will want to adjust their items or build accordingly the closer they get to the end of a standard run.
