Xenopurge, developed by Traptics and published by Firesquid, is a bold, genre-blending tactical auto-battler that swaps twitch reflexes for cold, calculated decision-making. Launching in Early Access on July 11, 2025, this game drops you not onto the battlefield, but into the nerve-racking role of a remote commander—more Lt. Gorman from Aliens than Master Chief.
It’s a game about planning, indirect control, and watching your little blue squad icons survive (or not) as red Xeno blips close in. If that sounds stressful, it is. And if that sounds compelling, welcome to your next obsession.
You’re in Charge, but Not in Control
In Xenopurge, you command an elite unit from a remote station, issuing commands through a multi-screen setup that looks like a military-grade version of a 1980s DOS terminal. Your objective: purge alien infestations across derelict ships and off-world installations.
You’re not moving units directly with a mouse or controller. Instead, you’re giving orders like “recon,” “guard,” “search,” or “extract,” and adjusting priorities as your squad auto-executes their routines. Think Duskers meets Space Hulk, with a dash of roguelike meta-progression. It’s simple to pick up, but deeply satisfying once you start grasping how different commands interact and influence outcomes.
The twist? You often don’t have complete visibility. You issue commands into the darkness, trusting your units’ AI and praying they don’t split up and get swarmed. That moment when a unit goes silent mid-mission hits differently in Xenopurge.
Cold Screens, Hot Tension
Xenopurge thrives on atmosphere. It doesn’t need hyper-realistic 3D graphics—its slick interface, claustrophobic audio design, and pulsing map feeds crank the tension. The sound design, including the voicework and eerie ambient audio, pulls you into the mindset of a stressed-out commander juggling incomplete data and mounting alien resistance.
Visually, the aesthetic is retro-futuristic with evident influences from sci-fi classics like Alien. The clean UI contrasts with the horror unfolding on your screens, and that contrast is effective. You’ll spend your time flipping between views, watching for red contacts, checking squad vitals, and making agonizing judgment calls.
The Gameplay Loop: Short, Brutal, Addictive
Each run lasts around an hour and consists of multiple missions. Procedurally generated maps and objectives (such as search-and-destroy, escort, or extraction) keep things fresh. You start by selecting and equipping your squad, then choose your opening strategy.
Early missions introduce you to the basics: reconnaissance loops, overwatch patterns, and risk management. But as the difficulty ramps up—especially past difficulty level three—the game demands sharper strategy. You’ll need to anticipate enemy spawns, balance risk-reward, and adapt your command roster on the fly.
Your squad operates semi-autonomously, and minor tweaks in their instructions can drastically impact survival. For example, defaulting to recon across all units might spread your team too thin. Savvy commanders quickly learn to adjust: perhaps sending one unit ahead, another to flank, and a third to provide support.
As you progress, you’ll unlock better gear, commands, and character upgrades. Between missions, you spend credits on new tactical options, giving you increasingly granular control over behavior. The meta-progression feeds the strategy junkie’s dopamine loop—improve, adapt, survive, repeat.
Tension vs. Frustration: A Delicate Balance
Let’s be real: Xenopurge isn’t for everyone. It’s not fast. It’s not flashy. You won’t be juggling combos or landing headshots. Instead, you’ll be anxiously watching a red dot chase your medic down a dark corridor, and trying to figure out what command you forgot to issue two screens ago.
This indirect style of control may not resonate with all players, and mistakes can be particularly punishing. There’s a steep curve between understanding commands and mastering them. Some players might find the command limitations frustrating, especially early on when your options are few and the aliens are many.
But that’s part of the design. The satisfaction comes from building a strategy that works, refining it over time, and ultimately executing a mission where everything falls into place.
What’s There and What’s Coming
As an Early Access title, Xenopurge is still growing. Right now, there’s solid core content—a strong gameplay loop, good visual style, and enough variety to keep players interested for multiple runs. That said, the devs have acknowledged a need for more mission types, more unit variety, and deeper squad customization.
However, what’s already here feels promising. It runs well, including on the Steam Deck (though text size can occasionally be an issue), and it already delivers more strategy per minute than many larger games.
Highlights and Gripes
What We Loved:
- Unique multi-screen command interface
- Tense, minimalistic aesthetic
- Deep tactical gameplay with real consequences
- Strong roguelite meta-loop
- Procedural generation keeps each mission fresh
- Short, intense 60-minute runs
What Needs Work:
- Still light on content variety
- Steep learning curve and occasional UI friction
- Some voice work could use polish
- Can feel repetitive without mid-run surprises
Xenopurge: Xenopurge might look like a simple auto-battler, but it delivers a unique tactical experience full of tension, experimentation, and hard-earned victories. It doesn’t hold your hand, and it rarely forgives your mistakes. But if you're the type who finds joy in issuing the perfect command at the perfect moment—and watching it play out in glorious, abstracted violence—this game is for you. There’s still room for it to grow, and Early Access is the perfect environment for that. But as it stands, Xenopurge already nails the hard part: it’s fun, challenging, and oddly addictive. Not bad for a game about watching blue dots run from red ones. – Asmodeus
