B&B The Lamplighters League

Welcome to Brew and Breakdown. Let’s begin. 

Our game featured today is The Lamplighters League. Wikipedia states, The Lamplighters League is a turn-based strategy video game developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by Paradox Interactive. The game was released for Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S in October 2023.

Set in an alternate version of the 1930s, the player must assemble a team of misfits to stop an ancient cult named the Banished Court, which aims at achieving world domination.

While players only have access to three agents at the beginning of the game, the game will feature 10 characters at launch. Different characters have different weapons and abilities. For instance, Ana Sofia can heal her allies, while Celestine can hypnotize enemies. Other skills and perks can also be unlocked at the player's headquarters in the form of equipable cards. While these cards can improve the player's combat efficiency, they may also hinder them by introducing negative traits. Characters may be stressed when they go on multiple consecutive missions. Their combat performance would be significantly impaired. Players are advised to regularly rotate their agents, allowing some to rest and rejuvenate at the league's headquarters.

In each mission, players can first freely explore the level in real time. In this infiltration phase, players can collect items and eliminate enemies undetected. This also allows players to place traps and place their agents in the perfect position before engaging enemies in combat. Combat in the game is turn-based, similar to games such as XCOM and Gears Tactics. Once the player defeats all enemies in an area, they will return to infiltration mode and continue to progress. While the map of each mission is handcrafted by the team, enemies and interactables are procedurally generated.

The game also features a world map. Members of the Lamplighters League must try to disrupt the progress of the game's three hostile factions as they wreak havoc around the world. Agents resting in the base can also be sent on side expeditions.

The game is currently being developed by Harebrained Schemes, the developer behind the Shadowrun trilogy and the BattleTech video games. The game was heavily inspired by pulp magazines published in the 1930s. Announced in March 2023, the game was released for Windows PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X and Series S on October 3, 2023.

The Decision 

The Lamplighters League is stimulating in the least and captivating at its best. A crafty title full of turn-based strategy built for lovers of the genre. A game with an appeal unlike some of the others of this type. Story compels one to play in this meticulous title. Xbox Intel says, “Give it a chance and be rewarded with Disney-esque aesthetic and Tactics-like gameplay.” 

Brew and Breakdown gives this game 4.5 out of 5 Coffee Beans.  

Thank you for tuning in to Xbox Intel. 

We have come to an end.

Intel next time.