Tactical RPGs are some of my favorite experiences and yet Indie developers so rarely get them right. Final Fantasy Tactics, Fire Emblem, Vandal Hearts, all of these are quality Tactical RPG experiences. However, naming indie gems in the turn-based Tactical RPG genre is a bit more difficult. Other than Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs and Children of the Zodiarcs, I can think of very few. Until now that is. Wintermoor Tactics Club sets itself apart from the rest, and it is not one that should be missed.

The plot of Wintermoor Tactics Club is deceptively complex. Alicia is a student at Wintermoor Academy, a school that is renowned for its focus on clubs and student bonding. She is a part of the tactics club with her friends Colin and Jacob, who play Dungeons and Drag—er, Curses and Catacombs as part of their club activities.

Out of the blue, the Principal announces a Snowball Tournament between all the clubs. Every losing club must be disbanded, so it is up to Alicia and her friends to protect their club and get to the bottom of what is going on. Gameplay takes place in two phases per chapter. There is the exploration phase, where you can do side quests, play Curses and Catacombs, and talk to students while exploring the school.

After you’ve done the majority of main quests and story-based things for a chapter, you then face a club in combat. No, you aren’t actually doing a snowball fight per se. What happens is that the Tactics club translates their characters’ moves into snowball maneuvers. So, you see their characters (in their imagination) as they fight the snowball fight. However, you play them like you would their Curses and Catacombs characters.

It is a blending of imagination and reality that is very well done. It showcases the power of imagination and the importance of strategy. Each character on your team, including ones you get in the story, has different abilities and a different sort of purpose. For example, Jacob’s character Roguey can do physical damage, but also push or pull enemies. Anjaya, Alicia’s character, on the other hand, is a mage and can do ranged magical damage.

The combat mechanics aren’t super deep, there are no real stats, and there isn’t a leveling system, just your character’s attacks and upgrades you can earn from side quests. You initially only have one upgrade slot per character and rather than making them stronger outright, it changes how their abilities work. It might make one do more damage, or it might change the type of damage it does.

It could also make your attacks debuff enemies or all sorts of other options. Characters also have a Tactics power, which is usable when your tactics meter fills. Think of it as an ultimate ability, except there is one bar that is filled when your characters deal damage.

At the end of each level, you are graded by how well you performed. This doesn’t help or hurt you really, it just shows you a representation of how well you utilized your characters and their abilities. Some of the levels are hard, but you can replay them if things don’t go how you wanted.

The difficulty settings are nice, as it is more of a slider of how much health your enemies have, how much damage they deal, and things like that. Personally, I think most games should offer that sort of difficulty option, so you can tailor it to your skill level. I didn’t find the levels too difficult, but they were challenging.

By far though, the strong point of Wintermoor Tactics Club is its story. It is set in the ’80s and has characters from a variety of cultures. There are multiple prominent characters who are people of color, and it is so much fun to play through the game and get to know these characters. In fact, they feel like real people, with struggles and histories that unfold as you play through the story.

Granted, the game also takes a turn for the silly and weird, but it is a good thing. There are real moments of seriousness, such as Alicia’s inner conflict about the tournament causing losing clubs to disband. Yet things never get too dark and you see lots of characters that are fun, but also have their own stories to tell.

I find that I miss some of the progression systems from other RPGs though. The lack of leveling, skill trees, or anything like that is great for beginners, but it is also restrictive. As someone used to building characters up and making them stronger over time, some of the challenges feel like they’d be far more enjoyable if I could just level up, instead of being stuck with the same damage numbers.

Two things really stuck with me as negatives for the Switch version of Wintermoor Tactics Club though. For one, the loading screens are long. I don’t know if that’s the case with all the versions of the game, but the load times are longer than they should be or at least longer than they seem like they should be.

The other issue I had was that because the maps are set on a 45-degree angle, controls are a little wonky. Moving the cursor over the grid was a little weird due to the tilt in the maps. It also makes depth perception a little weird in places.

Other than that and some minor crashes and glitches, Wintermoor Tactics Club is an absolute delight. I enjoyed my time with it, and I think more people should too. It isn’t a super long game, but I could see myself coming back every so often to play it again. It is also perfectly safe to play around (or with) kids, so if you’re a parent that wants to share a Tactics RPG with your kid, this is a perfect option.

Overall, as the Steam page says, Wintermoor Tactics Club is in part a story about surviving high school. Yet, it is much more than just a simple coming of age story. There is a lot to love and a lot of charm here. If you haven’t given it a try yet, you’re missing out.

A Nintendo Switch review copy of Wintermoor Tactics Club was provided by Versus Evil for this review.

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Wintermoor Tactics Club

$19.99 USD

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Great Characters
• Interesting Story and Concept
• Fun Combat
• Lots of Side Quests
• Fantastic Art Style

Cons

• Minor Crashing
• Progression is a Little Weak
• Long Load Times