Grit and Valor - 1949 Might Be the Mech Roguelike I've Been Looking For

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Nothing beats stomping all over my enemies while wielding a gigantic robot suit. But enough about my weekend plans! I will never get tired of games featuring mechs. From Mechwarrior 5: Mercenaries to Armored Core, there is a lot out there for fans of robots. Even a chill farming game features a mech in Lightyear Frontier!

Grit and Valor - 1949 is a real-time tactics roguelike developed by Milky Tea Studios set in an alternate history Europe. While it is set for a launch sometime in 2025, they had a closed beta available to try out. Oozing a great atmosphere and some nifty mechanics, I am excited for the full launch. I have not played this for long, so this will be a short piece. But so far, I am rather impressed!

In 1949, the Axis forces turned to deadly mech technology to change the course of World War 2. While the Allies managed to create their mechs, the Axis powers conquered Europe, including Britain, where the player came in. The player must regain Europe from the Axis powers by joining a small resistance. After a short tutorial, the beta allows players to try the roguelike mode in reconquering Britain.

The atmosphere is fantastic, and the gameplay reminds me of Into the Breach’s bite-sized battlefields. However, Grit and Valor is a fast-paced combat game with no pause function. Players have to be on their A-game from the beginning. You aim to hold off the Axis attack waves with your small number of units while keeping the commander mech alive. If it falls, you lose the run!

Despite the small battlefields, they pay a ton of attention to detail, although there isn’t much time to enjoy the scenery. You must use your units, their abilities, and the terrain to hold back the superior numbers of the Axis. With no pause, I had to be quick on my reflexes to position my forces, and the sound effects and music only added to the great atmosphere.

While the mission goals are usually simple, the game throws a few optional curveballs your way. Sometimes, there are enemy towers to capture, or a powerful miniboss will arrive. The resistance might be outgunned, but they are no slouch either, and they will airdrop your support in the name of roguelike-themed upgrades. There is a diverse range of power-ups for your mechs, and you need all the help you can get. Health carries over between missions, which only adds to the challenge.

It’s not all just combat missions, however. On the campaign map, you can purchase more buffs and units from vendors or make tactical decisions that come with buffs and drawbacks. There were more choices and consequences than expected, and Milky Tea Studios showed great promise with their game. Roguelikes might be a saturated market, but I like the presentation and challenge Grit and Valor offers.

As betas go, the performance was also decent. Unfortunately, I could not test this properly on the Steam Deck in time, as I encountered a weird bug where it would refuse to load. Despite that, it ran reasonably well on my GTX 1060 laptop and my newer RTX 3060 laptop without any significant problems, so it looks promising performance-wise. I’m unsure why the game refused to boot on the Deck, but we’re some months away from a release. Hopefully, Grit and Valor will be better for the Deck by then!

Grit and Valor - 1949 can be wishlisted on Steam. To join the beta, just head to the Steam store page and request access to the playtest. Will you be giving Grit and Valor a try? Let us know in the comments!

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