The Spell Brigade

As a complete package, I think The Spell Brigade mostly delivers on what it wanted to provide. It’s fun to play, immersive, very intense, and you can also play it with friends. It’s grindy though, and even bosses won’t give you a ton of resources.

The Spell Brigade proves that Belgian talent can also dominate the crowded rogue-like genre. The move from Early Access to 1.0 is not a simple ‘port’, but a genuine evolution. With the addition of Knelly, the deeper Ascension system and Austin Wintory’s phenomenal soundtrack, the result is a rock-solid co-op experience. Although the new economy takes some getting used to and the chaos can sometimes be overwhelming, the core of the game – laughing together at magical blunders – remains unrivalled. An absolute must-play for fans of the genre who love style, humour and tight gameplay!

If you have a few chums to play with, The Spell Brigade will quickly become your go-to multiplayer Survivors-like funfest for sure. 🧙‍♀️

The Spell Brigade is a surprising game to come across our board to review and I’m glad I picked it. It’s a fun survivor game to pick up and invite others to play with. If you have a controller, this game allows people to use either control stick. You don’t need to explain yourself, just know you have the option to make that choice. So pick up a copy and see if you get assistance from a celestial wizard like myself popping in to rid the forces of Cthulhu. Or you can do it yourself. I give The Spell Brigade the Thumb Culture Platinum Award

The Spell Brigade is a fun, slightly rough, but highly replayable experience that works best when you lean into its co-op systems. Some of the systems need refinement and expansion, but it is deep enough to make you want to play it again. The Spell Brigade could be much more than that in the genre with continued updates.

The Spell Brigade separates itself from the pack of Vampire Survivors-adjacent games by letting up to four players engage in unruly, wave-based chaos. However, the power climb is locked behind a steep grind that takes too long to feel rewarding.

Fun Survivors-like experience with a varied group of wizards to choose from

The Spell Brigade doesn't do anything wrong, but it also doesn't do anything to make itself stand out in a sea of survivors-like games. Its gameplay isn't all that exciting, its art and sound design is ho-hum, and any meaningful upgrades take far too long to unlock. There are plenty of other games in the genre that are far more rewarding to play.

The Spell Brigade is a brilliant survivors-like title that carves out its space in the genre thanks to some excellent ideas and cross-play co-op that gives it additional value.

The Spell Brigade offers an interesting twist on the survivor-like genre. The more intricate map design combined with the quest system adds more strategy to runs, but the slow unlocking of these systems and the lack of enemy variety make the game sometimes feel repetitive. The safe choice to not deviate too much from genre staples also adds to this feeling. Multiplayer is fun, but the lack of synergy between players makes it feel like you are just playing next to each other instead of working together. The game can be used as a social experience when you and your friends love to play survivor-like games, but don’t expect any big changes to an already existing formula.