Some Of These Curses Are Load-Bearing
HIGH A wacky and charming CGA masterpiece with a sublime soundtrack
LOW If progression wasn’t task-focused, it would get repetitive.
WTF I wasn’t expecting a song about the mating habits of pacific salmon
When I first laid eyes on Titanium Court, I thought it was going to be a short goofball experience that I’d be done with in a few hours.
How absolutely wrong I was.
I was trapped — along with our protagonist — in an adventure that completely upended my life for a few days, made me laugh a lot, and made me think about what videogames are. It’s an amazing adventure that’s clearly been made with with love and craft.
…But let me stop gushing about Titanium Court and actually explain what it is.
It’s — taking a deep breath here — a roguelike match-three tower defense strategy title, with a dash of mystery, and if that sounds odd, that’s because it very much is. The tone from start to finish is surreal, and spiked with humor, oddball characters, and a gameplay loop that I found myself getting lost in, in the best way.
In Titanium Court, players will step into the role of the newly-anointed Queen of the fairies quite unexpectedly. She’s actually a woman pulled into this fantastic realm rather suddenly, and then finds out that she has to lead a group of weirdos in and out of battle.
Now, this is where Titanium Court’s main conceit comes into play. In each war (what would be considered a ‘run’ in other roguelikes) there are seven battles to win, including against one of a handful of bosses. In each battle, there are two phases, which both play differently.
During the first phase, high tide, players must match-three. This serves the purpose of manipulating the battlefield before the combat phase. It’s not just matching, though, there’s definitely a strategy to it. Helpful tiles can be maneuvered to form barriers, or to provide amenities.
In low tide, the second phase, the match-three field fuses together, and things shift into tower defense. This is where arranging matches in the first half pays off, aiding in offensive or defensive plays for the remainder of the battle. The troops at the player’s disposal have an array of abilities including attacking and destroying enemy structures, putting up walls, or even teleporting to another part of the battlefield.
Between the troop abilities and action during the low tide phase, there are many ways for battles to play out, and I was always eager to try new tactics.
Losses mean that the player earns little for their efforts, but a win against the forces of absurdity – and by that I mean the bosses – reward the player with a return to the Court at night. This allows them to learn more about what was happening or to offload some resources for permanent upgrades, like new battle abilities and some progression. Regardless of victory or defeat, resources, money, health, and items are reset after the evening passes.
All this culminates in a satisfying game loop, where each day teaches new lessons, new tactics, and ultimately brought me closer to understanding the mysteries of the Court — and so much of it is absolutely bizarre and surreal. This is still a story about the world of the Fae, of course. The fairies are all nuts or have funny quirks that made them endearing to talk to, there was always some new mystery to unravel, and the writing is just bonkers. I loved it.
However, it’s not all mirth and merriment. At a certain point I hit some pretty somber stuff, and it changed the lens through which I viewed the game and its themes of player agency — honestly, it’s a brilliant move that made think about Titanium Court on a more philosophical level. I don’t want to spoil anything here by saying more, so just trust me.
Honestly, I can only think of one criticism, and even that’s a bit of a nitpick — if the player puts time in and fails to make much progression due to a series of losses and few resources gained, I could see things becoming a bit stale. However, Titanium Court is a bonkers, surreal, thoughtful, and funny adventure from start to finish, and I had a hard time putting down. I kept coming back for more, and I can’t recommend it enough.
Rating: 9.5 out of 10
Disclosures: This game is developed by AP Thomson and published by Fellow Traveler. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PC. Approximately 39 hours were devoted to the game, and it was completed twice. There is no multiplayer mode.
Parents: This game has no ESRB rating. However, it features references to alcohol and cigarette smoking (with one class called “Youth” that is about burning tiles, and will show people smoking when successful.) The violence consists of tiny pixelated fairies that will attack each other and disappear upon defeat. Furthermore, a few spoken bits of dialogue that appear rarely will include some foul language, such as “f*ck”, though are censored in the text box.
Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind options.
Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: The game offers subtitles. Text cannot be resized, though it can be changed to a different font for easier reading. This game is not fully accessible. While the ability to change font types is helpful, without the ability to increase the font size, some players may experience difficulty in reading the text, particularly tool tips, which tend to be a bit cramped.
Remappable Controls: Yes, this game’s controls are remappable. Mouse and keyboard, as well as controllers, can be remapped.
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