Calyx

About

Calyx is a single player strategy game. It was developed by Studio 568 and was released on January 29, 2026. It received very positive reviews from players.

A combination RTS and base builder with a brand new kind of enemy, the Calyx are a group of powerful plant-aliens that, left unchecked, quickly spread to control swathes of the map. As the only remaining occupant of an Avaris Corporation deep-space mining vessel, you’ve arrived in orbit around a barren-looking planet. While you’re trying to get over being frozen for more than a century, you’re …

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Play Modes

Single-Player

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94%

Audience ScoreBased on 161 reviews

story5 positive mentions

grinding2 negative mentions

Unique blend of classic RTS mechanics with tower defense and a novel biological enemy concept reminiscent of Creeper World and Command & Conquer.
Addictive and satisfying gameplay that rewards strategic planning, base building, and resource management, with a strong pacing that suits both casual and hardcore players.
Stable and polished for an early access title, featuring a compelling core gameplay loop, enjoyable campaign missions, multiple game modes, and a strong sci-fi atmosphere.

Some balancing issues, including difficulty spikes and enemy progression mechanics that can feel unfair or frustrating, especially with immune or overpowering enemies in later maps.
Limited unit variety and tactical diversity, with some units feeling underpowered or less useful, and repetitive gameplay loops that can result in stalemates or monotonous grinding.
Narrative and visual presentation outside of gameplay are weak with placeholder quality story elements and unimpressive cutscenes, and lack of features like research respec or better UI improvements.

story
40 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
79%
8%
The story offers a quirky and engaging campaign with a genuine sense of threat from the advancing enemy, complemented by varied missions that challenge players' strategic planning. However, the narrative and pre-mission briefings can feel underdeveloped or placeholder-like, and the mandatory timed objectives sometimes detract from pacing and player freedom. Overall, while not heavy on story depth or cutscenes, the campaign's gameplay-driven progression maintains interest and anticipation for more content.
- “The story is well written and really immerses you into the urgency of the situation you are in!”
- “The creep of the calyx over the map is genuinely threatening, and there's no time to waste on the missions.”
- “I'm halfway through the campaign, and each mission is significantly different from the last.”
- “The pre-mission briefings and the plot progression feel like placeholders that overstayed their welcome.”
- “Besides that, the further the enemy spreads, the stronger it gets, so the first thing you need to do every mission isn't to build up your economy, it's to bumrush power connectors and defensive towers and minimize the area the calyx can spread to lest you get punished with a harder mission, which feels awful.”
- “This isn't helped by the fact that every mission is a time-trial, where if you're too slow to reach certain objectives and/or finish the overall mission too slowly, you end up with less research points, making future missions even harder.”
gameplay
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
44%
17%
The gameplay offers a well-structured and addictive blend of classic RTS elements with unique mechanics, providing strategic depth and varied enemy encounters that keep players engaged. While some find the absence of traditional features like economy and mining limiting, the solid pacing and potential for innovative mechanics indicate strong future growth. However, the gameplay loop may feel repetitive to some, suggesting a need for more balancing and variety to maintain long-term interest.
- “For the first chapter, this really hits the spot by giving us a nice overview of the mechanics. The different types of enemies are nicely implemented and explained so you know how to react to them, but you are still sometimes surprised by the enemy type you are fighting!”
- “Despite being in early access, the solidity of its mechanics is striking; it doesn’t feel like a rough sketch but rather a well-advanced structure that keeps you glued to the monitor for hours.”
- “Captivating gameplay with intriguing depth and a fair amount of content for an early access release.”
- “I don't like the mechanics of it - no economy, no mining, just increasing in power and spawning bigger and bigger waves of tanks.”
- “Although I feel the balancing could be improved and there should be something to break up the gameplay.”
- “However, the gameplay loop was a hard bounce for me.”
graphics
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
24%
38%
The game features nostalgic, late 90's-inspired graphics that fans of classic aesthetics will appreciate, while offering stable and visually pleasing performance even on low-end systems. Its graphics are well-optimized, running smoothly without compromising quality, and contribute positively to the overall experience without being overwhelming.
- “It has old Command & Conquer aesthetics which I love.”
- “Most important to me is the fact that this whole game just oozes a low-fat, futuristic aesthetic that sends me straight back to the late 90's, and I love the game for it!”
- “The game was stable, graphically pleasing, auditorily pleasing; UI/UX was decent, and the controls were fantastic, something many EA releases struggle with.”
- “With my rig, I should have been able to easily get 1000 fps with this game, given the current graphics and rendering quality.”
- “Runs on my potato with toned down graphics, but high speed on my desktop.”
- “But considering we keep having games coming out with bugs/glitches that make them unplayable, bad graphics/optimization, and countless other issues... this is not really something high up on the list of negatives for me.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music in the game is generally praised for its great soundtrack and ambient qualities that enhance the experience, though some users wish for a more varied or expanded musical score.
- “The game is really fun, reminds me a bit of Creeper World, music and ambience are great.”
- “Great soundtrack.”
- “Would love some additions to the musical score too.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the emotional experience inconsistent, as the engaging gameplay is often interrupted by underwhelming narrative elements that diminish the impact of victories. However, the game succeeds in delivering a strong emotional "high" associated with overcoming challenging obstacles.
- “If you are looking for that specific 'emotional good high' of overcoming overwhelming odds, Calyx hits the mark.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is characterized by a slow, steady progression that some players find satisfying and rewarding, while others may view it as tedious and monotonous. The gameplay involves repetitive tasks similar to farming simulators, but set in a space environment.
- “The key word is grind - for me, holding down my position and slowly pushing through the enemy is a satisfying sort of grind in this game; for others, it'll be tedious.”
- “Brazilian farming simulator in space”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The optimization of the game receives mixed feedback, with some users acknowledging it as a lesser issue compared to bugs and glitches, while others find it so poor that it severely impacts playability and prompts refunds.
- “But the optimization was so dreadful that I am going to refund the game.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is praised for its stability, running smoothly without major bugs or glitches. Users appreciate its good optimization and reliable performance, making stability a minor concern compared to other games.
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The atmosphere is notably sci-fi, evoking a strong sense of Titan A.E. with its futuristic and immersive setting.
- “Sci-fi atmosphere: it gives off strong Titan A.E. vibes.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game's core loop engaging, contributing to its overall replayability and encouraging multiple playthroughs.