Outcast Tales: The First Journey

About Outcast Tales: The First Journey

Outcast Tales: The First Journey is a single player tactical role playing game with comedy and post-apocalyptic themes. It was developed by hardlanestudio and was released on January 29, 2024. It received positive reviews from players.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey is just the beginning of a much grander experience (as the name sort of implies!). So, for now, familiarize yourself with the wasteland - you'll spend a lot more time in it when Outcast Tales is out! Be tactical (or mash buttons; might work just as well)! Robots, mutants, desert raiders: almost all enemies have something up their sleeve. So do your characters: so…

Outcast Tales: The First Journey screenshot

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Reviews

83%Audience ScoreBased on 112 reviews

gameplay8 positive mentions

monetization10 negative mentions

Engaging and strategic turn-based combat that rewards thoughtful party composition and skill synergy.
Strong character system with personalities and relationships that affect gameplay and storytelling, adding depth and replayability.
High-quality art style, humorous and witty narrative, and immersive world setting provide a unique and charming atmosphere.

The current version is a short free prologue/demo with limited content and scope, leaving players wanting more.
Some gameplay mechanics can be punishing and RNG elements (like chance to miss) may lead to frustrating moments.
UI issues, such as awkward battle interface and small text size, and occasional technical problems, reduce overall polish.

gameplay
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29% positive mentions, 60% neutral mentions, 11% negative mentions
The gameplay blends turn-based combat with character traits, relationships, and meaningful choices, creating a strategic and engaging experience that rewards planning and party customization. While some find the mechanics complex or somewhat limited in variety, the core systems cooperate well to deliver a compelling, personality-rich adventure reminiscent of Darkest Dungeon and Slay the Spire. The prologue offers a solid tactical foundation, though its full potential depends on future content additions and balancing.
- “Rather than relying exclusively on complicated combat mechanics, it combines turn-based encounters with character traits, relationships, unpredictable events, and meaningful choices.”
- “Its strongest quality is not any single mechanic but the way its systems cooperate to make each party feel capable of generating its own strange wasteland adventure.”
- “I was quite surprised overall, main mechanics felt simple, yet quite skill-dependent. RNG is rather limited since you can see enemy actions for their next turn (which is a big improvement for me from Darkest Dungeon as an example). Also, base miss/crit chances are very low.”
- “Make it a little bit more strategy game-like because pure randomized gameplay is not the best choice.”
- “The gameplay mechanics are not my cup of tea either.”
- “2) All mechanics are very complicated from the get-go; you are forced to read tons of text without prior easier runs.”
humor
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game's humor is a central and cleverly woven element, blending irreverent, satirical, and quirky jokes that add charm and levity to the story and gameplay. However, it may not resonate with all audiences due to cultural differences, translation issues, and a style that some find low-brow or overly self-aware. Nonetheless, many appreciate the funny writing, engaging narrator, and humorous character interactions that enhance the overall experience.
- “There is danger throughout the wasteland, but the writing frequently approaches violence, survival, and interpersonal conflict with irreverent humor.”
- “Clever, funny, challenging, with intriguing (if not exactly novel) worldbuilding and dry, satirical narration.”
- “Quirky surprises had me laughing — the game fools the player right from the start!”
story
20 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30% positive mentions, 55% neutral mentions, 15% negative mentions
The story is praised for its emergent, choice-driven narrative centered on evolving relationships between diverse party members, blending humor, satire, and strong character interactions. The game offers a whimsical, procedurally generated storyline with compelling narration and memorable characters, creating a rich, story-rich roguelike experience reminiscent of titles like SteamWorld Quest. While the relationship system could benefit from more player agency, overall, the narrative is engaging, fun, and enhanced by a charismatic narrator and clever storytelling.
- “Relationships between party members strengthen this emphasis on emergent storytelling.”
- “It feels like I am creating a small story with every run instead of simply moving from one battle to another.”
- “In summary: I think the dev did a fantastic job broadening their skillset and creating a whimsical procedurally generated storyline with charismatic characters to get to know.”
- “The relationships system is not straightforward enough and requires more player agency - maybe the first interaction leading to and up or down in relation is fine to be random, but it would be very nice to have options to somehow put conscious effort into improving (or damaging, at least for the lolz and story points) the standing between characters.”
- “Though still, if the story is being told by one of the characters (e.g. a drunk in a bar) then it's fine.”
- “Like, I dunno, it's an old bum who used to be an adventurer himself... there was a game sacrifice back in early 2000s which told the story like that, and when you re-load, the narrator would say 'that's not what really happened.'”
graphics
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59% positive mentions, 23% neutral mentions, 18% negative mentions
The graphics are widely praised for their distinctive comic and cartoony art style, with visuals often described as impressive and full of character, reminiscent of games like SteamWorld. While backgrounds and overall aesthetics receive positive remarks, some users feel character animations are minimal or static, giving a slightly mobile or free-to-play game vibe. Overall, the graphics contribute positively to the game's appeal, though animation and dynamic elements are limited.
- “Love the comic art style.”
- “I'll start with some of the positives though: fun storytelling, graphics with a ton of character, and there has clearly been serious thought put into the story branching and procedural generation.”
- “Amazing visuals, fun combat, and a well-thought-out UI are enough to make a good tactical game on their own.”
- “It's basically what you expect from a mobile app: mostly static 2D graphics with cartoony visuals and some equally static JRPG-style turn-based combat.”
- “The combat is boring, the animation is essentially nonexistent, the art style is just okay, and the sounds are poor.”
- “The whole aesthetic looks quite similar to the SteamWorld games, which I really like.”
monetization
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The monetization aspect is criticized for being misleading, as the product is essentially an unreleased advertisement disguised as a full game. Users feel this practice devalues game visibility and marketing space, arguing that ads disguised as games offer no real value and exploit platform systems unfairly. Overall, this approach is seen as harmful and not recommended for gamers.
- “While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
- “Often developers may choose to incorrectly publish demos/advertisements as separate games as a cheap way to bypass paying Valve for marketing presence on the Steam front page, which may seem clever to them, but it's harmful behavior and it's not good for gamers.”
- “It's impossible for me to recommend this incorrectly published advertising spam to gamers; you deserve better than adverts.”
music
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The music in the game is consistently praised for its high quality and strong production value, complementing the art style and overall atmosphere. Many users describe the soundtrack as awesome and a standout aspect of the experience.
- “Dialogue, music, and overall art direction is superb.”
- “The music is so good!”
- “Music: awesome.”
replayability
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
60% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 40% negative mentions
Users generally find the game replayable due to its engaging mechanics, class diversity, and randomized elements that maintain challenge and interest. However, some express uncertainty about the long-term replay value once optimal strategies and content are fully explored. Overall, the game is praised for its accessible yet thoughtful design that encourages multiple playthroughs.
- “I have probably easily spent over a hundred hours grinding high scores in Wondrous Lands, because of its tightly balanced challenging difficulty progression, replayability through randomization, class diversity, the simple skill system, and the absolute genius design system of making almost every tier of equipment you loot valuable for one of your characters for at least a while.”
- “The limited scope keeps it from feeling like a fully developed grand RPG, but as an accessible introduction to its ideas, it is engaging, replayable, and packed with personality.”
- “Biggest concern is whether the main game will offer enough depth and replayability once you know the best class combinations and all event outcomes.”
- “Not sure how this will move forward and how much replay value the whole thing will have (for now there is none), but it's made well and you really need to think what skills you use to win, unlike in other games.”
- “In demo hard to judge replayability potential of full game.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Users appreciate that character development is integrated meaningfully into gameplay, with mechanics like resting offering opportunities for progression rather than being mere health recovery. The game blends roguelike elements with RPG-style character growth, enhancing the overall experience.
- “Similarly, the fact that 'rest' isn't a null choice to restore health, but provides opportunities for character development and progression.”
- “It is roguelike with elements of RPG and character development.”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in the game is highly engaging due to its balanced difficulty, randomized replayability, diverse classes, and valuable loot for different characters, encouraging extensive playtime. While the mechanic can feel somewhat tedious, this is largely attributed to the menu interface rather than the core gameplay.
- “I have probably easily spent over a hundred hours grinding high scores in Wondrous Lands because of its tightly balanced challenging difficulty progression, replayability through randomization, class diversity, the simple skill system, and the absolute genius design of making almost every tier of equipment you loot valuable for one of your characters for at least a while.”
- “Yes, mechanically it was a little tedious, but that could have been fixed with better menu UI tools.”

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Play Times

1h Median play time

1h Average play time

1-1h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Outcast Tales: The First Journey is a tactical role playing game with comedy and post-apocalyptic themes. Common tags for Outcast Tales: The First Journey include turn-based, indie, roguelite, dungeon crawler, combat and others.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows and Linux.

On average players spend around 1 hours playing Outcast Tales: The First Journey.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey was released on January 29, 2024.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey was developed by hardlanestudio.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey has received positive reviews from players. Most players liked Outcast Tales: The First Journey for its gameplay but disliked it for its monetization.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey is a single player game.

Similar games include The Iron Oath, Knock on the Coffin Lid, Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs, Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest, Dice Gambit and others.

Outcast Tales: The First Journey

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About Outcast Tales: The First Journey

Games Like Outcast Tales: The First Journey

The Iron Oath

Knock on the Coffin Lid

Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs

Druidstone: The Secret of the Menhir Forest

Dice Gambit

Star Renegades

Dead Age

Zoria: Prologue (2020)

Urtuk: The Desolation

Shards of Order

Reviews

gameplay

humor

story

graphics

monetization

music

replayability

character development

grinding

Buy Outcast Tales: The First Journey