Xenopurge

About

Xenopurge is a single player survival management game with horror and science fiction themes. It was developed by Traptics and was released on November 20, 2025. It received positive reviews from players.

Xenopurge is a tactical auto-battler where you are a Commander tasked with purging the Xenos threat. Operate from a remote command center, issuing indirect orders via multi-screen interfaces. Plan routes, set priorities, and adapt as missions escalate and feel the true weight of being in command.

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89%Audience ScoreBased on 254 reviews

story10 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

Unique and immersive gameplay that captures the tension and atmosphere of commanding squad members remotely in a hostile alien environment, reminiscent of Aliens and Space Hulk.
Engaging roguelite progression with meaningful upgrades, squad customization, and a compelling risk-reward loop encouraging strategic planning and quick decision-making.
Strong audio design and voice acting enhance immersion, while the minimalist, retro-futuristic interface and graphics support a distinctive command terminal vibe.

Limited content variety with few mission types and enemy variants, leading to some repetitiveness over time and a desire for more depth and longer campaigns.
Frustrating and cumbersome controls and UI navigation that can hamper fluid command issuance, with indirect unit control sometimes feeling unintuitive or requiring excessive micromanagement.
Performance issues and occasional bugs, including AI pathfinding problems and crashes for some players, combined with a steep difficulty curve that can make late-game runs feel unfair or overly punishing.

story
124 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
90%
2%
The story in this tactical roguelite is delivered primarily through mission briefings, emails, and environmental details, offering a gradual, immersive narrative rather than heavy exposition. While some find the plot intriguing and appreciate its integration with gameplay mechanics and setting, others feel the story is sparse, repetitive, and lacking variety in mission types, which can limit its depth and engagement. Overall, the narrative serves as a flavorful backdrop to the intense, decision-driven combat rather than a deeply gripping or complex campaign.
- “Every mission is tense, and completing runs of increasing difficulty is rewarded with cool interactive story sequences.”
- “You piece the story together gradually through unlocks and progression rather than exposition dumps.”
- “The game has an excellent way of telling its story, combining many elements that interact with game mechanics in different ways.”
- “I was hoping for a bit more story rather than 'go here, kill these guys.' It feels a bit like an early access game.”
- “I'd wish to see some depth throughout the whole game: story, lore, and mechanics.”
- “There is some kinda plot going on with the notes and occasional quest but man it's been awhile since any of that popped up for me.”
gameplay
75 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
64%
4%
The gameplay is praised for its unique, tactical, and addictive loop centered on squad command and strategic intervention rather than direct control, offering variety through different squads, gear, and escalating difficulty. While deceptively simple at first, it provides depth and replayability, with an engaging blend of RTS and roguelike elements that create tense, rewarding experiences. Some note the lack of certain mechanics and that later runs may feel more mechanical, but overall it delivers a fresh, immersive tactical challenge with solid core systems.
- “The core gameplay is simple to understand, but with plenty of variety and room for experimentation, especially as you unlock new squads, gear, commands, etc. Great atmosphere and premise, does a good job of making you feel "in command" of a squad of battle-hardened clone commandos fighting their way through alien threats - without actually seeing any of the action.”
- “✔️ Layered gameplay under a simple interface - the command screens look basic, but there is a lot going on once you start issuing orders and reacting to the situation on the ground.”
- “The core gameplay loop is both tense and chaotic.”
- “If you enjoy insanely annoying interfaces and fighting the controls more than the actual gameplay, then yeah — this game is definitely for you.”
- “It does not take long to see what the game has to offer, you'll unlock higher difficulty, different squads, equipment and commands but the core gameplay does not change much.”
- “-fallback is the single worst mechanic; all the other forms of attacking are good, but fallback forces your unit to keep going backwards without firing a single shot until they have their back against a wall, which in that case they can't fire anymore because they are forced into melee.”
graphics
48 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
75%
6%
The game's graphics are minimalistic and abstract, resembling retro-futuristic, lo-fi sci-fi aesthetics inspired by classics like Aliens and Space Hulk, which effectively build a tense, immersive atmosphere. While lacking flashy visuals, the simplistic wireframe and dot-based representation encourage player imagination and complement the sound design, though they may not satisfy players seeking modern, detailed graphics. Overall, the visual style is distinctive and integral to the game's mood, despite its barebones presentation.
- “I don't know whether to compare this first to Space Hulk, or to Aliens, but it is a great atmospheric game that evokes a huge amount of gritty sci-fi horror into a beautifully reductive graphical representation.”
- “The graphics in game are abstract (following how a commander would see the information in the real world), which funnily opens up the player's imagination to see what is happening there, in a way much richer than what we are used to in most fully visualized games.”
- “Might be the fastest I've gone from 'never heard of this game' to 'this is my favorite game.' The recommended keyboard-only control scheme is different than how I usually play games but quickly becomes second nature, the gameplay loop is fast-paced and addictive, and they've completely nailed the visuals and sound design to make a really immersive experience.”
- “This game has effectively no graphics.”
- “The absolute most you will see 99% of the time in terms of visuals are dots moving around on a screen.”
- “Atmosphere and sound design simply cannot compensate for a total lack of any visuals.”
atmosphere
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
29%
14%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive, tense, and gritty sci-fi horror vibe, effectively capturing the feeling of commanding a battle-hardened squad amidst relentless alien threats through sound design, art direction, and minimal visuals that engage the imagination. Many reviewers highlight the strong inspiration from classic sci-fi horror, particularly the 80's Aliens film, and commend its ability to create a thick, immersive tension despite its simplified graphical style. Some suggest room for deeper horror elements to further enhance the atmosphere, but overall it stands out as a core strength and a defining feature of the game.
- “I don't know whether to compare this first to Space Hulk or to Aliens, but it is a great atmospheric game that evokes a huge amount of gritty sci-fi horror into a beautifully reductive graphical representation.”
- “What really makes the game shine, however, is the impeccable atmosphere (art direction, sound design, music, UI).”
- “The visuals are enough to let your imagination fill in the gaps, whereas the sound design is perfect in building the tension, the atmosphere, and the vibe. It's very immersive with grunt chatter, shots being fired, and screams of death as I again failed to protect my clones from the ever-increasing xeno threat.”
- “Atmosphere and sound design simply cannot compensate for a total lack of any visuals.”
- “Someone will appreciate this game, it certainly has atmosphere, but for me, it fell flat.”
- “Atmosphere could go even deeper with more horror elements: power outages, map events, locked doors would enhance tension.”
replayability
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
40%
30%
The game offers strong replayability with its procedural design, randomized maps, and strategic variety, making each run feel distinct and engaging. However, some repetitive elements emerge over time, and while the core gameplay is solid, it may lack long-term depth and lasting engagement for all players. Overall, it provides a promising and enjoyable experience, especially for fans of squad management and sci-fi strategy.
- “The replayability and overall fun factor are outstanding.”
- “But the core gameplay loop works really well, and it's quite replayable -- every run feels different, and there's a lot of strategies that I haven't tried out yet.”
- “ Strong replay value with randomized maps, unique squads, challenges, and upgrade paths.”
- “Procedural design ensures replayability, but after many runs some environments, enemy encounters, and mission structures begin to repeat, reducing early unpredictability.”
- “While I like the gameplay, it is very basic and doesn't have nearly the same replayability as Duskers.”
- “The core loop works, but it still needs a lot of work to offer lasting replay value or long-term engagement.”
music
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
62%
The music in the game is widely praised for its tense, eerie, and fitting sci-fi atmosphere, perfectly complementing the gameplay and enhancing the suspense and urgency. Alongside immersive voice acting and sound design, it significantly contributes to the game's captivating and intense experience.
- “Fire up the Aliens soundtrack and you have a surprisingly tense game that will get your heart beating!”
- “What really makes the game shine, however, is the impeccable atmosphere (art direction, sound design, music, UI).”
- “The sci-fi theme is great, music fits perfectly and gives an overall eerie feeling with a sense of urgency.”
optimization
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The game currently suffers from poor hardware optimization, leading to subpar performance that detracts from the experience. While not entirely game-breaking, users hope for significant improvements to enhance mobile playability and overall smoothness.
- “I feel like if they took those elements out and optimized it then they could have a brilliant experience for mobile.”
- “Nothing that truly ruins the experience, but I do hope for better optimization.”
- “It feels like this game is missing some hardware optimization, and also some other gameplay elements, but I'm not sure what they are.”
- “I almost did not buy based on that statement alone, as I am fatigued of waiting months or years for games to have finished content or optimization.”
- “However, the main reason I am negative about this game is the abysmal performance.”
emotional
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game creates a distinctive emotional experience by tying successes and failures to strategic choices rather than mechanical skill, making outcomes feel earned or impactful. While unique control mechanics add to the tension, some players find the emotional connection less effective overall.
- “This indirect approach builds a unique emotional dynamic: successes feel earned through planning and anticipation, while failures sting because they are rooted in earlier strategic decisions rather than mechanical mistakes.”
- “The keyboard commands are a really cool way of making it feel unique, and watching situations fall apart while you've got limited ability to intervene is heartbreaking!”
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The grinding aspect features a unique squad-based system with varied playstyles, but ultimately feels repetitive and lacks depth beyond a few hours. The gameplay loop becomes tedious, treating grinding more like a minigame without significant progression or engaging variety.
- “A very cool concept but sadly feels like a minigame, there's nothing new to do after a couple of hours and the loop ends up being tediously repetitive.”
- “You have 4 different squads, with some interesting yet not game-breaking differences: one is built around controlling the junctions with stationary turrets, another rewards fast expansion by giving you the power to delay the aliens, and one encourages you to turn the tables by going on the hunt, farming aliens in order to turn your soldier into horrifying mutations (or that's what you're told, since you only see your soldiers as little blue dots, and occasionally hear them on the radio).”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is light and occasionally amusing, featuring some entertaining facts that add a subtle comedic touch.