Part 1 (Sep 2023) · #9 of 14 in that tierWatch the moment (0:23:41)
Convoy
- Developed by
- Convoy Games
- Published by
- Indietopia Games
$14.99
Convoy is a tactical roguelike-like inspired by Mad Max and FTL in which you cross a wasteland in search of parts for your broken ship. Presented in pixel art and set in a future post-apocalyptic setting, Convoy is a squad based tactical combat roguelike-like in its core.
Consensus
D64.9/100
Steam players78.4% positiveMostly Positive1,466 reviews
Metacritic ↗72/100Users: 5.3/10
OpenCritic ↗76/100
VG Insights estimate ↗≈127K copies · ≈$1.3M gross
What creators say
What players say
A pixel-art tactical roguelike from Convoy Games that mixes FTL's overworld of random events with real-time, Mad Max-style vehicle combat as you cross a wasteland hunting for parts to repair your ship.
Convoy is received as a solid but flawed FTL-inspired indie. Steam users rate it Mostly Positive (about 78% of roughly 1,470 reviews), and critics land in the mixed-to-good range (Metacritic 72, OpenCritic top-critic average around 76). The concept and the vehicle-customisation loop are widely liked, but many reviewers and players say the moment-to-moment combat becomes repetitive and the difficulty can feel unfair, especially early ambushes. It was a 2015 PC release from Indietopia Games that later got console ports (PS4 at least); I found no sign of a sequel or recent major updates, and some recent Steam reviews ask for one. The developer's follow-up title Landinar: Into the Void is bundled with it on Steam.
Players love
- The FTL meets Mad Max pitch is delivered faithfully; several Steam reviewers call it the only FTL-like that really feels like FTL
- Upgrading and customising your vehicles and mobile base gives a strong sense of progression during a run
- Random radio-signal encounters can turn into combat, text dialogue or chance-based role-play, which keeps runs varied
- Tense risk/reward decisions around fuel, repairs and whether to fight, with permadeath adding stakes
- Runs can be short (15 minutes) or long (2 hours), so players can tell their own hardship stories (Twinfinite)
- Good replay value: extra starting vehicles unlock by completing specific tasks, and harder difficulty modes exist
- Controls are easy to learn; a new player has the concepts down after a game or two (Game Informer)
- A 'chill' run-after-run feel that long-time players return to years later, often pairing it with FTL
- Fits its $14.99 price point; Steam reviewers call it simple but lots of fun
Common complaints
- Combat is the core loop and repeats so much that critics call it a slog or chore (Game Informer, Critical Hit, Gamers FTW)
- Some critics say there is little real tactics beyond focus-firing and attrition, and that it lacks FTL's depth (Riot Pixels scored it 40)
- Early game can feel brutally unfair: enemies outnumber you, hit hard, and ambushes appear suddenly and wipe out vehicles
- Visuals and music get called threadbare, uninspired or repetitive, and the soundtrack wears out its welcome
- Story and world-building are thin or annoying; narrative ambitions go unfulfilled (Games.cz)
- Quality-of-life gaps and the odd bug; one mistake can ruin an entire run
- Console ports suffer from controls that are too slow for commanding several vehicles and from a cluttered UI with hard-to-read fonts
Can feel tedious
- Fights are long and similar, so many players report the game getting boring quickly
- Fuel drains most of the money early, and backtracking across the wasteland is punished
- Repeated early losses: players report dying in the first ambush or first side mission and quitting
- Repair costs and losing vehicles can snowball into a dead run, which players say does not respect their time
- Shop and menu handling on controller takes too many button presses
What's unique
- Real-time vehicle combat as a high-speed car chase, where you position units and use abilities, rather than FTL-style ship system management
- A central mobile command vehicle that cannot move from the middle of the screen and soaks up damage each fight
- Three competing factions that grow in strength over the run, forcing adaptation
- A procedurally generated planet with different objectives, events and consequences each playthrough
- Tactical pause plus radio-signal encounters that branch into combat, dialogue or chance-based role-play
- Steam Workshop support exists, though Steam reviewers note there are very few mods
Players want
- More variety in encounters and enemy types so fights stop feeling like the same exchange
- Deeper tactical options beyond positioning and focus fire, including more useful abilities and customisation
- Smoother onboarding and a fairer early game, with better warning of or counterplay to ambushes
- Quality-of-life fixes such as scrollable objective text, seeing details of unaffordable shop items, and fewer button presses in the shop on controller
- Stronger story and world-building payoff, plus more polished art and audio
- An update or sequel; recent positive and negative Steam reviews both ask for more support
Summarised from Steam reviews and community discussion.
Steam tags
Pixel GraphicsVehicular CombatStrategyRogue-likeIndieRPGPost-apocalypticActionAdventure2D
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Tier list Part 1 (2023)
Convoy is a real-time strategy roguelike in the FTL mold, where you lead a vehicle convoy across a big world scavenging parts and items so your ship can leave the planet. He finds the genre mix unique and respects it, but the moment-to-moment play has little strategy early on and the overworld feels empty. He beat it once, found it fun, and would rather play FTL. He would revisit it once or twice since it is quick to pick up, and settles on high C, possibly edging toward low B.
Liked
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