FIGHTS IN TIGHT SPACES

Secret agent on style
It is clear that it should be bright and stylish even externally. In this sense, Fights in Tight Spaces is reminiscent of another tactic – Frozen Synapse (Mode 7 studio had a hand in both projects), as well as the Superhot shooter – the same minimalism, where even the objects of the environment in the rooms are depicted schematically, the same primacy of the black and white palette with splashes of red and other bright colors.

The battles themselves are perfectly animated – the emphasis is on hand-to-hand combat (although there is also a firearm), and all these jump kicks, headbutts against walls, self-throws and other tricks look spectacular.

We always fight in a stylish black suit.
In such minimalist scenery, a simple story is played out, so that there is a reason for a fight, about an agent of the secret “Group 11”, which is the only one capable of stopping various criminal formations. We are fighting Scandinavian bikers, Italian mafiosi, oriental ninjas, and in the final, most difficult mission, the agent has to fight representatives of all these gangs.

Ninjas are different. And the person who needs to be protected is highlighted in yellow.
The missions themselves are arranged according to the scheme that has become a classic for card “bagels” in the style of Slay the Spire. This is a series of rooms where we are waiting for battles, random events with different outcomes and chances of success (for example, deciding which wire to cut in a bomb), the opportunity to heal, increase the maximum level of health or buy/improve/remove cards in the deck. There are forks, and in the final, the boss is waiting.

Moreover, in addition to the usual “Kill them all!” there are also tasks where you need, for example, to protect a diplomat, hold out for a certain amount of time, or try not to kill the Group 11 informant, who, in order not to be revealed, also attacks us, like everyone else. After each success, we get new cards, and if we have fulfilled additional conditions (complete the mission in five moves, not get damaged, and so on), then money. And the passage of the entire mission allows you to take one of the global upgrades – for example, the ability to restore health if we do not take new cards, or + 25% to the level of all actions that give a block.

Improvements are expensive.
Enemies out the window
Yes, Fights in Tight Spaces uses cards that allow you to attack, move, heal, defend, and so on. Their use consumes pulse energy. In addition, we collect combo points to use especially powerful moves. Accordingly, there are actions aimed at saving all this more efficiently or, for example, getting a bonus to the block if we discard cards from our hand.

Here everything is more or less familiar, but there are also extremely interesting nuances. The most important thing follows from the fact that fights take place in close quarters – enemies can be hit with their heads against walls, tables and other environmental objects, repelled (they will hit other opponents), thrown off stairs and even thrown out windows.

It is especially nice to throw the boss down the stairs or through the window – this will immediately kill him.
Another interesting detail – many enemies attack in front of them even if we have already left the line of defeat on our turn, that is, they will beat their own. And this should be used to advantage in order to expose opponents to attacks with the same pushes and other actions (for example, you can change places with an opponent by throwing him over yourself).

Then, naturally, smarter opponents appear who do not act so recklessly – they move parallel with us, turn in our direction, do not receive damage from their own, know how to take potions, break through a block, ignore any first attack, and so on. But even more powerful cards appear at our disposal, allowing, for example, to stun everyone at once or inflict bleeding wounds on everyone.

Color differentiation of enemies.
As a result, the balance of difficulty in Fights in Tight Spaces is maintained almost perfectly – this is not a fierce hardcore, where chance runs everything, but it is not a walk on the heads either. Enemies always have a numerical advantage, and it is important for us to correctly take a position, move and calculate our every step.

Even between missions, health does not automatically regenerate.
Fights in Tight Spaces is able to captivate even those who are not particularly fond of card “bagels” and TCGs in general. Spectacular, stylish, captivating, on the one hand, it uses developments from other projects, and on the other hand, it can pleasantly surprise with its own ideas. The only thing she lacks is content: in addition to missions, which are not so many, there are daily tasks – and, in principle, everything. So let’s wait for the addition.

Pros: Addictive gameplay that combines a card-based roguelike, turn-based tactics and a beautifully animated fighting game with the ability to use the environment; excellent audiovisual performance.