In Ratsukade, greed is heavy, quite literally. Those enormous shiny gems scattered around its procedurally generated worlds aren’t disappearing neatly into an inventory the second you touch them. They have actual physical weight, and if your little rat adventurer isn’t strong enough to haul one around, that particularly valuable chunk of rock isn’t going anywhere.
That’s the slightly ridiculous idea sitting at the heart of Studio TIM’s physics-based action roguelike, which launched on Steam back in January and has somehow managed to stay well under the radar. At the time of writing, Ratsukade has just 21 user reviews. Every single one of them is positive. It’s also still being updated, with the latest update introduced on September 30th.
We think it’s time more people joined this rat race.
Shiny Things Are Worth the Trouble
Your main objective is straightforward enough…explore, find gems, and get out a lot richer than when you started. The complication is that bigger gems are worth more, but they’re also heavier. Increasing your strength lets you pick up increasingly ridiculous prizes, turning character progression into the difference between dragging home a tiny crystal and waddling away with something almost as big as you are.
Almost everything else follows the same physics-heavy approach. Objects throughout the world can be grabbed and moved around, which gives exploration a much more hands-on feel than simply walking over loot and watching a number go up.
You’re also not wandering through the same place every time. Worlds are randomly generated, complete with different biomes, so each run rearranges where you’ll be exploring, what you’ll find, and presumably how quickly your plans will go horribly wrong. Because naturally, you’re not the only creature interested in all those shiny valuables.
The Bugs Want Your Stuff
Various enemies are roaming the world alongside you, and they’re just as keen on your gems. That means scavenging comes with combat, including different enemy types and unique bosses offering larger rewards if you’re prepared to take them on. Some encounters are much nastier than others, so deciding when your current build can handle a fight is part of keeping a good run alive.
Fortunately, there are more than 30 items to discover to help, all with stat variations, alongside over 25 pieces of armor providing different character buffs. Items change between runs, meaning you’ll need to work with whatever you manage to find rather than following exactly the same upgrade path every time.
Want a ridiculously strong rat capable of hauling huge gems around? Go for it. Prefer something lighter and faster? That works too. Or, as the developer actively encourages, you can try building something overpowered enough to exploit the entire game. Now we’re talking.
Another Tiny Roguelike That Deserves More Recognition
In Ratsukade, there are collectible chests filled with randomized items to track down, an online leaderboard for anyone who wants to turn their gem obsession competitive, and 10 Steam achievements waiting along the way.
It’s a scrappy-looking little roguelike, but the idea behind it is immediately appealing. Loot having actual weight turns something as simple as spotting a valuable gem into a decision. Can you carry it? Is it worth slowing yourself down? Should you come back later? And what happens when a giant bug decides it would quite like your treasure?
That’s a lot of trouble over a shiny rock.
If there was ever a roguelike where discovering an overlooked gem felt appropriate, it’s probably the one about a rat desperately trying to drag them home.