An Essential Cyberpunk Roguelike Returns In 868-BACK

In 2013 New Zealand indie developer Michael Brough released 868-HACK, a turn-based iPhone game about cyber attacks and difficult circuitry. Now the computer commander is back in 868-BACK, where a monolithic corporation monopolizes all data and your job is to humble their supposedly impenetrable systems.

You control a one-eyed smiley face, collect siphons to extract resources from the circuit board, and dance around anti-virus programs in a turn-based waltz. The games in this line—often called 'Broughlikes'—look deceptively simple. Both 868 titles are fiercely difficult: enemies move in consistent, predictable patterns, large open maps give room to siphon data but no cover when threats emerge, and narrow spaces offer control at the cost of likely ambush.

Your best tools are “progs,” unique power ups that grant new attacks and movement; the handier the prog, the higher the risk of grabbing it. BACK largely preserves the original formula while adding some changes.

New Zealand

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