It’s time to get back into my roguelite/roguelike bag. It’s been too long. ProbablyMonsters, headed by former Bungie CEO, Harold Ryan, announced Storm Lancers for the Nintendo Switch, and it sounds like everything I want in this genre.

Storm Lancers is continuing the revival of couch co-op

Don’t you miss the days of sitting down next to someone and playing a game? As I said in my Split Fiction review, “Couch co-op ain’t dead, these folks just scared”. Well, ProbablyMonsters isn’t. Storm Lancers is “Designed for couch co-op,” according to the site, with some story to boot.

“You and your friend just crash-landed on an alien planet harboring a secret source of powerful magic. All of reality is on the verge of collapse, and two magical creatures have chosen you as their heroes. To save the planet, you’ll fight, die, and bond with the Stormhearts to rise again — stronger, fiercer, and unstoppable.“

A side-scrolling roguelike, Storm Lancers focuses on tight and fast gameplay. Fortunately, it doesn’t force co-op on you as you can seamlessly go solo if your partner has to duck out for any reason. What is most interesting to me is that the game is said to be about 10 hours in length, but there is a pretty solid amount of customization for your runs.

You normally only see that in games with a fairly hefty run time. Even my favorite roguelikes take a bit more than 10 to get through.

I’m excited to see what ProbablyMonsters is working with here, though. The art style is beautiful, and the gameplay looks appropriately fast and challenging. And good on them for bringing this to the Switch first.

Who knows if it ends up anywhere else, but I just like seeing developers show some love there before anywhere else. Storm Lancers is set for a Fall 2025 release