It's not an April Fool's prank, Haste is out now on Steam

It’s not an April Fool’s joke, Haste, from developer Landfall, a rogue-lite game about outrunning a collapsing world, is out today on Steam. It was previously titled: Haste: Broken Worlds, but Landfall seems to have shortened it to just Haste. The game was a huge hit during February’s Steam Next Fest but had not announced a release date by the end of that week. We reported that the demo would be sticking around for a while after the Fest, but it turns out fans of the demo didn’t have to wait long for the full experience. If this is the first you’re hearing of Haste, the free demo is still up on Steam.

Speedrunning rogue-lite Haste is out now on Steam, it’s not an April Fool’s prank

Landfall is the development team behind other indie hits like Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, the fast-paced Clustertruck, and they are the publishing team behind last year’s co-op hit Content Warning. As far as I knew, there wasn’t a release date for Haste, so seeing it available today on Steam was a surprise. Of course, today is April 1st, so it was easy to believe that this shadow drop was somehow a fake out. Thankfully, it’s not.

Related:No rush, Haste: Broken Worlds demo is sticking around after Next Fest

From playing the demo, Haste is perhaps the most satisfying example of third-person high speed movement I’ve seen executed in a video game. Levels are procedurally generated, and the goal is simple, reach the portal on the other side of the map before the collapsing world catches up with you. Avoid colliding with objects, dodge traps and obstacles, and collect sparks to spend on upgrades. Control your height to execute a perfect landing, the better your landing, the faster you’ll go, resulting in bonus sparks at the end of the level.

These collapsing worlds are full of unique NPCs to interact with. As you complete levels you’ll progress along a branching path, deciding where to go next. Some stops will have campfires to heal and have a conversation with a random character, while others will be shops to purchase upgrades. There are also challenge levels that can either result in great rewards or cause your run to come to an early end.

If you hear the words “rogue-like” and turn away, don’t run off so soon. This game does have a story and progression to follow. In the full game there are ten shards to complete. Each shard must be completed in one run, which is where the rogue-like elements come into play. There is an overarching story here, with characters, worlds, and persistent powers to unlock.

A shadow drop, a sudden release without warning, is a bold move no matter the game. But Haste’s demo racked up an Overwhelmingly Positive score on Steam with 97% positive reviews from nearly five thousand players. At the time of writing, Haste is 20% off on Steam and has already built up 378 player reviews, with 93% positive. We will have to see if the full release is able to match the demo numbers in the coming days as more and more people realize this is not an April Fool’s Day joke.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

April 1, 2021

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• Overview

• indie games
• roguelike / roguelite
• Landfall Games