One of 2025's most underrated hidden gems just got a major update

Today, one of this year's most underrated hidden gems just got a major update. You may be familiar with Dreamhaven, the studio full of ex-Blizzard developers who published a few other games this year, like the multiplayer sci-fi FPS Wildgate and the action roguelike, Lynked: Banner of the Spark. Earlier this year, Dreamhaven and developer Secret Door released Sunderfolk, a unique take on fantasy RPGs that aimed to emulate a tabletop game night with an easy-to-learn tactical RPG that uses your phone as a controller. In my review this past April, I wrote: “For anyone, Sunderfolk will make for a great game night, but for the right group, it can become a new obsession.” Now, the team behind this tactical RPG has released One Shot mode.

Sunderfolk has a major update. One Shot Mode lets you get right into the action

Normally, Sunderfolk puts up to four players through a story-mode campaign. Take on tactical battles with goals ranging from defeating all enemies to tower defense, but with beetles. Between fights, you spend time in the village, chatting with NPCs, buying items, and upgrading your character. Until now, there wasn’t a mode where players could jump straight into the action or play just one level for fun, rather than committing to an entire campaign that can take hours or multiple sessions.

As of today, with the One Shot mode update, players can choose to jump into any level right away. Choose One Shot mode from the main menu, and players will be able to join, select characters, and then select from any level in the game. This is a great solution for players who want to skip the story and get straight to the action. But I do recommend playing through a campaign at some point if you can. Plus, along with today’s update, players starting a new campaign can now skip through the tutorial levels and get right to business.

One Shot mode also includes four brand new levels exclusive to this new mode, and the team posted a rundown of what these four new levels include on Steam. One of these new levels is called Snack Run, and it consists of players herding a giant beetle towards its food, all the while protecting it from enemy attack. The team also apparently worked “in collaboration with the Sunderfolk Discord community” to create a level called You Asked For This, which the team swears is “super easy, trust us!”

Related:New Tactical RPG from Developer of Warcraft 3 and StarCraft 2 Revealed. Sunderfolk Gameplay Brings Interesting Breath of Fresh Air

If you haven’t tried Sunderfolk yet, now’s a great time to give it a try. Only one player needs to own the game for all four players to join. You can find it on Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S. I also have personal experience using Discord to run the game with friends across the country and to have players over for couch co-op. One Shot mode will let you jump in for one quick adventure, or you can start your own campaign. There’s no wrong choice.

Sunderfolk

April 23, 2025

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• Overview
• Review

• RPG games
• tactical RPG & strategies
• Dreamhaven
• Secret Door