What is The Swashbugglers?
If you've got an itch for an autobattler but you're tired of sweaty multiplayer queues, you've gotta try The Swashbugglers. It's a cartoon-style 2D roguelike where you lead a squad of bugs to stop a chaotic force before time runs out.
Gameplay
You're recruiting a squad of insect heroes to fight through a forest in a 2D roguelike autochess. Instead of the multiplayer chaos you'll find in TFT, this is a single-player run where you're fighting a clock to defeat the source of chaos. You spend your time building a team and hunting for stone inscriptions that act as your build-defining modifiers. It's less about out-drafting a human and more about solving the puzzle of the enemy's defense.
The loop's addictive because it feels more like a tactical RPG than a standard 'buy-and-sell' shop game. You've got a massive pool of around 400 items to mess with, and you'll find yourself obsessing over the perfect gear combo to make your bugs shred. It's way more focused on roguelike progression than something like Hearthstone Battlegrounds. You're managing skills and equipment to survive the time limit, which keeps the stakes high.
It's a paid title at $7.99, which is unusual for a genre that's usually free-to-play, but the tactical depth justifies the cost for me. However, it's an indie title from Asmodeus Game and it shows. The UI is clunky in spots and it lacks that polished AAA sheen. It's a cozy, crunchy experience, but you'll definitely feel the rough edges while you're playing. For me, it's a solid 8/10.
Key Features
- Recruit forest insect heroes
- 400 equipment items
- Build-defining stone inscriptions
- Time-limited roguelike runs
Video Review
Screenshots
Verdict
“Lol, game is awful. Art, translation, music (possibly the worst), font selection. The dev recruited someone to translate English, but the translator lied to get the job. Many, many, many translations…”
“The games just really bad, lots of translation issues, screen resolution problems, overlapping fonts. The actual gameplay is meh at best. Not worth buying to be honest. I'm refunding mine.”
Grab this if you want a low-stress, high-strategy bug fighter to play with a podcast in the background. Skip it if you can't stomach clunky UIs or poor translations, as the technical rough edges are a real dealbreaker for some.
View on Steam →* Price at time of publication (checked 07.09.2026). Prices may vary by region and are subject to change. This is an editorial review, not a commercial offer.