Loop Hero is a roguelike video game created by the Russian studio Four Quarters and published by Devolver Digital in 2021. The game features a world that changes randomly each time it is played, and players shape the environment by using cards rather than directly controlling a character. It was first released in March 2021 for Linux, macOS, and Windows computers.
Gameplay
Each expedition starts with the hero following a path that is already created in an open area. Slimes appear from time to time along the path. When the hero meets a slime, the hero automatically fights and defeats it. As the hero defeats enemies, the player receives landscape cards. These cards let the player place different types of terrain around the hero’s path, such as mountains, meadows, forests, and buildings. Each type of terrain has a different effect, like giving the player health at the end of each day, increasing the hero’s movement speed, or causing enemies to appear regularly. When two or more similar terrains are placed next to each other, their effects can change. For example, placing many mountains together makes them stronger, giving more health and causing a new type of enemy to appear.
In addition to landscape cards, defeating enemies can also give the player new equipment for the hero and useful resources. The player can use equipment to improve the hero’s strength, protection, health recovery, and other abilities. Resources are stored in the player’s inventory to be used later. After completing one full trip around the path, the player can choose to return to their starting base. At the base, the player can use collected resources to build new structures, such as a kitchen or a blacksmith.
Most of the game happens on a randomly created path. The player works to improve the hero’s equipment and place terrain features to survive stronger enemies. As the hero uses landscape cards on the path, a boss meter increases, and a final boss appears at the end of the path. If the player defeats the boss, the story moves forward. If the hero is defeated during a fight, the player loses 70% of their resources and must return to their base to restart the expedition from the beginning.
Plot
The game starts after the world has ended. At the beginning, the story explains that a powerful evil creature called a lich destroyed everything in the world. The hero wakes up in a small camp on a path and begins his journey to rebuild the world. Along the way, the hero meets other survivors. Some help him rebuild, while others give up hope and attack him to survive.
As the hero fights and defeats the lich and his followers, he learns that the end of the world was caused by a god named Omega. Omega explains that his earlier form, Alpha, created the universe and humans. Alpha once visited one of his worlds and was surprised when a human attacked him with a spear to protect his family. This act of bravery made Alpha curious about humans. Alpha allowed himself to be killed by the human and was reborn as Omega. Now, Omega wants to destroy the universe to feel death again.
The hero defeats Omega. It is then revealed that one of the hero’s companions, Yota, is actually the Goddess of Probability, who has been secretly helping the hero. After being defeated, Omega tells the hero that it will take 1,000 years for him to be reborn as Alpha and create a new universe. The hero promises to rebuild the world during this time so that future humans will be ready for Alpha’s return. Yota then tells the hero he can choose to return to his village to rebuild the world or travel to other worlds where he failed to save them from Omega.
Development and release
Loop Hero began from an idea the Four Quarters team had in early 2019 while talking about zero-player games. One team member created a game where a hero walked in a loop while the player built around it. They did not work on this idea much until the Ludum Dare game jam in October 2019, which had the theme "Start with nothing." The early prototype fit the theme well, but the final game they made for Ludum Dare did not win because it was not very finished. Four Quarters realized they had the beginnings of a good game, worked more on the Ludum Dare version, and secured Devolver Digital to publish and support the game. After that, most of their development focused on balancing the game because of the many different systems inside it. They used a demo of the game on Steam for one of the first large-scale balance tests and planned to continue testing after the game's release. The game was released for Linux, macOS, and Windows on March 4, 2021. A Nintendo Switch version came out on December 9, 2021. Versions for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S were released on April 4, 2023. A mobile version for Android and iOS was released on April 30, 2024. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the developer encouraged piracy of Loop Hero in countries where sanctions blocked purchases.
Reception
Loop Hero received "mostly positive" reviews, according to the website Metacritic. Critics highlighted the ability to create unique worlds and the game's 80's style. Ben Kuchera of Polygon liked how the looping system let players try new things. Ian Boudreau of PCGamesN noted that the deck-building system let players change their playing style often. Evan Lahti of PC Gamer enjoyed the surprises from different card combinations, but said there weren't enough new cards for later parts of the game. Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica liked how the game used the idle genre and the tough choices players had to make about their abilities.
Loop Hero was nominated for "Best Independent Game" at The Game Awards 2021. It also received nominations for "Outstanding Achievement in Game Design," "Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game," and "Best Strategy/Simulation Game" at the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The game's mobile version won the award for Best Foreign Mobile Game at the 2025 Pégases Awards.