Tactical Roguelite “Dog in the Machine” Released on Steam

French indie dev team Studio Chahut and Goblinz Publishing have released the roguelite Dog in the Machine on Steam. You get to train AutoDog and aid in his escape from a dystopian mecha-city.

As understood from the title of this indie video game, Dog in the Machine has players teaching AutoDog the required skills and strategies required to face numerous machine-made obstacles in a puzzle-like setting. The objective is to help AutoDog escape the mecha-city and reunite with the exiled humans. The gameplay is set on a grid-like arena, which still allows for a lot of freedom and exploration with the game’s features while keeping things contained in a stage-by-stage progress system.

A major component in the marketing seems to be the preview option. This means that you can see what a chosen action will look like along with the result. The ‘Rewind’ option lets you retry your moves. The gameplay seems to reward learning and trying again instead of punishing players for making the “wrong” choice.

Another aspect of the gameplay is encouraging players to initiate chain reactions, which involve using enemy behaviors and environmental objects/hazards to do the most damage, clear paths, etc.

AutoDog is capable of learning Tricks. You can train AutoDog to do more complex Tricks by combining two Tricks. You can create your own Tricks or follow the in-game blueprints. You can see this system being used in the trailer below.

Judging from the trailer, I do like the bright cartoonish art style. The rewind option does seem interesting. Again, the game dev team wants you to take your time considering every option and coming up with the most effective strategy. And I like that.

The Tricks and other skills seem to be separated into Commands and Chipsets. The Commands include things like Remote Fetch, Distant Bite, and Surrounded Acid. The Chipsets include Healing Shield, Acid Rain, Energize Carnage, and the like. Clearing each level seems to give you an option to learn a new Command from a selection of three Commands.

The narration seems to be coming from a very interesting-looking Storyteller character, who also seems to act as the Merchant. But I could be wrong about said character being the narrator. Another intriguing aspect appears to be how Commands and Chipsets can also be stolen from an enemy workshop. Wrench-like Mecha Bones act as the currency, which makes sense.

In certain parts of the trailer, you seem to be commanding a “punching” poodle instead of the “biting” AutoDog appearing in most of the marketing material. I’m unsure about the game allowing you to switch between the types of dogs in this game at will or if the dogs are story-specific, depending on the levels you’re on. Or, and I’m just assuming here, the game might allow you to customize your AutoDog to change up the gameplay mechanics.

Dog in the Machine is available right now on Steam for around $17.99 USD. That particular price is a 20% discount on the regular retail price. The 20% discount will continue for the first 2 weeks of the game’s release.

If you are into supporting indie video games that don’t rely on AI, you might want to consider checking out Dog in the Machine.

And if you have played it already, let us know what you thought of it.

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(via Press Release)

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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