Image credit: New Beings/better.publishing
Order Automatica looks deceptively simple. Following a three-by-three grid format for auto-battling levels, the game tasks players with choosing the right troops, wisely placing them, and using items to their advantage. Easy enough, right?
After spending some time with the demo, I found that there’s more depth to Order Automatica than watching minions duke it out. Here’s Kyusai’s first impressions of Order Automatica based on the demo, looking at the aesthetic, gameplay, and strategic focus.
Simple yet mesmerizing
In Order Automatica, you’re tasked with waging war against all manner of occult beasties, using your own army of minions and critters to do so.
Unlike other roguelikes, which might task you with actively battling or drawing cards, Order Automatica’s main gameplay loop takes place before the battle even happens. It’s a grid-based auto-battler, meaning you pop your minions down on a grid before the fight, then empower them with trinkets and relics.
You’re able to see your opponent’s grid while you prepare, which allows you to plan ahead and consider your moves. In a battle, minions attack based on their position in the grid, meaning anyone you put in tile nine will move last.
The aim is to blow out all three of your opponent’s candles by defeating their minions in each round. You’ve got three candles of your own, meaning that if a battle doesn’t go your way, it’s not an instant game over.
There’s a decent variety of minions to work with in Order Automatica, ranging from zombies and werewolves to very confused-looking fish.
Each minion type has its own strengths and attack styles, and if you put three of the same kind in a row or column, they’ll stack up and become a more powerful iteration, similar to how Battlegrounds minions stack in Hearthstone.
On top of the minion types, there are also plenty of artifact and relic types. Special items can be used to apply a boost to a specific minion, a row, or a column, focusing on a character’s attack or defense stats. To get through every battle in the demo, you’ll need to make good use of the items on offer.
A slow but steady difficulty curve
The gameplay loop in Order Automatica is simple but rewarding; I’m sure that the auto-battler style won’t be for everyone, but for strategy game enjoyers who like a hands-off style of play, there’s plenty to love.
A small detail that I enjoyed was the speed-up and auto-play buttons available during combat. If desired, you can click through each round individually, which is ideal for keeping an eye on how the enemy is performing, but if you’re confident in your strategy and positioning, you can zip through the entire battle fairly quickly.
There are multiple game modes on offer in Order Automatica, too. I spent the bulk of my time in the demo with the Initiate’s Rank – illustrated by a gorgeous tarot card design – but based on the menus and Steam page notes, there should be plenty more modes and playstyles available in the full release.
While I am a big roguelike geek, the main thing that initially drew me to Order Automatica was its pixel art style. It’s gorgeously drawn, and the character sprites stand out as a particular highlight.
In terms of performance, Order Automatica ran smoothly during my time with it, with no notable quirks, visual glitches, or errors. I found the pixelated text a little hard to parse in places, but otherwise I have no comments on the technical quality of the demo.
The bulk of my time with the demo was spent on PC, but I also tried Order Automatica on the Steam Deck. The demo runs smoothly on the Steam Deck, with the option to use either the touchscreen or the trackpad. For some, it’ll be a little fiddly control-wise, but if you prefer handheld games, it’s more than playable.
Fellow roguelike geeks, this is a game to keep an eye out for. Order Automatica is atmospheric and charming, with a simple but engaging style of play that makes it easy to get stuck in the “just one more run” mindset. It’s due out in the second quarter of 2026, so hopefully there won’t be too long to wait for a full release.
FAQs
Order Automatica is a roguelike auto-battler that follows a three-by-three grid-based combat format.
Order Automatica was developed by New Beings and published by New Beings and better.publishing.
Order Automatica does not yet have a full release date, but according to the Steam page, fans can expect it in the second quarter of 2026.
The best roguelike games include Vampire Survivors, Balatro, Slay the Spire, Slay the Spire 2, Dice of Kalma, Dice A Million, and Megabonk.
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