The Last Spell

The Last Spell is a turn-based tactics game from the French studio Ishtar Games, which left early access in March 2023. Mages have ended the world with a spell, and the dead now come in hordes every night. A few heroes defend the last havens while the mages work on a final spell to end it.

Each day you build and repair defences and spend resources; each night the horde comes and you fight it in turns, with heroes who move, attack and use skills. Heroes who fall are lost, and each run builds towards permanent improvements for the next.

Its hordes are huge and its turn-based combat is tactical even at that scale. The day and night rhythm gives every decision weight, and its pixel art and music are well made.

It is a roguelite, built around repeated attempts, which suits some players more than others.

The Last Spell shares Fallout Tactics' squad in a world at its end, and replaces the Brotherhood's war with a siege against the dead. It is one of the best examples of squad tactics against hordes in this library.