- South African Two-Person Studio Crux Games, New Challenge for Pixel Roguelike City Builder
- 97% positive reviews on Steam demo, in-depth strategy enjoyed in short sessions of around 30 minutes
Crux Games, a two-person development studio from South Africa, will officially release the roguelike city builder Combolands on PC (Steam) on August 24.
Crux Games is a studio founded by Sam Alfred and Skye Scott, designers of ‘Terra Nil’, a nominee for the 2024 BAFTA Games Awards, the British Academy Awards.
The new title ‘ComboLens’ is a micro-city building roguelike game based on the hit ‘Tiny Towns’, which has over 100,000 views on itch.io, and is currently in the final stages of development with the support of publisher Landfall, known for ‘HASTE’, ‘Content Warning’, and ‘PEAK’.
City Builder where buildings become cards… Combo strategies to complete within 30 minutes
‘Comboland’ is a deck-building roguelike game where you grow the city itself instead of a typical card deck. Players must place buildings on a procedurally generated island and combine synergies between them to trigger powerful combos in succession.
The game features a system where players select two different guilds to grow a small village into a huge city. It is characterized by the ability to devise unique strategies through a total of 21 diverse guild combinations.
In particular, players can move between various islands and recruit new guilds with different strengths and weaknesses, and in addition, there are diverse variables such as ‘clinicians’ and ‘artifacts’ that bring fresh changes to the gameplay.
A single playthrough is designed to last approximately 30 minutes. Its key feature is the ability to build a city and complete combinations within a short time, allowing you to experience the satisfying feel of combos with explosively increasing stats.
A charming city rendered in pixel graphics, catching the eye with its fantasy-style atmosphere
The game portrays the growth of a small village into a vibrant city through pixel graphics. While it aims for a relaxed and casual atmosphere based on a fantasy world, you can also experience the thrilling sense of accomplishment unique to roguelikes when continuous combos trigger as building effects interlock.
The procedurally generated terrain, which changes every time, also adds freshness to replayability. The process of strategizing on which guilds and buildings to combine within limited space and changing terrain conditions is expected to be the core fun of the game.
A new South African studio founded by the designer of BAFTA nominee ‘Terra Neil’
Crux Games is a South Africa-based two-person development studio run by Sam Alfred and Skye Scott. Sam Alfred is known as the designer of the BAFTA nominee ‘Terra Neil,’ which received over 7,000 ‘Very Positive’ reviews on Steam.
The team decided to develop the ‘Tiny Towns’ prototype, released on itch.io, into a full-fledged game after it received a much greater response than expected. They subsequently founded Crux Games and expanded the project with the support of Landfall.
From the itch.io prototype to Steam Next Fest
ComboLens is continuing the interest it gained on itch.io on Steam. A large-scale demo update recently unveiled ahead of Steam Next Fest includes procedurally generated islands, a revamped progression system, an improved UI, and new visuals.
The game was introduced by the overseas media outlet Capsule Computers and was also featured on streamers Blitz and Retromation. Currently, the Steam demo is receiving a ‘positive’ rating, with 97% of the 39 reviews being positive.
The journey of ‘ComboLens’ begins now as it starts as a small idea on the indie scene and prepares for a confident official launch. With the numerous positive reviews already pouring in through the demo version, the excited eyes of strategy game fans around the world are turning toward ‘ComboLens’ to see just how high it can soar, now that it has gained the massive wings of an official release on August 24.
Information regarding ‘Combolands’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Crux Games (South Africa, 2-person development) |
| Publisher | Crux Games (Landfall support) |
| Genre | Roguelike City Builder / Deck Building |
| Release platform | PC (Steam) |
| Official release date | August 24, 2026 |
| Session length | About 30 minutes |
| core system | Procedurally generated islands, 21 guild combinations, combo chain system |
| Developers’ previous work | Terra Nil (BAFTA nominee, over 7,000 ‘Very Positive’ Steam reviews) |
| Full body project | Tiny Towns (itch.io, over 100,000 views) |
| Steam Review (Demo) | Positive (97%, 39 cases) |
| Official Channel | Discord, Bluesky |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
