It seems like MOBAs are having a bit of a moment right now. With the recent announcement of Smite 2, and this new game from Mintrocket.
Mintrocket is, of course, the team behind last year’s mega-hit (and controversial indie Game Awards 2023 nominee), Dave the Diver, and this new game is quite the shift from the pixel art rogue-lite.
The studio’s new game is Wakerunners, a top-down MOBA for 4v4 and 5v5. The game is set in an original sci-fi universe, and it has an interesting mechanic that involves manipulating your character’s speed. As you can see in the trailer below, fighters can glide across the field at incredible speeds (and look quite slick, thanks to the game’s smooth animations).
Using some sort of… speed juice they inject into their shoes, Wakerunners are able to gain speed gradually as they move, and it seems they can also slow themselves down significantly to pull off precise moves.
Battles take place in a dystopian, future version of Earth, where different factions vie for control over a recently-discovered energy resource. As with all MOBAs, each character in Wakerunners is unique, both in fighting style as well as personality. Interestingly, however, you can swap characters mid-match.
If you’re intrigued, you may be happy to know that Wakerunners will have a playable demo at the upcoming Steam Next Fest, taking place February 5-12. The demo will show off five game modes (Team Deathmatch, Raider, Control Conquest, Command Siege, and Escort), and feature seven characters.
You can wishlist Wakerunners on Steam to get notified when the demo goes up, or if you want to keep up with it in general.