ITER-8 Review: A Roguelite That Doesn’t Quite Hit The Mark
It's alright, but no more.
I’m no rabid fan of roguelite games, but when something good comes along, I’m always willing to give it a fair spin. Some of my top comfort games are roguelites (or roguelikes), including Balatro and Slay The Spire.
So, when ITER-8 came along, backed by notable publisher Fireshine Games, I felt compelled to at least try it out. Here’s what I found.
Proof That Mediocre Can Still Be Fun
ITER-8 has a fair bit going for it. The three different states of the game are all fun and work well together. You’ll be driving along in your drill ship, turning it into a top-down mining sim, then you’ll hop out and connect these satellite things, which turns it into an ISO mining and semi-puzzle game, and then you’ll need to haul ass back to the main ship to defend your base in a 2D tower defense.
During this phase, you need to aim your laser at approaching enemies from either side. Holding fire makes your laser move slowly, but increases your rate of fire gradually. It’s a satisfying mechanic at times, but fail to upgrade your main weapon for a few attacks and you’ll feel like you’re shooting at tanks with a pellet gun.
After defending the base, you can spend resources on temporary upgrades that’ll disappear when you die. And that about sums up the core loop you’ll play over and over again.
I like the game, but the core flaw here is probably that it excels at nothing. It feels a bit like it has an identity crisis, unwilling to commit to one type of game. I think back to Ball X Pit, my favourite roguelike of 2025, and it did one thing really, really well. Everything else felt like an add-on.
ITER-8 doesn’t do this, and instead feels like it’s trying to be too much, trying to do too much. Everything ends up feeling, simply, mediocre. However, it is early days, and with a little ongoing support, the game might evolve into something even better.
In between rounds, you’ll spend credits on upgrades before heading out again. There’s very little variation in runs, however. The difficulty levels offer some variation, and the mining levels are always different. But you’ll see the same enemies on the same difficulty level, again and again.
It gets old pretty fast.
That said, it did hook me and keep me busy for almost 10 hours fairly easily, and I’ll probably play some more at times. It’s a simple game, and therefore certainly has potential as a comfort game that I’ll revisit from time to time.
But then there are other games that’ll likely outlast it in my playlist.
Verdict
ITER-8 is fine, and that’s about the extent of it. It features solid game design, a satisfying gameplay loop, and great art. And while all of that makes for a fun game, it does nothing to elevate it from mediocrity. Because it’s not bad and it’s not especially good, either, a six or a seven feels fair here.
I personally do like the game, however, and hope that the devs, fluckyMachine, keep beating on their craft. It’s only their third game, and it looks like a massive improvement on what’s come before. So watch this space.
ITER-8 Review
ITER-8 does a decent job of presenting an addictive and satisfying gameplay loop. Beyond that, however, it doesn't have much going for it and falls a bit short of classics like Slay the Spire, Balatro, and other great roguelikes.
Pros
- Addictive gameplay
- Nice art and sound design
Cons
- Doesn't do anything special
- Gets boring pretty quickly
A copy of this game was provided by the publisher for review. Reviewed on PC.
