Circle Empires
Circle Empires
Game
Game2025
Forestrike
Developer Skeleton Crew Studio, Thomas Olsson
Forestrike is a martial arts roguelite where every death brings you closer to winning the fight before it begins. Use your ‘Foresight’ ability to experiment without consequences before fighting for real until earning the ultimate reward - victory without ‘Foresight’. From the Steam store page
291 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Oct 24, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
208 positive · 15 negative
95% range 89–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 208 | 15 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 24 | 2 | 33 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
419 of 446 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
93% recommend · 209 yes, 15 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 224 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (933 of 1,015 positive).
Many find the game a satisfying blend of puzzle-solving and martial arts action. [1][2][3] Some reviewers criticize frustrating difficulty and lack of progression after losing a run. [4][5][6]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
This game has four crippling issues that keep me from giving it a positive review, even though I greatly enjoy the concept and even the execution in many places. First, it saves at the start of any given 'day' which will almost always have a lengthy talk segment before you can engage in the gameplay again following immediately after. A segment you will have already seen before exiting the game the previous time. …
- [7]
Main Game carries over Demo Progress, so you can 'foresee' if you like the game before buying it.
- [2]
I love save scumming. Figuring out the most optimal way to deal with enemies in games like XCOM or BG3 is one of my joys in life. But there's always been a stigma attached to it, like I'm not playing the game "the right way." That's why I love Forestrike, save scumming is baked into the design, so each fight becomes a puzzle to solve that depends more on my brain than my quick reactions. Picking apart seemingly …
- [3]
I cannot believe how underappreciated this game is. It is clearly a labour of love. At first, I struggled to enjoy Forestrike. I played a run, failed badly, shut the game off, and told myself “never again” because I felt completely inept. Then I picked it up again. And again. And again. Yu’s name is intentional. Every fight feels like a puzzle, and every move feels deliberate. Enemies follow routines that you …
- [1]
You're essentially solving puzzles by punching people in the face in the correct order. It's just like real life...
Summarised from 34 of the 292 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
93% of the 224 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Forestrike. The complaint that keeps coming up: no quick restart option after failing a run. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 291 · most liked firstMain Game carries over Demo Progress, so you can 'foresee' if you like the game before buying it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has four crippling issues that keep me from giving it a positive review, even though I greatly enjoy the concept and even the execution in many places. First, it saves at the start of any given 'day' which will almost always have a lengthy talk segment before you can engage in the gameplay again following immediately after. A segment you will have already seen before exiting the game the previous time. Second, there is no quick way to restart when failing a run; you will go…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You're essentially solving puzzles by punching people in the face in the correct order. It's just like real life...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you saw us with Kinda Funny and The Mix, hello! We are a small team in Kyoto making FORESTRIKE - a puzzle x fighting game. Figure out how to win each encounter without getting hit, then you'll have one chance to perform it perfectly. @kindafunnyvids.bsky.social @themix.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →i really love this concept. as a old player who are getting worst in action game, its a pity that i cant really enjoy some of those wonderful game nowadays. Elden ring, silk song, etc. But Forestrike give me a chance, no, many chances, to practice, do rehersal in the same level, and execute afetr the practice. That makes me look so cool again. And if that fail, its my fault, not that the game is too difficult.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love save scumming. Figuring out the most optimal way to deal with enemies in games like XCOM or BG3 is one of my joys in life. But there's always been a stigma attached to it, like I'm not playing the game "the right way." That's why I love Forestrike, save scumming is baked into the design, so each fight becomes a puzzle to solve that depends more on my brain than my quick reactions. Picking apart seemingly impossible encounters and coming out on top is genuinely fun. And the tension is…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Practice for like 10 minutes and flub on your real attempt and lose a golden run. 5/5 would restart with a clear mind.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Look, I like this game but it really, really pisses me off too. Skill issue? Yeah, skill issue. I'm gonna keep at it but only during daylight hours when I can drop a cuss at volume without bothering the neighbours. I'll get into why in a bit. (EDIT @20-ish hours: Yeah, Leaf style is really hard for me. Some are so much easier I got through on pretty much my first serious try.) So, do you like oldschool martial arts movies? Secret techniques, betrayals, inscrutiably odd masters looking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If this game were 20$ it would still be a fair price, 10$ is insane So if you like martial arts movies, or puzzles, or even want to recreate that one Sherlock Holmes fight scene, this game rocks so hard.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Using Foresight: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times" -Bruce Lee Reality: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth" -Mike Tyson The game blends fair predictability with just enough chaos to make it interesting. Fighting feels like Katana Zero meets Shogun Showdown, with a Hades-like storytelling and progression.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A unique roguelite 2D beat them up puzzle game where you can foresee the combat and replay them before executing the actual combat... It really reminds me of that in movie duel between Jet Li and Donnie Yen in that movie titled "Hero", it's also a trope in so many East Asian martial arts fictions... That way the game is ultimately more of a puzzle game than your traditional beat them up game, in this game you're given a bunch of enemies that somehow cater to your character skill sets per…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I cannot believe how underappreciated this game is. It is clearly a labour of love. At first, I struggled to enjoy Forestrike. I played a run, failed badly, shut the game off, and told myself “never again” because I felt completely inept. Then I picked it up again. And again. And again. Yu’s name is intentional. Every fight feels like a puzzle, and every move feels deliberate. Enemies follow routines that you gradually internalize through repetition. When I finally beat the game by heavily…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has a really nice concept. You wanna go hitless in every encounter, cause you only got a few hitpoints and you're always surrounded by enemies. In order to do that you can practice every fight in your mind as often as you like , till you perfected it. There so many options, moves and weapons that every run feels unique despite having only 4 areas. You can even save you fight choreography, cause they come out crazy sometimes. You're like Neo from Matrix cause you can predict…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I tried a bunch of these today and yesterday. EDIT: also tacked on impressions of demos for After Inc: Revival, Kaizen: A Factory Story, and Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. In the "Shut Up and Take My Money" tier: * [Bits & Bops](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1929290/Bits__Bops/) - Sure, it's a total Rhythm Heaven clone but, hey, why mess with a winning formula? Still, I worry about devs borrowing this heavily from Nintendo titles these days 😬 *…
neutral · AI labelView post →You ever thought: "yeah, I would've totally been able to win that fight if I'd been able to practice it." Well, Forestrike enables that foolish, foolish conceit that your mind has conjured to show you you'd mess it up anyway. But you'll get better. Foestrike is a great 2d action puzzle roguelike where you use your different schools of martial arts and ability to foresee how a battle will go to defeat your enemies and save the Emperor. Try out the demo!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really enjoyed the demo and have been waiting for the full game since. Lives up to the expectation!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →In the other corner, a game I had my eye on since I first learned about it last year... Forestrike, a roguelite tactical kung-fu action game that plays like "what if the Shaw Brothers produced a bootleg Hades clone?"
neutral · AI labelView post →Get a great game called Forestrike by supporting MinnMax on Patreon before Tuesday, July 28th at any tier! We'll DM you a Steam code. www.patreon.com/minnmax *New supporters only *We'll delete this post if we run out of codes!
neutral · AI labelView post →Wanted to like this game, but there's a fine line between challenging and frustrating and this game is frustrating. You will get into encounters that force you to take damage in order to win, and considering your guy is born with glass bones and paper skin with only 3 health (some enemies dealing 2 damage), it just feels unfair. The straw that broke the camels back for me was getting an upgrade that made my ability worse. Like straight up. It's the leaf power that makes you equip a weapon that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The premise justifies a roguelite structure, the gameplay never rises to meet that promise and feels underdeveloped. It’s a roguelite where losing a run brings no sense of forward motion. There’s no “at least I gained something.” It’s just a flat, discouraging reset that drains the desire to try again. It's a no from me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really enjoyed the demo and couldn't wait for the full version to come out. Now that I have finished the game I can say that I recommend it enthusiastically. It's a fighting rogelite where you make the same journey following 5 different fighting schools, each with its techniques and style. Even though you visit the same stages and fight the same enemies, there's a great variety of tricks and abilities you can learn and perform, so no two runs feel the same. What's really interesting is the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →How is this gem of a game only 10 bucks. It's a mega ton of fun, really creative I just have nothing bad to say.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More of a puzzle than expected, which is good if you like puzzle games, and I do enjoy the occasional puzzle game. However, this is just “do it until you get it right” simulator.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This really clicked for me when i realised the whole point was to learn to play this game without Forestirke. getting enough practice in your mind to win "for real".
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Forestrike is a martial arts roguelite like no other where you see the future https://www.gamingonlinux.com/2025/11/forestrike-is-a-martial-arts-roguelite-like-no-other-where-you-see-the-future/ #Forestrike #IndieGames #PCGaming
neutral · AI labelView post →Interesting Blend Of Puzzles & Martial Arts From the team behind Olija comes Forestrike, a martial art roguelike in which you use the power of foresight to simulate and predict the outcome of every single battle. The visuals have improved in comparison to the previous work, but the iconic, crispy, and grounded approach of the pixelated style remains. It is an interesting take on the martial arts' signature "one vs. all" theme. The game offers tons of tactical depth that rewards not only…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🛑🗞️MY FIRST PUBLISHED GAME REVIEW🗞️🛑 Yours truly just wrote his first proper game review Forestrike (@forestrike.bsky.social) from @devolverdigital.com 👉 www.gameffine.com/forestrike-r...
neutral · AI labelView post →FORESTRIKE launches in just 9 days! A generous chunk of the game is already playable on Steam and Switch platforms. Check out this free demo if you haven't tried it yet.
neutral · AI labelView post →So happy to share this piece of news: Forestrike, the game I've had the pleasure to work on these past two years, finally has a demo. You can try out our kung-fu rogue-lite puzzle-action folk tale right now!
neutral · AI labelView post →First game from devolver I did not like. The core of the game is good. Everything else around it is dragging it down soooo hard. This game has no quick restart. This isn't a huge problem in most games, but this game has SOOOOOOO MUCH DIALOGUE. A lot of it is concentrated in the hub in the form of cutscenes that interrupt you as you're actively trying to start a new run. About a quarter of this dialogue feels actually relevant, everything else could've been cut. You can mash through it, sure,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's kind of a miracle to me that the central premise of this game works, but it totally works. Planning is fun and executing is tense. The game has enough variety in its gameplay and enough interest back in the hub to keep you engaged throughout. This is punching way above its weight as a 10 dollar game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game uses a foresight mechanic where you can basically enter Yu's (the protagonist) mind and predict how a battle we go. While you are doing this, you can basically "rehearse" a battle as many times as you want until you're confident that you've got a winning strategy. After you've got a plan, you can get to the real battle and if you follow your plan, it should play exactly the same. And like any rogue-like, every run is going to be different where all fights and enemy compositions will…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My main beef with the game: why in the world was this priced at $10? 25, 20 minimum, but 10? Really massively underselling the time and effort and artistry of this game, huh? I don't know who made this decision, the devs, Devolver, but they were very wrong to do it. Oh yeah the game is good too. Scratches a very particular itch for certain weirdoes of staging a perfectly choreographed sequence of events with time, persistence, and skill. It's the sort of thing you'd usually only see in…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →2025 has already been one of the best years for games in a long time. The fact that I'm not too far in and already think this game stands up on its feet alongside Silksong and Dispatch says a lot.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My buddy (& fellow Kyoto native) Thomas is a type of game designer I'm consistently inspired by, in awe of, jealous of & proud of. His commitment to crafting games & experiences unlike others is impressive. We're out here designing, Thomas is always inventing. Forestrike is so worth your time.
positive · AI labelView post →... video game devs need to take a comedy class. Anyway- The game has two main draws: • First, the titular Forestrike: before every fight, you're given infinite chances to practice scenarios in your head before you figure out the perfect sequence in taking out a chain of foes.
neutral · AI labelView post →Forestrike is a really good game. The story has emotional impact. The mechanics feel good once you realize how to engage with them. It's not as simple as it initially appears. The RNG can feel really bad. Your upgrade choices on each run require a lot of commitment, and so if a level is randomly generated with a configuration that your upgrades can't solve, you just lose and have to start a new run. Your upgrade options are also quite random and so there is that Binding of Isaac thing where you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There's stuff I like about this game, the concept is really cool but it just doesn't come together. It's frustrating, lots of the skills/upgrades aren't fun or too niche or just bad.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoyed it at first, however, I only liked 2 of the forms. After beating the game one time, I didn't find it fun enough to continue playing. It might be up someone else's alley, but it's just not for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Forestrike is a real delight. Part puzzle, part fighting game, part roguelike. Hit me up if you want to check it out!
positive · AI labelView post →The other big draw is how the game approaches load-outs. Where in Hades, you choose between talismans and armaments... In Forestrike? Martial art techniques. This, funny enough, I found way more involving than the foresight gimmick.
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is ingeniously meta. Comprising of entertaining bite sized fights, the initial difficulty curve of sequencing your moves is made accessible by the ability to use "foresight", the ability to simulate the fight as many times as you like before trying for real. There are five fighting styles to choose from each with their own strengths and genuinely force you to adapt to the unique style. *spoilers beyond* What elevates this game is once you have finished the game using "foresight",…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →www.nuclearhog.farm I'm gonna play Forestrike, a game where you literally film your cool-ass Wuxia movie but it's a roguelike. I've been wanting to fiddle with this for a while now, let's go in completely blind shall we?
neutral · AI labelView post →I don't know if this sounds unfairly harsh, but I can't overstate how much I didn't enjoy playing this game. The storytelling and gameplay are... not to my taste. I bought this hoping to have a similar experience to Shogun Showdown, but the two games have almost nothing in common, if that helps anyone reading this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Use your ‘Foresight’ ability to experiment without consequences before fighting for real until earning the ultimate reward - victory without ‘Foresight’. Find out more in our full review of Forestrike: somanygames.co.uk/review/fores...
neutral · AI labelView post →Deja-Fu Roguelite [url=https://www.gameffine.com/forestrike-review-the-deja-fu-martial-arts-roguelite] Full Review at Gameffine 2D Martial Arts Roguelite with "Mind Palace" mechanics and Hades-like storytelling. Fans of Sifu will find it fun. Can get bit frustrating, but like any Martial Arts, once you overcome that hurdle, it's really satisfying.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Very creative precision beat'em up that deserves more attention. The retry mechanic of figuring the fights out leading up to that tension round when fighting for real is so refreshing. Easy recommend!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun game where you can retry each encounter as many times as you want until you’ve perfected your strategy and found a solution for every obstacle. After that, you play it out for real. There are plenty of techniques to choose from, each of which changes how you approach enemies depending on the tools you have, often leading to some delightful chaos.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →REVIEW: Forestrike "By allowing the player to foresee fights and predict their foes’ next moves, it turns what would be a by-the-numbers 2D fighting game into a more thoughtful experience built around memorisation, timing and strategy" @forestrike.bsky.social checkpointgaming.net/reviews/2025...
neutral · AI labelView post →Some #pixelart detail on a 1700px to 640px sized piece I've done for the game Forestrike. I plan to post a Background a day once the game is released! seems good ? #pixelartist #forestrike #devolverdigital
neutral · AI labelView post →Watch your enemies, practice your moves, and execute. Forestrike is a tactical fighting roguelite where you can rehearse battles before you commit. I don't know why this game hasn't been at more events or gotten more publicity, it's a lot of fun #indiegame #indiedev #demo
positive · AI labelView post →Love it. even though i'm not really into those heavy roguelikes that much, THIS... Ohhh this is smth else. juist finished my 1st master run and ngl, I was so addicted to it that i forget i have anything else to do. ig this has some 40-50 hours of replayability… so yup, really excited to finish the remaining master runs.. If u loved sifu, katana zero or even (inscryption's epic RNG dopamine mixed with strategy making), this is a no brainer for u.. like It scratches a very particular itch for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So I just beat @forestrike.bsky.social. Technically I still have four reality runs left to do, but I consider the game finished, and it's jist the dessert that awaits me. I like dessert, and Forestrike kicks ass. It genuinely might have made Roguelites palatable for me! Lovely game.
positive · AI labelView post →Lovely little game, each fight is it's own martial arts puzzle, with 5 styles to choose from, ranging from sitting on your ass while the enemies hit each other, to doing unnatural lightning teleportation that deals aoe damage to every enemy on the screen, that and stunlocking people by throwing bananas at them. The five masters that represent the five styles are also fairly charming, each with their own ways of teaching you how to master their ways of fighting. And of course: foresight = the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Truly excellent game. Satisfying combat which mixes reflexes (and, if things go wrong, scrappiness) with puzzlesolving. Add onto that a highly impactful and varied roguelike element (you build out your abilities and equipment, which can have huge impacts on combat), and you've got a great game. And the art and the aesthetic is nice too. My only complaint is there's no way to test weapons. As you progress through the game, you unlock new special techniques for them, and there even appears to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a really good roguelike, and it's well worth the ten bucks it costs. Daunting at first, even a schmuck like me could learn to beat the main gamemode. I'll pass on the challenge mode, I think, but I had a really good time with this game. The gameplay is a really interesting blend of reflex and puzzle, and the music really adds to every fight. I really liked the characters, too, they're really well written - but one of the downsides to this game is that the further into the game you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →More like foreskin
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The good: Gameplay: This is one of the most satisfying games to play of all time. In a weird way it reminds me of Hotline Miami, Katana Zero, and Sonokuni in the way that you perfect your fight and know exactly what the enemy is supposed to do before they even do it. Art: The pixel art mixed with illustration with incredibly readable animations and vfx are just top notch. Music: I listen to this outside the game and inside the game its perfect. design: How the masters interact with each…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Forestrike on Steam. Forestrike is a martial arts roguelite where every death brings you closer to winning the fight before it begins. Use your ‘Foresight’ ability to experiment without consequences before fighting for real until earning the ultimate reward - victory without ‘Foresight’.
neutral · AI labelView post →Playing Forestrike has really scratched that Sifu itch of rehearsing a fight to perfection and I love it so much. Definitely a strong recommend for people wanting a good puzzle with a fighting game!
positive · AI labelView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.