These days, adding roguelite elements to existing genres is all the rage. Many games fail in their attempt at making it compelling and interesting, but The Rabbit Haul looks like it won’t fall into that category. As someone who loves farming and tower defense games, the idea of combining the two and sprinkling in roguelite elements has caught my attention.
If you’ve ever wanted to defend your garden from raccoons with strategically placed plant towers, The Rabbit Haul might also be for you. Developer Caldera Interactive has announced that a Steam demo for its upcoming roguelite farming and tower defense game will be available on March 18, giving players their first chance to try it out.
In The Rabbit Haul, players take on the role of Sprout, a rabbit working to rebuild their hometown after it’s been ransacked by the Trash Panda Posse. The gameplay loop is split into two phases: during the day, players have as much time as they want to plant crops, place defensive towers, and arrange their farm like a strategic puzzle. When they’re ready, they trigger the night phase, where waves of enemies descend on the farm. Each enemy type has unique behaviors, and as runs progress, the nights get significantly harder.
It’s a roguelite at its core, so failure is expected. When a run ends, progress carries forward through permanent upgrades, unlocks, and town restoration. There’s also a hub world with vendors, quests, and rewards between runs. The concept of mixing farming sim mechanics with tower defense and roguelite progression is a pretty interesting combination, and the art style gives off strong cozy vibes despite the whole “defend your crops from an army of raccoons” premise.
