It takes a village to save the world, and you’ll need all the help you can get in Lynked: Banner of the Spark. Lynked is an action roguelike developed by FuzzyBot and published by Dreamhaven, where you join the robot revolution alongside friends. Your mission is to battle through co-op roguelite missions to rescue robotic allies and gather essential resources for your fight against the destructive Combots. We checked out the demo for the October Next Fest, and this is what we found.

In Lynked: Banner of the Spark, you lead the charge against the Combots, formidable machines intent on annihilating the natural world. You can play either solo or co-op on missions featuring fast-paced hack-and-slash combat and roguelite progression. Your first friend and ally, Buddy, transforms himself into a grappling hook arm to help you escape from prison. The environment is filled with flingable objects to throw in bots’ faces. You can even grab smaller bots and bombs, or stun a mid-tier bot and bring them in for a combo attack. Once you get the Smith, you also have access to a variety of modable weapons. After clearing a level, Smith will give you a free upgrade you can build on for the mission’s final boss.

Building a Better World

Between missions, you can empower your next run by nurturing your town and helping fellow bots. Completing missions nets you materials and characters that expand your town. This unlocks and upgrades weapons and abilities to prepare for future battles. Recruiting new robotic allies will be crucial in building a resistance capable of reclaiming the future. Tinker, for instance, upgrades skill trees in exchange for friendchips, and Mason gives you access to a crafting menu. Each character has side missions that progress your ability to level up in different aspects, as well as their own storylines.

Aside from that, Lynked also has your typical life sim activities. Your town has a pretty large acreage, and lots of stone to mine, stumps to chop, and refuse to recycle. These are essential in crafting sci-fi furniture to decorate with, giving your town parks and bistros. In-town activities such as fishing and farming provide resources that can also be used to enhance your weapons and powers. The gameplay cycle plays into itself, giving you plenty of breaks from the action when you want a breather while also powering you up for later combat.

I must say that the graphics are as crisp and vibrant as Lynked‘s gameplay. Its got a 3D cartoon style that sort of reminds me of an updated Captain Planet. The characters are well proportioned, with a lot of customization options, which is great considering you can have up to six players in a single town. So far I haven’t noted an internal voice system, so you might need an external channel to communicate. Speaking of voices, the “voicelines” when the bots deliver dialogue remind me of Simlish, which is objectively hilarious.

Early Access is Imminent

Lynked: Banner of the Spark has its demo available even though Steam Next Fest is over now. The Early Access release is planned for October 22nd, with the full release planned for 2025. FuzzyBot plans to add five new campaign chapters, additional weapons and upgrades, a new biome with more enemies, subtitle localization, and a whole host of other things. There are two biomes and four chapters available in Early Access, so go ahead and dive in!