Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City
Game
Game2020
Dreadlands
Developer Blackfox Studios
Welcome to Dreadlands! A perilous landscape brimming with potential in the form of Glow. Command one of 3 unique factions in this turn-based tactical RPG and play through their campaigns, be it solo or Co-Op, or battle it out in PvP. So far no one has tamed the Dreadlands. Will you be the first? From the Steam store page
145 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 5, 2026 · last updated Oct 8, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
55
Mixed
79 positive · 64 negative
95% range 47–63%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 79 | 64 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 0 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
2 newer reactions are still waiting for a label.
Steam's own rating
Mixed
132 of 225 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What people are saying
Summary pending — the reactions are listed below.
Reactions
60 of 145 · most liked first***** DISCLAIMER : this review is old and development went on without me keeping up to date, so take it as a reminder of what was the game in that time, but not as a reflect of what it is now. ***** To be fair, my first rating was negative, here's why: Dreadlands is an exceptionnal EARLY ACCESS game. Calling it release ready is borderline dishonest from the devs. You will encounter bugs and CTD's on a daily basis. But, if you're OK with reporting them, you will find a dev team really…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →RNG is the most important skill, and strategy is worthless because of it. Hit chances are low random so variance is very high. If you enjoy gambling, but dislike tactics, then this game may appeal to you. Every map is the same. Every map uses the same basic scatter placement of random obstacles. The colours and skin will change, but the map type and layout is always the same. It get boring quick. The rest of the game (other than the many bugs) is reasonably well put together, but those two…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →To be honest, there are certain design decisions that do not really fit into the genre, on top of the questionable balancing, in my opinion. You cannot shoot targets that are already in melee fights with others and the game seems to be more focused around melee in general since ammo is rare and has to be bought frequently. Had my first match after the tutorial and instantly died from bleeding. My bleeding character was not able to apply bandages by himself? Had to use a different character…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels about as visceral as Minesweeper. The card-tactics system is interesting. Sort of a Light version of Mutant Year Zero which is already a Light version of XCOM and I'm really missing some full fat Mayonnaise in the tactical combat scene right about now.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38553778-All-about-Strategy-Games/] Follow my Curator Page for more Strategy Games! Dreadlands is a turn-based strategy game. You can choose one of three factions each with their own campaign. Aside from the turn-based battles, Dreadlands is like one of those open-world games. You have a hideout where you can choose your tactics for the battles, buy from a merchant, heal, and more. You can upgrade your hideout while leveling up your fame. The…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At the time of writing this review it is 3/11/2020 - Will update as I play and the game is updated. Very much enjoying the game so far. I think it has a lot of potential. Right now I think that the two implemented gangs are interesting. I've played mostly up until this point with the Scrappers. Both gangs start in different locations and have different story missions that you can play through. You hire people at your main base and then go out to loot and do missions. There is customization…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TLDR: Lack of narrative and variety in maps, superficial design, grinding and poor optimization result in a mediocre gaming experience. Only die-hard tactical combat fans may consider if deeply discounted. At the outset, it looked fun, and reminded me at times of the original Fallout. However, when you scratch below the surface, you see how shallow the game is. Dreadlands has all the elements that could have made it a great game, but it lacks the depth and complexity. There was also a major…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Review by [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34633003-Gaming-Masterpieces/] Gaming Masterpieces - The greatest games of all time on Steam. Is this game a masterpiece? No, it is still in Early Access and some features (like a third gang faction, later story missions, base management, Glow (microtransactions??) or some online functionalities) are not implemented yet. Become a gang leader and rule the post-apocalyptic world. Take some parts of Wasteland, take some parts of X-Com,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →it's a pretty decent turn-based-tactics game (similiar to XCOM) with some unique twists. Dreadlands continues where Krater ended, it's basicaly the same game-world, the same art-style and overall feeling. i personaly loved Krater, but it wasn't a real main-stream-success. you manage a "gang". at the start of the game you choose which faction you want to play as (from more nature based tribes, to the post-apocalyptic scrappers), each with their own unique twists. each faction offers also…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pros: - Long gameplay (you have 3 intro campaign about 10 hours each for each faction then a big main campaign); - Many, many quests and side quest; - Flexible way to set up your party with some restrictions so you don't cheese it; - Different classes with different abilities with the possibily to re-spec; - Multiplayer and co-op if you into it. - Price (20 euros) Neutral: - The post apocalyptic wasteland setting is amazing to me, i love it, but this is down to personal preference. - The number…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Short and simple, Great game that continues on the 'Krater' Universe. Plays a bit like Xcom that includes gang member management. Mostly the dev's deserve a shout-out as they continue to push new content and fixes after release.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wait for a sale. It's not a terrible game, but it is priced very high when it's in a high traffic genre that is dominated by giants (such as X-Com, Wasteland, Mutant Year Zero, Phoenix Point ect) and is constantly being expanded by games from smaller development teams. Dreadlands doesn't compare to the best games, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth your time. I just do not think it's worth the hefty $36 asking price. Visuals are medium to very poor, especially in the open map that looks…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's very tough for me not to recommend this game. For an indie title the scope of what has been accomplished here is absolutely amazing and there's absolutely a lot to like about this game. However, sadly games that out-compete this game are all over Steam and produced with higher budgets. Particularly Mordheim, which looks better, has more mechanics, and more features. That sucks, because this game doesn't feel like it needs all that much more to really stand out, but it's a little hard to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Eh I kinda want to recommend this game. I did enjoy it for awhile but I feel like I can’t. One main issue I have is that there are very few special moves. It’s just shoot or melee attack. Ranged has low accuracy to the point it can become frustrating. You can boost your hit rate by exposing yourself, but the way the 2 AP per turn works is you can’t move then attack then move again. After awhile the campaign just kind of ended. I didn’t even know what happened. All of a sudden my main…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →clunky and slow, incredibly unbalanced, engaging in melee is the best 100% of the time, it works as tanking and damage since it shuts off range combat, there's no point to range in this game, it's a waste unless you can kill an enemy immediately
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My Experience I really liked the look of Dreadlands - the grimy, industrial, post-apocalyptic wasteland and the interesting visual design of the characters. Also, I've always enjoyed playing turn-based tactics in co-op, and there aren't enough games that feature this type of gameplay. My co-op partner and I both started a new game, and then I invited him into mine. He was able to play each mission with me, but this didn't end up advancing his own campaign. He had to play alone or invite me…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32732116-IndieGems/]Follow our curator page: IndieGems if you like and want to see more reviews like this one. Dreadlands is a tactical turn-based strategy game set in a post-apocalyptic future. Please keep in mind that the game is currently in Early Access, with some features not yet available. Currently you can choose between 2 gangs (Tribe-Kin and Scrappers), while a third one will be added later on. However, what is there is fully playable for an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Look at the achievements: 1.5% average game completion, not because its hard, but because its BORING
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The combat was really slow to execute. I couldn't get into it. It feels like the combat is sinking time to pad the game play hours. That may not be the case, but it feels that way. No zip mode, no animation speed. Cheat Engine's speed hack doesn't work on this game. I'm kind of disappointed because it looked interesting.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I typically refrain from rating any games, but at the time of writing (8/14/2021), this game is way better than the current scores indicate. The gameplay is fun, the atmosphere is amazing, and while I have encountered a few silly bugs and a single CTD in 20 hours of play, I don't mind as none caused me any long term issues. This game takes some of the best aspects of several games in the genre and melds them in a way that's extremely enjoyable to play. My issues with other games in the genre…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →SO this game has quite a few bugs. Odd ones. Crashes. That said, I adore it. The combat is like X-COM with some 40k/DND rules for engagement range and such(no firing into melee, leaving melee gives a free attack to enemy etc.). The deaths are not so permanent in the way the being KO'd gives you a wound that takes 3 missions, 5 medkits at base or a stimpack to cure. I imagine they build up into perma death if you take enough but I have not yet(looks like light-heavy-dead). The difficulty is nice…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still needs a lot of work. Poor balance. Game breaking glitches. You gain almost nothing from low level battles. In fact, you probably end up losing more than you gain thanks to the AI's suicidal love of throwing everything away just so it can execute the one guy it manages to down. Thereby giving them a post battle wound.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A Mad Max era XCOM game... As a huge fan of XCOM2 and Divinity OS2, I was looking forward to playing this game, but despite the indie-charm that it presents, it just has a bunch core of issues which makes it inferior to the other games above... So it's XCOM2, but without much thought put into it... Issues: If you shoot twice in a single turn with a gun, then it often gets jammed... this makes ranged combat significantly worse than melee combat (since melee combat has counter-hits AND…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Theres gotta be something wrong with the brains of the developer. Unlimited rats coming out of no where and killing my guys is not a good thing to add to this game. missing 80% shots constantly. This game is worst the Xcom
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun, if a bit repetitive game from the people that made the Krater. However, given how immensely buggy the game is (multi-player doubly so). I cannot recommend it at any time for any price given how it is less stable than some early access games on Steam.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →game is not hard, but the UI is bad and the combat system has many flaws and is very buggy
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →While i would reallly like to give this game a thumbs up. Currently i can't. This game is easily one of the buggiest games I ever played. And not some hard to spot random crashes. Simple things like a skill that does not work. (Healing grenade of one of the Naturelovers forgot their name, you can thorw it you see some special effects but nobody is healed). Some things are just a little unclear and klunky, which might be even bugs. e.g. You use aimed shot on an enemy you don't see it still…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wanted to like this game but its got too many things against it. The game is just too grindy for a casual play game. And its too basic to be able to deep dive it to deal with the grind. Coupled with how often it just crashes, meh. Not really worth the effort. Now taking the 95% sale it has at the time of this review... ok Its a $1.24 good. But at full price? Nah, it surely isn't. I actually enjoy the mumbling you cant understand as the 'voice acting' of the chars. It fits. Anyway…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is probably worth $5. It's essentially a Wasteland 2 clone, but with the most unimaginative story and about 10 hours of play until everything becomes repetitive.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm a big fan of turn based skirmish games and I'm having a lot of fun playing this, the combat system reminds me of tabletop games like necromunda.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Having alot of fun. Reminds me of games like necromunda, but also adds new stuff and flavour.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dreadlands has a lot of ideas, none of which are quite as original or executed as well as you'd hope for.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Poorly balanced and very buggy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This would be a really fun little game but it is INCREDIBLY buggy to the point of being unplayable. This game should not be on steam it is that broken and unstable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you're looking for a turn-based squad combat game to fill some hours, this should scratch that itch nicely. This review is for the campaign only. I haven't tried the PvP or co-op modes. I found it to be a fun game. As many have commented, the fights are very much like XCOM with a few modifications. I personally enjoyed leveling up my fighters/squad and hunting around for good gear. Unfortunately, once I had my squad how I wanted it the combat became *very* easy and I lost interest.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Krater 2.0 nothing else ! just name it KRATER 2 ! same everything XD just more bugs ! thx game devs for showing me ! the same game AGAIN XD
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There was a 90% chance this review would be positive!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is basically playing the same level over and over and over....no kidding. The turn based battle is almost always the same handful of maps and the battle is pretty simple and boring. There is an uninteresting story behind it all and you get things like some equipment upgrades, character upgrades which grow old after a while. In all good faith, I cant really recommend this game as it gets repetitive and boring fast. But if you like playing turn based games where you will keep…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love the setting and combat, but the game is so buggy its borderline uplayable.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wanted the game to be good but it just feels incredibly one sided and wasn't very fun. The story/concept was cool but just felt like another turn based strategy game that is overtuned.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tons of technical bug when starting
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like this game. Turn based tactics is my favorite genre, and I find Dreadlands less punishing than XCom. There are some bugs currently, but the developers are responsive and there are updates every days.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright so the premise is fun... the ideas are good but something about this game is just so boring. If you've played X-COM you will right away notice this. Combat is boring. Clunky. Enemies have all kinds of annoying techniques like crippling you so that you can't move or fire. Shots miss a bunch and there are no cinematic shots or deaths. Feels like a bad X-Com clone. Exploring the map is a great idea and could be fun... instead it's just a boring map with points scattered around. This of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Dreadlands takes a classic formula and improves it with tiny but game enhancing features that make it really stand out from other post apocalyptic turned-based games. You can tell a lot of love went into this game because it shows you at every chance it gets. Just watch my video to see for yourself! https://youtu.be/4gO7rGk_3oU ⠀⠀ If you enjoyed my review please consider following and joining my Steam group. [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/MatureMindedGamers#curation]⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Mature…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →https://youtu.be/ArC_ry_Vl9w Only a few years after release this title no longer appears to work.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm always attracted to tactics games with co-op which is a really rare thing so I must applaud the devs for adding it... That said the game feels incredibly unfinished. Pretty much every random battle on the overworld uses the same map, I'm sure it's different for different areas but you move back and forth across the same area when completing objectives and it gets extremely old fighting next to the same barn over and over and over.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love Krater, play it now and again. When I saw that Dreadlands is in the same universe, but made by other devs, and saw the new offline PVE added capability, I bought the game instantly. Didn't like it that much though I didn't play very far: Krater is an ARPG, and Dreadlands is a turn based geometric grid game. Differently than Krater that has very good, interesting locations, this game instead deployed the foes like a soccer match, putting some up mounds, more like a board game that an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →made it through first mission, lit the bonfire, game froze and would never load again.asked for refund.still have not gotten the refund zsykes thanks for your fast response. don't worry about the refund part. I might try again in few months. (btw I tried deleting, reloading, verify files, to no avail)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Poor graphics, jagged gameplay
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I don't get why this game has a co-op tag if the co-op doesn't work? This game crashes all the time in co-op. It flatly does not work.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I wish I could have gone neutral on this. The game is ok, the mechanics are solid, the world is fun, with a very peculiar speech pattern of your tiny post-apocalyptic gimp scrappers. The interface, on the other hand is rough, the stability is low and the optimisation - weak. You'll drop frames no matter what and will crash every hour or so. This, of course is nothing new for an early access game, but in case you tend to forget - here's a reminder.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A very nice game that remind me of fallout universe. The game still need allot of content, and much more factions. There will be nice to have 2-3 teams to co-op vs some nice PVE enounters and same time dungeons can be good to have with like levels of maps were u go trogh much more sectors and at last u get a strong boss team. Will be nice to have expansions 2-3 times a year and this game will be a blast after 1-2 years in future !! PS Keep up the good work this game is goo to have both pvp/pve…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I like Dreadlands. I recorded some of my progress in Dreadlands. Please take a look if you value a more Audio / Visual experience, as I discuss the game as I overwatch, melee smash, and blast my way through it; in some semblance of style perhaps! https://youtu.be/d8UkAW9dr1s Dreadlands is an Indie, Isometric Turn Based Tactics RPG, a sort of Xcom like / lite set in a Post Apocalyptic hellscape of a world; cool! Three Freaking Factions! Pick 1 of three factions, and lead your merry band of…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Bit grindy but cool graphic and atmosphere, getting that Mutant feeling. Devs update the game quite fast when I reported any bugs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game when it was on a massive sale, but I wish I hadn't. I enjoy this type of turn-based strategy, been a big fan of the X-com series. However, this game seems like a cheap rip-off of the genre. The art style is horrible and the dialogues are just complete garbage. The battleground design is unimaginative, and the characters aren't memorable or interesting. So much more could be done with this game but it would need a complete rework. I'm looking forward to other games that use…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A wonderful gang management/skirmish simulator with simple missions and entertaining script. If you're already a fan of the recent 2D tabletop Necromunda rules , you will find a hidden gem of a video game here. Support good Indie developers!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game needs a little bit of more work and definitely has its moments .
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A hop skip and a jump away from Xcom and Mutant Year Zero, Dreadlands distinguishes itself with a fairly cool card system and neat visuals. The combat feels a little shallow but is still fun. I haven't quite gotten into the base management stuff yet but I see a lot of potential here. https://youtu.be/Z3yzn7BiJds
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As of 4/25/20, As an avid turn based player of many years im not really impressed so far. the XP gain feels really slow, it seems to be hard to find decent loot, cash is hard to come by when you only find 2-4 in any chest (if anything at all). Scrap seams to be important but again hard to come by but used for alot of stuff. Abilities gained from the few levels so far have not been exactly useful in combat. I love the post apocalyptic feel. the graphics and animations are nice as well as the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like this genre and i see the potential and the texts between the characters are funny written. The Fights are not too long like Total War ;) but long enough to tactical fight. The "Gangs" are also an interesting technic. As i know Fatshark, they will develop this game more and make it better and better. Cheers
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
Posts are quoted from public profiles with links to the original. Want yours removed? Contact us.
You Might Also Like
similar titlesWhat Remains of Edith Finch
What Remains of Edith Finch
Game
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
Game
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Euro Truck Simulator 2
Game
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
Game