Afrofuturist strategy game We Are The Caretakers leaves early access today
The latest update rounds out the story
After a year and a half, strategy RPG We Are The Caretakers leaves early access today. Caretakers will receive a new patch at launch, adding in the fourth Era of the campaign. This closes out the game’s story with five more missions, an end-game, and other final improvements. If you haven’t checked in with Caretakers since its launch in 2021, a lot has changed through its 10+ patches.
We Are The Caretakers is an odd title for a game with XCOM-esque combat, but that’s because this is an environmentalist game at heart. Your goal in this Afrofuturist sci-fi is to protect the fantastical, endangered animals that your world relies on - though you’ll still be shooting other spacefarers along the way.
We Are The Caretaker’s Steam page describes it as a blend between “squad building, RTS-with-pause, narrative, and turn-based JRPG combat.” I’m up for trying any game with JRPG inspirations, but mix in some fantasy wildlife conservation and funky spacesuits, and I’m there 100%. Caretakers also includes a reputation system, so every action you take will impact the world and how others treat you - in-game, of course.
We don’t see very many of either Afrofuturist games or games about natural conservation, so We Are The Caretaker’s full release is welcome news. AliceBee had good things to say about Caretakers before it even hit early access. She gave special props to its refreshing character designs that stood out against the “beefy Space Marine boys” we usually see in this type of sci-fi. We Are The Caretakers is available now on Steam for £15/€17/$20.
Disclosure: We Are The Caretakers narrative lead Xalavier Nelson Jr. was an RPS contributor, once upon a time.