Crimson Horn Steam Demo Review
Verdict: Play
A roguelike autobattler where rare weapons are not always better, lantern summoning lives on the gear not the necromance
My necromancers stopped summoning. I had swapped their weapons out for something rarer, assuming rare meant better, and they just stood there while the enemy pushed through. Turns out the summoning ability was not coming from the necromancers at all. It was coming from the lantern weapon I had taken off them. I lost that run, and I deserved it.
Crimson Horn is a Roguelike autobattler from TOFU Trouble. You build a warband, position them on a hex grid, equip weapons, and then watch. Once the battle starts you are not in control. The preparation is the game. My verdict is Play.
Crimson Horn is a play if you want a roguelike autobattler where the hex grid before the fight is the real game. Read what weapons actually do, protect your back line from assassins, and let relics pick your run direction. Try the Medieval Fest demo build, expect one humbling weapon swap, and wishlist it if TOFU Trouble keeps sharpening UI clarity before the 2026 release.
Pros
- Preparation-first autobattler loop makes loadout choices matter
- Weapons rewriting troop abilities creates real build literacy
- Enemy variety forces formation changes, not autopilot wins
- Relic picks at run start give clear strategic direction
- Speed-up option respects your time once you know the systems
- Readable battlefield despite minimalist art
Cons
- Rare weapon bias can silently break a working comp
- Sell flow for items and relics is easy to miss early
- Mid-run enemy combos can outpace the final boss difficulty curve
Hex grid prep and weapon literacy
This Roguelike autobattler lives or dies in the menu before the fight. You field up to seven troops across five types: necromancers, wizards, rangers, warriors, and defenders. Each type has different abilities, but weapons change what those abilities actually do. Rare is not always right. Understanding what a weapon does to a specific troop type is the difference between a run that holds and one that silently falls apart.
You position units on a hex grid across three rows with ten deployment slots. The art is simplistic but detailed, and it is easy enough to see what troops are doing once the fight starts. Troops act on their own based on how you set them up.
Promoting troops adds another layer. When a unit levels up you pick from a random selection of upgrades focused on aggression, defense, or magic. Two troops of the same type at the same level can end up with completely different stat lines. The RPG depth is in those diverging promotions. You can never just copy a build that worked before.
Enemies that punish your formation
The enemies pushed back properly. Basic melee and ranged to start, then assassins that skip your frontline entirely and go straight after your ranged units at the back, then goblins mounted on warhogs that charge straight through and knock everyone back.
I was running four rangers at the back doing most of my damage. Then assassins appeared and I had to rethink the whole formation. My best completed run was two defenders at the front focused on health and blocking, and four rangers behind them with bows doing the damage.
Gold from battles buys weapons in the shop. Three of the same weapon merge into a higher tier. Medals promote your troops. Relics are where run direction comes from. You pick one at the start and it shapes everything. Mine added summoned units with bonus health and damage, which is why I went necromancers. When I took the lanterns off them, I dismantled my own strategy.
Events, hearts, and demo scope
Events break up the battles. A wizard tower where you can recruit or find a special weapon. A camp to buy a relic or heal. Lose a battle and you lose hearts. Lose all your hearts and the run ends.
I completed the demo once across four runs in about ninety minutes. The boss at the end was not actually the hardest fight. Some mid-run enemy combinations gave me more trouble. There is a speed-up option once you get the hang of things and want to rattle through battles while pushing to later levels.
One small UI note: selling items and relics is not clearly signposted. I only found out when my inventory was full and went looking for it. Worth knowing before you get there. The demo was updated on 17 April for Steam Medieval Fest. Even in this slice there is plenty of replayability, and I know I will jump back in again. Full release is planned for 2026.
Developer: TOFU Trouble
View on Steam
Watch the video review: YouTube
Tags: Roguelike, Strategy, RPG, Indie, Survival, Management, Simulation, Casual
Appears in
- Best Game Demos April 2026: April was a good month for demos. I played through more than I expected to and these five stood out. Different genres, different styles, all worth downloading.
- Steam Medieval Fest 2026: Steam Medieval Fest runs until April 27th and I played every demo worth your time so you don't have to. Three made the cut. A Viking tower defence roguelite, a city builder on wheels, and a goblin jester stamping decrees while trying not to lose his entire population to bandits. All free. All worth an hour of your time before the fest ends.
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