'You play as the monsters' in Eldritch strategy game Sea Salt

Two-man Swedish developer YCJY describes Sea Salt as "a reversal action strategy game" where you lead a swarm of Eldritch monsters through inlet settlements, plundering coastal cities and expanding your army as you progress. It's now on Kickstarter and, at the time of writing, its campaign has raised $3,646 of its $5,930 goal and will run for another nine days. Its Kickstarter page also has a link to a free demo, which you can find on Itch.

You play as Dagon, the Old God of the sea. YCJY says Sea Salt was inspired by Eldrich and Lovecraftian lore as well as From Software's Bloodborne, which is reflected in its freaky, dreary setting. As Dagon, you lead your army of monsters through "hundreds of individual designed rooms and branching paths" set along seven key areas, each with its own boss fight.

Sea Salt plays like a top-down 2D action game where, instead of one character, you control entire groups of minions led by your chosen apostles. Different apostles come with different bonuses and starting minions, so they're an integral part of your strategy. You can further expand your strategic options by summoning new minions mid-fight.

Your main enemies are of course humans. They're pesky things but also frail, and most of them can be paralyzed by fear if you surround them with minions, meaning swarm tactics are a mainstay in Sea Salt. Elite enemies like monster hunters and the regional bosses are immune to fear and must be defeated through clever use of specific minions like the humble worm, whose slimy trail can slow advancing enemies.

You may recognize YCJY from their previous game, a submarine Metroidvania called The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human. It came out in 2016 after a successful Kickstarter, and James rather enjoyed it. "Aquatic Adventure is short and the art is minimalist (but holy-cow-gorgeous), and yet it's one of the best Metroidvania experiences I’ve ever had," he said in his 90/100 review.

If its Kickstarter is a success, Sea Salt will release later this year.

Austin freelanced for PC Gamer, Eurogamer, IGN, Sports Illustrated, and more while finishing his journalism degree, and has been a full-time writer at PC Gamer's sister publication GamesRadar+ since 2019. They've yet to realize that his position as a staff writer is just a cover-up for his career-spanning Destiny column, and he's kept the ruse going with a focus on news, the occasional feature, and as much Genshin Impact as he can get away with.