Loop Hero

Loop Hero's gameplay is divided into two alternating phases: the expedition phase (when resources are obtained) and the building phase (when resources are used).

Each expedition begins with the hero walking around a randomly generated closed path made out of empty tiles, where slimes can spawn. When the hero meets an enemy, an automatic fight will start. If the hero wins, they receive resources which can be used during the building phase. Otherwise, defeat means the hero loses 70% of the resources obtained during the current expedition and gets sent back to their base.

The game begins after the world has ended, with the introductory dialogue explaining that an evil lich obliterated reality and all of the things in it. The hero awakens in a small camp on a path and sets out to try and rebuild his world. Along the way, he encounters other survivors who either assist him in trying to reconstruct the world or who, in despair, consider it lost and attack him in an effort to further their own survival.

However, as the hero defeats the Lich and his followers, he discovers that the end of reality is being instigated by God himself, Omega. Omega explains that his previous incarnation, Alpha, created the universe as well as humanity, and took a particular liking to them. On a whim, Alpha decided to descend to one of his worlds to appear personally to humans. However, to his shock and amazement, the primitive human he met attacked him with a spear in an effort to protect his family. Intrigued by humanity's defiance against him, Alpha allowed himself to be killed by the human, and was reborn as Omega, now determined to destroy the universe to re-experience the sensation of death.

Loop Hero was initially born out of an idea the Four Quarters team had in early 2019 when discussing zero-player games; one of their team members built a game with a hero wandering in a loop while the player built around it. They did not do much with this idea until the Ludum Dare game jam in October 2019, which had the theme "Start with nothing". The earlier prototype idea worked well with the theme, though the final game they produced for Ludum Dare did not win as it wasn't very polished. Four Quarters recognized that they had the foundations of a good game, spent more time with the Ludum Dare version and were able to secure Devolver Digital for publication and support.

Since then, most of their development had been focused on balancing the game due to the number of different sub-systems within the game. They were able to use a demo of the game offered on Steam as part of one of the first major large-scale balance tests, which they planned to continue after the game's release.

Loop Hero received "generally favorable" reviews, according to review aggregator website Metacritic. Critics praised the freedom to create unique worlds and the 1980s aesthetic of the game. Ben Kuchera of Polygon praised the experimentation that the looping system allowed. Ian Boudreau of PCGamesN appreciated how the deck-building mechanics allowed the player to constantly vary their playstyle.

Evan Lahti, writing for PC Gamer, enjoyed the surprises that different card combinations could create, although he thought the lack of new ones hurt the later game. Sam Machkovech of Ars Technica enjoyed the game's take on the idle genre, and how the player had to make difficult choices about the hero's abilities.