One of 2022’s best turn-based strategy games is finally coming to PC

You’d be forgiven for never having heard of Desta: The Memories Between—it was released for mobile in September last year, and hidden away on Netflix’s very good but overlooked mobile app. But you shouldn’t let it pass you by now that it’s on PC (opens in new tab). 

Taking place in the dreams of the titular Desta, the game plays out as a surreal roguelike, where you fight turn-based battles that explore the character’s mind, memories, and relationships. These battles work sort of like dodgeball—the only way of doing damage to enemies is to get to a ball, pick it up, and throw it at them.

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Throws are aimed by clicking and drawing back with the mouse, adjusting to the right angle, and releasing with the correct timing for the power of shot you want. This mechanic betrays the game’s origins on touchscreens, but it works just as well with a mouse, and it introduces all sorts of clever tactical nuance. Balls can be passed between your team, allowing you to set up attacks from unexpected angles, and you maximise your damage for a turn through clever bounces—ricocheting a ball off an enemy back into your hands, for example, or bouncing it round a corner to hit a foe behind cover.