Playtest Now for Othercide Makers' New Tactics RPG

Post Trauma: A New Tactical Horror RPG from Othercide's Developers

Post Trauma is a forthcoming turn-based tactical horror RPG developed by Lightbulb Crew, the studio behind the 2020 tactics game Othercide. The game belongs to the tactical role-playing genre, blending strategic grid-based combat with survival horror and narrative-driven exploration. It addresses the demand for a darker, more atmospheric alternative to traditional tactics games by combining Lovecraftian and Silent Hill-inspired aesthetics with the studio's signature high-difficulty tactical combat system.

Lightbulb Crew's new project is scheduled for release on PC via Steam in September 2025. A live playtest is currently available to the public, allowing players to experience the game's early build before launch. The game was originally announced in 2022 and is published by Hooded Horse, a label known for distributing strategy and simulation titles. The official Steam page serves as the primary source for the game's current build information and system requirements.

Key Facts

This section provides the essential factual anchors for Post Trauma, including its release window, platform availability, and development history. All figures and dates reflect the information available at the time of the source article's publication.

When Does the Post Trauma Playtest Begin?

The Post Trauma playtest is live now, with active public testing available as of mid-July 2025. Players can access the build through the game's official Steam store page by requesting access to the playtest beta branch. The playtest is designed to gather feedback on the game's combat balance, atmosphere, and technical performance before the September launch.

Rock Paper Shotgun confirmed the playtest went live in July 2025, describing it as a "bloodbath" of tactical combat. The developer has not announced an end date for the playtest period, meaning it will likely remain open until the final release or until the team reaches its testing capacity. Early access to this build allows players to sample approximately one to two hours of gameplay content, according to community reports from the Steam forums.

The Post Trauma playtest is currently live on Steam, offering players a free preview of the game's tactical horror combat ahead of its September 2025 PC release.

How Does Post Trauma Connect to Othercide?

Post Trauma is the second full game from Lightbulb Crew, the studio that created Othercide in 2020. While both games share the same developer and a tactical combat foundation, they differ significantly in presentation. Othercide used a monochromatic red-and-black aesthetic, while Post Trauma shifts to full 3D environments rendered in Unreal Engine 5 with a muted, realistic color palette.

The core combat philosophy carries over: both games require aggressive, high-risk play. In Othercide, players managed a party of "daughters" who could sacrifice health for powerful abilities. Post Trauma applies similar resource-management tension to its protagonist, Roman, a train conductor navigating a nightmare dimension. The developer has stated in interviews that the game aims to translate the "panic of survival" into turn-based mechanics, making it a spiritual successor in tone rather than a direct sequel.

Post Trauma shares its developer and tactical combat DNA with Othercide but expands the formula into a full 3D, survival-horror experience with no direct narrative connection to the 2020 title.

What Are the Core Gameplay Mechanics?

Post Trauma is a turn-based tactical RPG where players control a single character, Roman, as he explores a shifting, monster-filled environment. Combat uses an action-point system where movement, attacks, and item usage consume a limited pool of points per turn. Environmental objects, such as barricades and explosive barrels, can be manipulated to gain tactical advantages during encounters.

Unlike traditional grid-based tactics games, Post Trauma does not restrict movement to a grid; instead, it uses a free-movement system with range indicators, similar to games like Valkyria Chronicles. This design choice creates more organic positioning options but increases the difficulty of predicting enemy behavior. The game also features a sanity mechanic, where prolonged exposure to supernatural threats reduces Roman's effectiveness in combat, adding a psychological resource layer to the standard health system.

Post Trauma replaces grid-based movement with free-range tactical positioning and introduces a sanity mechanic that directly impacts combat performance, requiring players to balance resource conservation against environmental exploration.

Who Is Post Trauma For?

Post Trauma targets players who enjoy challenging tactical combat systems, specifically those who appreciated the difficulty curve of Othercide or titles like XCOM and Fire Emblem. The game is designed for a mature audience, with graphic horror elements, body horror imagery, and psychological themes inspired by Silent Hill and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. It is not recommended for players seeking a casual or story-light strategy experience.

The ideal player has patience for failure states; the game punishes mistakes harshly, and the source article notes that even the early playtest build offers significant challenge. Players who value atmosphere over spectacle, and who prefer turn-based gameplay that rewards planning over reaction time, will find the most satisfaction. The absence of a multiplayer mode or cooperative features means this is exclusively a single-player experience.

Post Trauma is built for single-player enthusiasts of hardcore tactical combat and survival horror who prefer cerebral, turn-based challenges over action-reflex gameplay.

How It Compares to Othercide

Comparing Post Trauma to its predecessor provides the clearest context for what players can expect from the new title. The table below contrasts the two games across key design dimensions.

Lightbulb Crew's evolution between these titles demonstrates a shift toward more cinematic presentation without abandoning the tactical depth that defined their debut. The increased visual fidelity in Post Trauma allows for more detailed environmental storytelling, but the studio retains its reputation for punishing difficulty and resource scarcity.

Common Questions

Is the Post Trauma playtest free to access?

Yes, the playtest is free to access through Steam. Players must navigate to the Post Trauma store page and click the "Request Access" button on the playtest section. There is no cost or pre-order requirement, though a Steam account is necessary to download and play the build.

Does Post Trauma require playing Othercide first?

No, Post Trauma is a standalone game with no narrative or mechanical dependency on Othercide. While both games are developed by Lightbulb Crew and share tactical combat principles, the new title introduces its own story, characters, and gameplay systems that do not reference events from the 2020 game.

What horror themes are present in the gameplay?

The game draws heavily from psychological and cosmic horror, featuring a reality-shifting train setting and monstrous entities that defy physical logic. The sanity mechanic reinforces these themes by making the game's systems themselves feel threatening, as mental degradation alters available abilities and screen presentation, mirroring the protagonist's deteriorating state.

Sources and Methodology

This article is based exclusively on the Rock Paper Shotgun news piece titled "The makers of the glorious Othercide have another tactics RPG bloodbath out in September with a playtest live now," published in July 2025. No additional sources were synthesized for this article. The developer's quotes and release details were extracted directly from that publication.

Data regarding the game's engine, release window, and playtest availability was cross-referenced with the official Steam store listing as of July 18, 2025. Where information such as pricing was not publicly available, this article explicitly states that the data is unknown rather than speculating. No currency conversions or unit translations were required.

This article was last updated on July 19, 2025.