Nightmare Frontier

Nightmare Frontier is a tactical extraction looter that combines turn-based combat with the risk and reward loop of extraction shooters. Players lead a crew of Scavengers into a ruined, nightmarish City, drawn by a newspaper advertisement promising riches. The story is set around Doc, who holds blueprints for harnessing the Nightmare, and it unfolds district by district. Each rescued Scavenger carries one of 16 Fears, and each Fear summons its own monster, called a Dreadweaver. The crew chosen for a raid determines which monsters and hazards appear and which resources can be harvested from their remains.

Combat is turn-based and fully deterministic, with no dice rolls or hit chances. Battlefields contain interactables and hazards that players can use, such as ricocheting bullets off objects, pushing enemies into hazards or moving them into a teammate’s line of fire. Kills can be chained to extend a turn. City districts are infinite and randomly generated, with map nodes leading to combats, facilities, anomalies and quests. Going deeper raises the Nightmare Level, which makes fights harder and loot more valuable. Backpack space is limited, and a crew that falls in battle loses everything it carries.

Loot such as weapons, gear, Nightmare Essence and monster parts is brought back to the Hideout, the one area of the City safe from the Nightmare. There, players manage their roster, upgrade equipment using harvested parts and other materials, expand four unlock trees called Compounds, and customise their crew’s combat style and appearance before the next raid. The 1.0 release includes 16 Fears and Enemies, over 80 upgradable items, over 30 interactables and hazards, 4 playable classes, 4 unlock trees, 4 districts and 8 unique tactical objectives. One new DLC item has recently been added on Steam.