Steam Next Fest: RFM offers a world of groovy real-time tactics Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Steam Next Fest: RFM offers a world of groovy real-time tactics Dashing. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 4 Oct 2021 1 comment RFM is a roguelike real-time tactics game set in a groovy retro-future. The art zings! It's nifty! Your home base apartment comes with a spin on a Grover door and a lovely corner sofa. There's probably a conversation pit buried in there somewhere. Meanwhile, the music starts all Pink Floyd and then gets very EVA. Those thick, radioactive and distinctly French guitar sounds. RFM Developer:Bromio Publisher:Bromio (wherefore art thou?) Platform: Played on PC Availability: Out in 2022, Steam demo out now. I'm in love a bit. The game plays out on a series of procedural battlefields. There's a grid and countdown timers, but enemies don't wait for you to take a turn to take one themselves. Everything is forewarned, but it can still give you that panicky sense that real-time tactics game deliver so beautifully. I fret endlessly as I move around the grid, switching between dash and handgun and a sort of magic explosion, juggling my own timers and trying to stay alive. The gimmick - and it's by no means unique to RFM - is that you can pause and plan and play the real-time game a bit like it's turn-based. This is the key to staying alive, if you ask me. Enemies may look like jagged swipe-files of colour, but they are deadly. In my first few goes I died very quickly. Then I learned to stop and freeze and think about what I was trying to do. RFM is out next year, and promises secrets and depths that my cursory play of the demo cannot hope to uncover. But I'm going back in, because this promises to be great. Do check it out. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 28 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store