Spiritual strategy game Cantata comes to early access in May Rock Paper Shotgun Support us Join our newsletter Visit our store Sign in / Create account If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Spiritual strategy game Cantata comes to early access in May It looks like Dune on acid News by Jai Singh Bains Contributor Published on March 22, 2022 7 comments Cantata, the upcoming game from Afterschool Studio, is releasing in early access on the 12th of May. It's a turn-based strategy game set during a surreal and futuristic war, where, shocker, the aim is to kill your opponent. The twist is that while you're building your base in each encounter, you'll also need to manage logistics. The maps in Cantata are bigger than most other strategy games, so you'll have to construct a supply chain alongside your army to keep your base expanding. And it's all wrapped up in a unique and colourful aesthetic too. Exploration is mandatory in Cantata, both due to the size of the maps, but also to find the best way to your opponent. But it's never that easy, is it? Cantata takes place on a bizarre planet called Shoal, and between turns it can damage you as well, through random conditions like weather or aggressive fauna. The Cantata website says "every map that you'll play in the game will be made with the game's level editor," which is a feature I love the sound of. It's always awesome seeing really powerful tools being left in the community's hands, even if I will just make a penis out of dirt before giving up. Nate's covered Cantata twice previously, in 2019 as an early preview, and again last August when the game's first Steam demo released. He felt "there was a lot of tactical fun to be had along the way. But I would have preferred to have had it in about the quarter of the time it eventually took to have." Cantata arrives on Steam Early Access on May 12th. It's not clear how long it'll stay like that, but Afterschool Studio have already been working on Cantata for almost four years, and say that the game will release with "the first round of the story missions" while listening to the community's feedback. If you wanna check it out before then, there's a demo on Steam available right now. More News Jack King-Spooner's next handcrafted game has a teaser demo out Judero brings chat and action in the Scottish Borders Alice O'Connor 17 hours ago 1 If you were hoping for any Overwatch 2 balance changes then you'll have to wait until season two The next season begins in December CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 3 The Dead Space remake will chuck random Necromorphs at you as you wander the Ishimura In space, no one can hear you proper bricking it CJ Wheeler 18 hours ago 8 Valve register mysterious new Neon Prime trademark in the US It doesn’t seem to be for a particularly colourful Steam Deck CJ Wheeler 20 hours ago 11 Latest Articles What are we all playing this weekend? Well? Alice O'Connor an hour ago 22 Past Wordle answers Here's an archive of previous Wordle words Ollie Toms 2 hours ago 1 Wordle answer today (Saturday 15 October) Hints and the answer to today's Wordle word Rebecca Jones 9 hours ago Overwatch 2 hero tier list Which are the best heroes in Overwatch 2? Ollie Toms 16 hours ago Supporters Only You're probably better than me at One Many Nobody You go on without… uh, you? Sin Vega 17 hours ago Supporter podcast - The Nate Files episode 13: dry bones Bad science is also FUN science! Alice Bell 18 hours ago Japanese dating show Love Wagon has surprising parallels with Yakuza and Persona My new obsession Ed Thorn 2 days ago If you're hankering after Bayonetta 3, Valkyrie Elysium might be a good substitute It's not out on PC until next month, but the console demo has been a surprise charmer Katharine Castle 1 week ago 4 We've been talking, and we think that you should wear clothes Total coincidence, but we sell some clothes Buy RPS stuff here