Fading Reel

Your squad grows. The map tears you apart. Fading Reel is a wave-based Roguelike where you lead a chained squad through a forgotten 1930s animation reel. You aim and move as the leader; teammates follow every step and fire on their own . A longer chain means more bullets — and more risk when the arena splits you apart. Chained squad combat The HUD tracks Leader and Mate HP in separate rows. If a Mate is crushed or cut off mid-wave, they leave the field — but your roster bench refills missing squadmates at the next wave start. Stack damage, fire rate, spread, and cohesion upgrades after each horde; detached Mates stop firing until you reattach (some Evolutions change that rule). Map events split your formation The arena is not scenery. Closing gates , sweep beams , lockdown zones , and anchor tethers force split-second calls: regroup fast, or keep fighting understrength. Circle back to reattach before the horde closes in. Linked Blink At Wave 12 start, unlock Linked Blink — teleport the entire attached chain together (~0.4 s, 1.5 s cooldown). Attached units are briefly invulnerable; mistime it and the HUD flashes a deny pulse. Essential for dodging Blaster ground bursts and Hydra charges. Survive the wave. Stack your build. Clear each horde wave, then pick one of three random run upgrades from a pool of stat boosts — fire rate, max HP, heals, move speed, projectile damage, chain resilience, knockback resist, map-pull resist, and squad-scaled perks. Milestone waves 3, 6, and 13 auto-add a squad member and play a Reel Sync story beat (no upgrade menu on those waves). Evolve after the mini-boss Wave 11 is the mini Hydra fight. After you win, choose one of three randomly rolled Evolutions from 19 run-long paths — e.g. Twin Reel , Rail Line , Living Chain , Long Leash , or Gate Runner . That pick defines your Act II identity (Wave 11 has no normal upgrade menu). Act II and the final reel Wave 12 is a Blaster-only intro (ground-burst dodging), then Act II ( Waves 13–21 ) hits with the full six-type roster — Chaser , Skirmisher , Bruiser , Shooter , Splitter , and Blaster — longer spawn windows, and stacked map events. Wave 22 is the final Hydra ; beating it wins the run. Meta progression between runs Spend currency on 12 permanent branches (3 tiers each): Squad Roster, Vitality, Constitution, Field Triage, Swift March, Chain Bond, Steady Line, Anchor Grip, Trained Trigger, Cracked Rounds, Hollow Points, and Bounty Hunter. Each failed run funds the next attempt. A memory reel aesthetic Sepia, grain, vignette, and inked cartoon silhouettes — like a worn film strip playing inside a distant memory. Play in your language Full interface localization for 31 Steam languages (menus, upgrades, and in-run UI). Fadestrand Games · Built with Godot