Dead Weight

In a steampunk world of floating islands, you lead a hero and crew aboard a flying ship, exploring the skies and confronting hostile forces and ancient gods. Choose from unlockable heroes, recruit mercenaries, and decide which islands and encounters to pursue.

Combat takes place on small, grid-based battlefields. Position your crew to avoid enemy attacks, use weapons and skills, and exploit terrain—including pushing foes off the edge of an arena—to win fights.

Between battles, gather loot and manage ship fuel as you travel between islands and the home city for supplies and other services. Level heroes through skill trees, equip your party, upgrade the ship, and earn persistent improvements across roguelite runs.

Players who enjoy Dead Weight often point to its pixel-art presentation and atmosphere, along with the satisfaction of planning moves in compact tactical battles. Some also like choosing routes through the skies and using different heroes and crew setups. Criticism commonly focuses on encounters and runs feeling repetitive, combat being too simple or easy for some players, and fuel or fatigue limits interrupting exploration. Opinions on the combat’s challenge and depth vary.