In Brotato, you fight waves of aliens as a potato in a top-down arena. Your spaceship crashed on an alien planet, and you're the sole survivor waiting for help to arrive. You can carry up to six weapons at once, and they fire on their own at the nearest alien, so much of the game is about where you stand. Roguelite means every run starts fresh, but the characters and items you unlock along the way stay unlocked.
Each run is split into 20 waves, and every wave is a short timed fight. The first lasts 20 seconds, and later waves run longer, up to 90 seconds for the last one. Enemies drop green materials when they die. Materials give you experience, which levels you up, and they're also the money you spend in the shop. Collecting them is how you grow stronger, and a full run usually takes under 30 minutes.
When the timer runs out, the wave ends, and any Harvesting you have pays out extra materials. If you leveled up, you choose one of four upgrades for a stat such as damage or max HP. Then you head into the shop to buy weapons and items that will help you handle the tougher waves ahead. Clearing wave 20, where one or two bosses appear, wins the run. Winning also unlocks the next Danger level, which makes enemies tougher, and Endless Mode lets you keep going after wave 20 until you die.
- Developer
- Blobfish
- Publisher
- Blobfish
- Release
- Steam Early Access: 2022-09-27 · Steam full release: 2023-06-23
- Platforms
- Windows, macOS, SteamOS + Linux, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, iOS, Android
Game data
Characters
Brotato's playable potatoes come from the base game and the Abyssal Terrors DLC. Each character starts with its own stats, bonuses, and drawbacks, and some begin with a weapon or item already in hand. In the base game, five characters start unlocked, and the rest open through kill and material totals, one-run feats, and winning on higher Danger levels. Five of the DLC's characters also start unlocked, while the rest need specific feats.
Items
Items are passive upgrades in Brotato that change your character's stats, such as max health, damage, speed, and luck, and most come with a trade-off. They sit in four tiers, from common, cheap Tier I items up to rare Tier IV items. You get them from the shop after each wave and from crates dropped during battles, and some stay locked until you win a run with a specific character. The paid Abyssal Terrors expansion adds its own items on top.
Weapons
Weapons are how characters deal damage in Brotato, and they come in melee and ranged types that fight in very different ways. You buy them from the shop between waves, and two identical weapons of the same tier can be combined into one a tier higher, up to Tier IV. Holding several weapons from the same class adds bonuses, so the mix of weapons you carry shapes your run.
Level-Up Upgrades
Level-up upgrades are the permanent stat boosts you choose from each time you level up in Brotato. Every level gives you a choice of four, and higher tiers give bigger boosts. XP from enemy drops and harvested materials sets the pace, so picking the right upgrades is a steady part of building a character over a run.
Brotato gameplay tips
- Keep moving and stay out of corners. Your weapons aim themselves, so where you stand is the part you control. Standing still or getting backed into a corner lets enemies crowd you before you can respond.
- Pick upgrades that match your weapons. Ranged weapons, like guns and crossbows, scale with Ranged Damage, and melee weapons scale with Melee Damage. A matching upgrade helps every weapon of that type you carry.
- Take Max HP and Armor along with damage. Enemies hit harder as the waves climb, so a potato that can take more hits keeps its damage working for longer.
- Lock items you can't afford yet. Locking costs nothing, and a locked item keeps its current price even as prices climb. You can save up for it without losing it to a reroll.
- Reroll early, while it's cheap. Rerolls cost more each wave, and each extra reroll in the same shop costs more than the last. Early shops are the cheapest place to dig for the piece you need.
- Combine two identical weapons of the same tier. Two copies become one weapon one tier higher, such as two Tier 1 Knives making a Tier 2 Knife. That frees a weapon slot and gives you a stronger weapon in return.