Planned Release Date: Q1 2027

About This Game

Payload Architect is a roguelite auto-battler about inventory management and exponential scaling. You buy Code Blocks, fit them into your grid and then watch the code run on its own. To win, your Payload has to beat each target before you run out of Reboots.

You start with an empty grid. Buy Code Blocks in the shop and find the right spot for each one. Where a Block sits changes what it does: some boost their neighbors, others affect the whole grid, and the position also decides when the Block is executed.

When your grid is ready, fire a Trigger. The Instruction Pointer runs through your layout and executes every Block it lands on. Control Structure Blocks send it back for another pass, so you can build loops that are very nearly infinite. Stateful Operators keep growing over the course of a run. At some point, the numbers stop making sense.

Adapt on the Fly

Before each Trigger, you pick one of several Runtime Injections. They cost nothing and only last for that one Trigger: some hand you a big multiplier, others add risk in exchange for a bigger payoff. The same grid can score very differently from one Trigger to the next.

Before each run, you choose a Mainboard and two Software Packages. Want to expand your grid and play with routing? Take P2P Networking. Rather gamble on volatile, high-risk Payloads? Go with Botnet Malware. Your picks change what shows up in the shop and what drops, so each run pushes you toward a different build.

Features

• No time pressure: There are no timers and no random events while you build. Take as long as you need.

• 158 Code Blocks: Spatial operators, temporal generators and control structures. Combine them into loops and synergies that break the game.

• Hardware: 13 Mainboards and 5 Software Packages set the basic rules of your grid and your playstyle.

• PCIe and Firmware: Install PCIe components (58) in 4+ accessory slots and pick Firmware (19) that upgrades your whole setup.

• Scripts between Triggers: When execution pauses, use Scripts (18) to boost your Blocks or set up the next Trigger.

Join our Discord to share your most broken builds, report bugs and help shape the game.