Whale Hammer Games released their turn-based, tactical RPG called Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire. The new game follows a 20-year-old princess who is thrust into a position to protect her kingdom from invading forces. Players must gather their party of willing mercenaries and go to war against the invaders.

Whale Hammer’s title was originally crowd-funded on Kickstarter and managed to garner a decent following thanks to its art-style and the use of rotoscoped animations. If you’re a fan of games like The Banner Saga or the original Flashback or Out of this World, you’ll likely enjoy what Whale Hammer has brought to table with Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire.

Players will lead up to 20 characters into battle across multiple skirmishes with the Astral Empire. Given Tahira’s limited resources it’s up to players to tactically utilize the soldiers in guerrilla warfare-style tactics. The objective is to fight to the last breath using any and every possible option to your advantage, including ambushes and traps.

Peter Castle, the lead writer at Whale Hammer Games, commented in the press release about the game becoming available on Steam and the Humble Store, saying…

“With the fate of her people in her hands, Tahira must come to terms with the responsibility of her birthright and find the strength within herself to lead her people to safety,” “Tahira is an epic turn-based tactics homage to the games we grew up playing that puts you in the shoes of a people who have had their home taken from them.”

There are a variety of environments to battle across, four different difficulty levels, and an art-style mirrored after Studio Ghibli’s Princess Mononoke and 1990s American comic books. It reminds me a little bit of Prince Valiant as well.

The entire campaign takes place over the course of a single night, and Whale Hammer is promising up to 10 hours of gameplay for the title.

If Tahira: Echoes of the Astral Empire sounds like the kind of game that fits right up your alley, you can get your hands on it from Steam, GOG.com or the Humble Store for only $14.99. For more info feel free to visit the game’s official website.