Dead Weight has a jaw-dropping steampunk art direction, and behind that veneer hides a genuinely clever tactics game

Sometimes you fall in love with a game before even playing it, just by looking at it. Dead Weight is one of those. Its steampunk art direction, its pirate ships slicing through the clouds, its suspended islands bathed in warm light, all of it grabbed us at first glance. We love this style, honestly. It remained to be seen whether, behind that sumptuous veneer, there was a real game. The good news is yes.

The context

Dead Weight is a tactical RPG developed and published by Klukva Games, available since 16 July 2026 on PC. The pitch has swagger: in a steampunk world of floating islands, you set the sails of your flying pirate ship and go challenge the ancient gods, exploring the suspended archipelagos in search of loot. You choose a class or create your own, before engaging in turn-based tactical battles. It's a mix of aerial expedition management, plunder and thoughtful clashes, all wrapped in an aesthetic that lands immediately.

The art direction, that love at first sight

Let's start with what strikes first, since it's the heart of its appeal: the style. Dead Weight bathes in a coherent, warm steampunk identity, made of copper, wood, steam and vast skies. The flying ships have personality, the floating islands compose tableaux you want to contemplate, and the whole exudes that poetry of aerial adventure evoking the best sky tales. It's an art direction that seeks not technical demonstration but evocation, and it manages to create a world you immediately want to embark into.

That visual coherence isn't just a pretty facade, it carries the whole game. The universe of suspended islands and ancient gods has a real personality, an imagination that makes you want to explore for the pleasure of discovering the next archipelago. In an independent landscape where so many games look alike, Dead Weight stands out first through that visual soul, that strong aesthetic stance that gives it a memorable identity. You understand why the style jumps out: it's clearly where the studio put its heart.

The mechanics: tactics and build freedom

Fortunately, the game doesn't settle for being beautiful. Beneath the hull hides a real turn-based tactical RPG, demanding and satisfying. The battles require thought, positioning, anticipation, in the great tradition of the genre. But Dead Weight's real strength is its customization freedom: you can choose a preset class or outright create your own, assembling abilities to suit your style. That flexibility opens a wide range of approaches and gives the player the means to shape a team in their image, which is exactly what you want from a good tactics game.

Around the clashes, the adventure loop keeps the interest alive. You explore the floating islands, you plunder treasures, you develop your crew and your ship, and you progress toward the ultimate goal: challenging the ancient gods who rule this world. That expedition structure, where exploration feeds combat and vice versa, gives a pleasant rhythm and a real sense of progression. It's not the deepest or most revolutionary tactics game on the market, but it's solid, coherent, and its class creation brings a welcome replayability.

What we take away

Dead Weight is proof that a strong art direction can be far more than a marketing argument: here, it's the soul of the game, and it alone carries the desire to embark on this adventure. Its steampunk world of floating islands and flying ships is a treat for the eyes, coherent and poetic, and it would almost suffice to justify the trip. But the studio had the wisdom not to stop there: behind that style hides an honest tactical RPG, equipped with a class creation that offers real build freedom and appreciable replayability. It's an appealing, endearing whole.

You just have to approach it for what it is: a solid, beautifully dressed tactics game, not a genre revolution. Its depth won't rival the tactics mastodons, and that's fine, because it isn't its ambition. What it offers, it offers with taste and personality, and for anyone seeking an aerial adventure with an enchanting style and satisfying tactics, Dead Weight is an invitation you accept with pleasure. You climb aboard just for the view, you stay for the journey.

Verdict

A tactical RPG wrapped in an enchanting steampunk art direction, carried by free class creation and a charming aerial adventure: beautiful, solid and endearing.

Strengths:

• A sumptuous, coherent steampunk art direction
• A world of floating islands and flying ships full of personality
• A class creation that offers real build freedom
• An exploration and plunder loop that feeds the tactics well

Weaknesses:

• An honest tactical depth but no genre revolution
• An adventure more appealing than ambitious
• Content that relies heavily on the charm of its style

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Tested on PC.