Some of You May Die swallowed four hours of our afternoon without us noticing, and its replayability holds up

There's a sign that never lies: when you launch a game telling yourself just one quick match, and you look up four hours later without having seen the time fly. That's exactly what happened to us with Some of You May Die, this roguelike autobattler that devoured a whole afternoon with disconcerting ease. The genre is crowded, the synergies and heroes to stack are nothing new, but when the magic takes, it takes hard. And the real question, the one that decides such a game's worth, finds a reassuring answer here: yes, the replayability is very much there.

The context

Some of You May Die is a roguelike autobattler developed by Octavia Blue, available on PC, iOS and Android since 24 July 2026. The principle lies in quick strategy matches, ten to twenty minutes, where you constantly upgrade your heroes, stats and abilities to survive increasingly chaotic battles, against AI or real players online. The game blends strategic drafting and fast, automated combat, invites you to experiment with a varied roster and to dig up game-changing synergies. The pixel-art dressing, deep upgrade customization, online PvP and multiple modes round out a proposition cut out for addiction. A free demo was already available.

The gameplay: draft, stack, discover

The heart of Some of You May Die is its draft-and-stack loop. You recruit heroes, stack copies of the same character to level them up, and build on the fly a team able to withstand ever more chaotic waves. Combat, itself, unfolds automatically: once the team is arranged, you watch your choices confront adversity, in that gleeful tension specific to the autobattler where everything hinges on preparation. The pleasure comes from on-the-fly optimization, reading synergies, betting on the combinations that will tip the match. It's simple to grasp, hard to master, and fearsomely addictive.

It's on replayability that the game wins you over, and that's fortunate, because that's where all the interest of such a title plays out. Each match is different, with heroes granted random boosted abilities that make each run unique. You constantly mess with combinations: one match might see you flood the battlefield with a swarm of low-level units, while another has you build a tiny squad of absurdly upgraded heroes. That structural variety, fed by the managed chance of the bonuses and the richness of the roster, guarantees no two matches ever resemble each other, and that's precisely what pushes you to relaunch again and again. The answer to our worry is clear: replayability is solid.

What sticks

You have to stay honest about the genre's limits. The roguelike autobattler is a crowded family, and Some of You May Die, despite its efficiency, doesn't reinvent the foundations: whoever doesn't take to the principle of a draft followed by automated combat, that delegation of the heat of action to the AI, won't change their mind here. The pleasure is the very particular one of preparation and optimization rather than direct control, and you have to love watching your choices play out without intervening to enjoy it. It's an armchair strategist's pleasure, owned, but one that won't speak to everyone.

The other reservation is balance, always a delicate ground for this type of game. With a varied roster, numerous synergies and random bonuses, the risk is real of seeing broken combinations emerge that trivialize matches, or runs doomed by a bad draw. The line between jubilant chaos and frustrating imbalance is thin, and the game's longevity will depend on the studio's support to refine that balance over the updates. The generosity of the systems is a strength, but it demands constant attention not to tip into the arbitrary, and that's where its long-term future will play out.

What we take away

Some of You May Die is a fearsomely efficient roguelike autobattler, the kind that swallows an afternoon without you noticing. Its loop of drafting and stacking heroes, simple to grasp but hard to master, offers that addictive pleasure of on-the-fly optimization, and above all, it ticks the genre's decisive box: replayability. Thanks to the random boosted abilities and the richness of its roster, each match is genuinely different, and you relaunch endlessly to test a new delirious combination. For the fan of quick strategy and synergies to tinker with, it's a time-devouring gem.

You just have to love the genre and accept its limits. The roguelike autobattler is a crowded family, and Some of You May Die enriches it without reinventing the basics: whoever doesn't love delegating combat to the AI to focus on preparation will stay away. And its balance, with so many synergies and random bonuses, will need careful support to avoid drift. But on the essential, immediate addiction and solid replayability, it fully keeps its promise. Just one quick match, you said? Better set aside your afternoon.

Verdict

A time-devouring, addictive roguelike autobattler, where drafting and stacking heroes feed a solid replayability thanks to random bonuses: a gem that eats the hours, on a familiar genre.

Strengths:

• A draft-and-stack loop simple but hard to master
• Solid replayability thanks to random boosted abilities
• Numerous synergies and a varied roster to tinker with
• Quick ten-to-twenty-minute matches, perfect for chaining

Weaknesses:

• A crowded genre whose foundations it doesn't reinvent
• The automated-combat principle, which won't speak to all
• Balance to watch with so many synergies and bonuses

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Tested on PC.