The Backwoods

Overview

The Backwoods is a rogue-lite action game where players take on waves of enemies in a top-down survival format. You choose a hero, each with specific stat modifiers, and dive into combat to earn coins, collect gear, and make it to the next wave. The gameplay is structured around short, high-intensity sessions with permanent progression between runs.

Players manage resources during each wave, deciding when to upgrade or hold off for stronger items. Over time, this progression shapes how far you get in each run and how well your hero can handle tougher levels. It’s designed to be straightforward to pick up but challenging to master.

Game Lore

The world of The Backwoods is powered by the Eldertree, a massive energy source that keeps the land alive. Long ago, it was protected by Lord Malachar, but his obsession with the tree’s power led him to make a deal that changed everything. Corrupted by a dark spirit, he turned against the very world he once guarded and became known as “Malachar the Cursed.”

Now, players fight to protect Nightville, a village on the edge of the chaos, and stop Malachar from draining the Eldertree completely. One of those fighters is Viktas, a character from a digital world who accidentally lands in The Backwoods through a rift between dimensions. With no way back and no memory of how he got there, he’s forced to adapt and help defend this strange new realm.

Gameplay and Features

The Backwoods is a top-down action rogue-lite where you take control of a hero and fight through waves of enemies. Using keyboard controls or a mobile joystick, you move, attack, and gather coins dropped by monsters. These coins are used to buy gear between waves, adding a layer of decision-making on whether to upgrade immediately or save for better items later.

Enemies attack from all sides, and each wave becomes more difficult than the last. The longer you survive, the more loot you get, and the stronger your character becomes during the run. Upgrading at the right time can make the difference between surviving another wave or starting over.

Throughout each run, players can collect items and access the shop between waves to gear up for the next fight. Weapons and items come in five rarity tiers, and if you collect duplicates of the same level, you can merge them to create stronger versions. You’re allowed to carry up to six weapons at once, so choosing the right combination becomes part of your strategy as the difficulty ramps up.

The in-game shop gives you a chance to refresh the item list, but re-rolling gets more expensive each time you use it. This forces you to think carefully about when to spend your coins and when to hold off for better options later. It’s not just about reacting to what drops during combat, planning your builds between waves matters too.

Chests sometimes appear during waves, and if you manage to pick one up, it opens automatically once the wave ends. You’ll then have the option to keep the item or sell it for extra coins, which adds a small but meaningful layer of decision-making to each run.

Each time you start a game, it costs 5 VIT. Your VIT refills back to max every day at UTC 24:00. While this limits how many sessions you can play in a row, it also encourages smarter use of each run and makes progression feel more earned.

Heroes

Before starting a run, you’ll pick a hero from nine different races. Each one offers unique passive traits that can shape how you approach combat and progression:

• Spirit – Can equip an extra weapon, allowing for more build options mid-run.
• Ignis – Applies burn damage to nearby enemies at regular intervals.
• Tonitrus – Gains bonus attack damage based on movement speed.
• Cyborg – Comes with higher engineering stats, boosting the performance of deployable tools like towers.
• Turing – Deals increased damage as critical hit rate goes up.
• Undead – Starts with higher base attack damage than other races.
• Orc – Has higher base health and armor, and gains extra damage when max HP increases.
• Elf – Faster attack speed and better dodge chance, favoring mobility-focused play.
• Human – Slightly improved armor and luck stats for better survivability and item finds.

Game Modes

The game offers two difficulty modes to choose from, depending on how much of a challenge you're looking for. Normal Mode follows the standard progression curve, making it a good starting point for most players. If you're up for something tougher, Hardcore Mode raises the stakes by making all enemies stronger. It also gives you a 20% bonus to your score and adds extra firepower to enemies like Chomper, making survival a lot more demanding.

NFTs and Blockchain

One of the key features of The Backwoods is its use of player-owned assets, with Hero NFTs being the core of that system. These heroes aren't just collectibles; they are the characters you actually use in the game. Each Hero NFT belongs to one of nine races, and each race has its own stat modifiers that influence how your runs play out.

In addition to Hero NFTs, other items and gear can also be earned, upgraded, or traded with other players. The game’s economy runs on two tokens, $LEAF and $SEED, which are rewarded through gameplay. Because assets are stored externally and not locked within the game client, players have full ownership over what they earn, collect, or choose to trade.

5. How to Get Started

1. Visit the official game website and launch the game.
2. Choose your hero from the list of 9 races. Each one plays a bit differently.
3. Start a run in either Normal or Hardcore mode.
4. Use “WASD” to move, “E” to interact, and mouse click to attack. On mobile, use the on-screen controls.
5. Survive waves, collect coins, and upgrade gear to last as long as possible.