Early Access single-player titles have not been very kind to me these past few months. They would usually consist of very lackluster early chapters that I would be better off experiencing in the future, even though certain pervasive issues did not fill me with optimism for the full release either. Fortune’s Run, thankfully, is not like that. Launching with a single mission that lasted me six hours of playtime, I came out of the experience with even more excitement for the future of the project.
The game’s most eye-catching aspect is its aesthetic: first-person, 2D character models, 3D environments. It is pixelated, shadowy and grimy. Harkening back to the titles that birthed the term “immersive sim,” Fortune’s Run simultaneously flaunts the creative freedom characteristic of the indie scene. Entering each new room feels like walking right into a promotional screenshot; the detail, lighting, and art direction are all just that good.
As mentioned, Early Access has just one mission available so far (though the previously released demo is also available through the main menu). It is set on a derelict space station overtaken by criminals, using the base as storage for cargo and for illegal food-growing operations. A piece of worldbuilding right out of Deus Ex: Invisible War. How screwed up is this world if agents are sent in to destroy food supplies not governed by mega-corporations?
But that is your role. Mozah is a convict, ex-freedom-fighter, who is hired by a food company to run dangerous missions, all to shorten her sentence. This thread is established very briefly, after a tutorial section set inside a dreamy world. The green mountains and wooden structures clash with what follows: a short but explosive cutscene, a prison, a cell. Quick hits of information follow, the five-month-long travel to the location of the first mission, and the initial impressions of a giant, gray object floating in the darkness of space.
You may not realize it at first, but the station is constantly spinning. When you walk out onto its surface, trying desperately to find a way in before freezing to death, you can see the rings you will be traversing. This would be exciting as a setpiece alone, but it also plays a part in the level design: Mozah will die upon contact with a spinning object. This, alongside turrets and zappers, prevents intruders from infiltrating the facility with ease.
It becomes apparent soon after that Fortune’s Run’s visuals are not limited by first impressions. Green terminals and overgrown plants, red laser bullets, various posters, and direction markers of different colors—these small touches add beauty to the station without ever making it feel welcoming or safe. The atmosphere communicates the looming danger without ever feeling drab. You realize you want to move quietly and carefully, but know that there are also possibilities to be found, secrets that provide you with exciting advantages, just like the bits of brightness breaking through the cold metal.
The many different discoveries provide a great sense of variety and complexity, and Fortune’s Run‘s player message system helps during moments of uncertainty. All of that is amplified by every action requiring an extra step or two. These small, seemingly unimportant extra clicks and presses all come together to create a sense of engaging with the world purely through the character. Mozah has to apply bandages to wounds on different parts of her body through a real-time animations or remember and input codes and computer commands by hand. These sorts of things slow the pace down a lot, but I found them welcome.
Fortune’s Run has a lot of well-hidden secrets, the combat can get overwhelming, and even stealth has some extra mechanics to it like slide-kicking. There are a lot of UI elements on the screen at all times, the maps are confusing to navigate. It is just a lot to wrap your head around at any given time, and these tangible moments provide a good opportunity for the player to focus and retrace their steps a little.
Taking a look back made me realize that this location often did not feel like it was designed for a game, but nevertheless it was incredibly satisfying to traverse using the options provided to me. Finding a path to any goal always takes a good while, but I always felt incredibly satisfied when I reached one. Then, onto another. It was constantly stimulating, no action felt like a sure-fire solution, and even now I am itching to see what else the game might have in store.
This feeling of traction between the player and the game defines these sorts of experiences. Moments where it feels like the characters are more important than the player, the world does not want to be traversed, or things do not click with each other. Deus Ex has a useless swimming skill, shooting never feels certain even when fully upgraded, and non-lethal approaches are often unnecessarily difficult to pull off. All that does not change the fact that it is one of my all-time favorites.
There are some aspects I would like to see improved or expanded upon though. Some enemies could seemingly see through walls, so that is a big one for stealth. Enemies when look at from above or below may be barely visible due to their 2D nature, which can also make them difficult to spot. As for combat, the melee duels feel clunky, with it being somewhat difficult to not end up past an enemy after a knife combo. The kick appeared to be a bit too powerful, so perhaps it is worth preventing the player from performing it during attacks. Lastly, the bosses tend to get stuck in an animation after getting hit without a way to retaliate.
I would also love to experience the movement options in a more open, chaotic environment. Though bunny hops are present and discussed in the game, I found little use in moving faster than my sprint speed so far. The most creative use of movement in the whole stage was jumping off a wall and crouching to get to a higher ledge. Not that impressive. The player may forget about the possibilities at their disposal if they are not implemented often enough.
There are also a few accessibility questions, which the developer seems to be aware of. Right now the font is a bit difficult to read, which sucks because there is a lot of reading. Thankfully, there are plans to add a universal font down the line. There are also several sliders for different aspects of combat when starting a new game, but difficulty options are unnecessarily condescending, with the character portrait snoring while picking the easiest one.
All that being said, I am already very satisfied with the purchase of what is one of the best spy missions I have played in a long time. Upon finishing it I realized there is a potential of several more of these down the line, ones that could be of even better quality. I stopped myself from going too far into the demo mission because I want to experience it in the full release, but it seemed to already have several new things to offer.
I will be following Fortune’s Run’s development closely, as the planned release date for the full version is currently the end of 2026. That is a long way to go, but if this is merely a taste of what is to come, then the end product should end up among my favorites for any year. Stylish, engaging, and incredibly promising, it has all it takes to become truly timeless.
Mateusz played Fortune’s Run with his own bought copy.
