Triverse gives the player control of a drone made of triangle parts moving on a hex grid. Low-level gameplay resembles a grid-based bullet hell roguelike, where the player dodges incoming projectiles while looking for vantage points to fire back from.
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A few parts are key for this gameplay:
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Thrusters give drones the capability to move. Movement options are visualized as a light shadow indicating where the drone can move within one turn. Larger drones have more grid cells and more mass, which reduces the available force and movement options unless compensated with additional thrusters. Small, fast-moving drones can more easily evade torpedoes and other projectiles because they have more options. Momentum is also a factor, where movement or rotation in one direction can restrict movement in the opposite until a turn has passed.
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Torpedoes run along a linear path and inflict significant damage, but they travel at only a moderate speed and can be dodged. Enemy drones equipped with torpedoes and firing at the player create a grid-based bullet-hell experience. Avoiding bullets entirely is often possible with enough maneuverability and low bullet density, but the harder decisions come from situations where all available moves inflict damage and the player must choose a part to sacrifice.
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Cannons can fire at arbitrary cells within their view frustum in a single turn, but they have probabilistic behavior that means they can hit or miss depending on the distance and relative velocity of targets. Although the decision of which cell to target could be interesting to players, to avoid micromanagement cell targeting is currently not an option. Instead, the player can maneuver in a way to allow cannons to fire at desired targets, trusting that the targeting AI is smart enough to pick valuable or vulnerable targets. Compared with torpedoes, cannons offer less interesting gameplay, but they provide a way for players to focus entirely on movement while still inflicting damage on enemies.
Other parts include slow-moving mines, EMP bursts, and beams, all of which have their own unique behavior and interactions. With lots of effects active on the map, no move is perfectly safe, and the choices might be whether to take damage or an EMP hit which disables parts temporarily. The goal is to create a complex, dynamic map for the player to navigate, and actual map terrain may not even be needed except to contain or funnel the action.