Steam's Latest Freebie Is a Turn-Based Shmup About Chasing Dragons for Drinks

Every so often, Steam drops a new free-to-keep game — yours to claim and keep, no strings attached. Coming from varying levels of quality, you'll find previous Overwhelmingly Positive–rated games to even niche titles, but this time around, we have a brilliant genre mash-up that may have gone under the radar.

NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics is exactly what it advertises itself as, and even that's selling itself short. Become a pilot of the Bastards Federation comprised of all manner of fantasy races (Elves, Humans, Dwarves, and Orcs), and chase the Dragons (not literal, but also not NOT literal) across the world to recover the stolen Beverages.

As the Bastards Federation shared love for all things Beverage, it's time for you to head on out there and ensure that you can recover all of the stock from the Galaxy, and you'll do so by engaging in turn-based tactics gameplay that also mixes in shoot-'em-up, bullet hell, and a bit of Chess, because why not?

The mixture is praised for its seamless introduction of turn-based tactics with bullet-hell in a gridded map. Move your ship around to deal damage and avoid the bullets coming from hordes of enemies, complete objectives, and then utilise the next JUMP point to go to the nextprocedurally-generated location.

Here's what you can expect from NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics:

• Turn-based gameplay mixing in shoot-'em-up.
• Fast-paced rounds with no long wait times, perfect for bite-sized matches.
• Fight across procedurally generated worlds.
• Pick from seven playable ships.
• Equip and upgrade your ship to change it to fit your playstyle.
• An in-game manual like classics of yore.

It's a genius mix-up of titles that's been praised in the Steam reviews, currently sitting at Very Positive with 69 total ratings. You can save £3.99 on NEXT JUMP: Shmup Tactics until the 1st of July 2025.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Games claimed through free-to-keep promotions don't drop cards. Bear that in mind if you're an avid card farmer or trader.