History VideoGame / IntoTheBreach

** Jessica Kern is more than a little reminiscent of [[Literature/ChildrenOfTime a certain grumpy human scientist with a deep mistrust of miraculous visitors from elsewhere & a vested interest in terraforming a planet that is host to both humans and bugs]].

''Into the Breach'' is a turn-based tactics game of mechs versus giant monsters from Subset Games, the creators of ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight''. It was released on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} in February 27, 2018.

* InTheFutureHumansWillBeOneRace: Implied. Several of the Time Travelers are ethnically ambiguous, and while the randomized generic pilots' faces are [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic hidden behind their helmets]], the latter often have {{Multiethnic Name}}s, suggesting that humanity's remnants have become culturally blended.

* MultiethnicName: Many of the randomly generated generic pilots use names from a wide variety of cultures, to represent how cramped and intermingled humanity has gotten.

* SingleUseShield: Both energy shields and freezing work this way - one hit, regardless of how much damage it would do, will harmlessly dissipate the shield/shatter the ice and free the unit within, respectively.
* SkillScoresAndPerks: Reactor cores serve as perk points, being required to activate mech weapons and their upgrades. They're part of the game's loot system, and can be found in time pods, chosen as rewards for completing all optional objectives on an island, or purchased using Reputation after saving an island.

* StatusEffects: Burn does damage every turn; ice prevents a unit from moving or attacking, but will also nullify one hit, shattering in the process; and A.C.I.D. doubles all damage they take directly from mech weapons or Vek attacks.

* WaistDeepOcean: Water will only reach up to the knees of Mechs and Leader Vek, despite being enough to drown regular Vek (which are visually the same size as the leaders), and the side profile of the water being a complete wall of water without any ocean floor visible.

** [[spoiler:

* BoringButPractical: Upgrading a mech's starting weapons often works just as well if not better than getting newer ones, as they are designed to synergize well with each other which gives them an advantage over a new weapon that might seem stronger at first glance.

* ArtificialStupidity: The AI is actually quite good, but one weak area is its target prioritization. It tends to randomly select between any viable target, those being a civilian building, a mech, or a frozen ally. This results in buildings getting immobilized, mechs being targeted by precision attacks they can just step away from, or frozen Vek being freed on the final turn. Sometimes, you'll even get two Fireflies targeting the same mech from opposite directions, meaning that they'll shoot each other when your mech casually strolls out of the way. This is likely intentional, as SpitefulAI would increase the difficulty substantially, and it gives the impression of the Vek really being mindless beasts that only know how to AttackAttackAttack. Some of the squads (particularly Steel Judoka) are designed from the ground up to take advantage of this.

* AfterCombatRecovery: All damage on your Mechs is healed after every battle, but the [[ZigzaggedTrope power grid's health persists]].

* AmmoUsingMeleeWeapon: The Prime-class weapons Titanite Blade, Mercury Fist and Fissure Fist all do significant damage but can only be used once per battle, or twice with an upgrade.

* AllThereInTheManual: There’s a tremendous amount of backstory hidden in the game files that cover the lives of each character before the Vek arrived, as well as the reasons they chose to become pilots in the first place. During the span of the game, however, only a small amount of this information is divulged in dialogue. This is most prominent with the [[spoiler:secret pilots, with all of them having extensive backgrounds that are completely obscured by the alien languages each of them speak.]]

** If all your mechs are disabled in battle, the mission immediately ends with all objectives failed, but without any additional power loss, giving you a chance to recover.

** The insta-kill tentacles in the final mission will not spawn on a tile the Renfield Bomb is sitting on.
** The challenge run objectives only require surviving three islands, meaning players don't have to go the 4th island, whose Vek are almost always their Alpha versions.
** In a mission with a Time Pod landing, the player is warned that they should save it as soon as possible before the Vek get to it, but despite that, the Vek will never intentionally target it or move into the pod's space. It can only be destroyed by a Vek multi-tile attack inadvertently hitting it, the player knocking an enemy into the tile or getting it hit by a weapon.

* TimeRewindMechanic: You are able to travel back to the start of a turn once per mission, letting you correct any mistakes you may have made.

* DegradedBoss: During the Final Battle, one Leader Vek appears during the second phase of the mission, with another one spawning during the first phase depending on difficulty and island completion. Additionally, in Unfair mode, Leader Vek will naturally spawn during missions on the fourth island. All are optional targets, and will be [[OneHitKill One-Hit Killed]] by hazards.

* DeadlyDodging: If a beetle is attacking a mech positioned in front of water, you can get the mech out of the way and cause the Beetle to [[SuperDrowningSkills charge right into the water and drown]].

** The Bombermechs in ''Advanced Edition'' really suffer from this. Your only mech that can push is also your main damage dealer, Bombling Mech has to sacrifice either damage or body blocking utility each turn with its Bomblings, and Shift Mech really suffers when most or all the Vek attack in the same direction. All of their most useful upgrades also cost at least 2 Reactor Cores.

* HundredPercentCompletion: If you unlock all 55 achievements, you are rewarded with an additional mech squad.
** Averted in the ''Advanced Edition'' update. The squad in question can now be unlocked at any time, (but will probably still be unlocked last due to requiring 25 coins when the next-most expensive squad costs FOUR), and you only need 65/70 achievements to unlock everything.

* AmmoUsingMeleeWeapon: The Prime class weapons Titanite Blade and Mercury Fist both do significant damage but can only be used once per battle, or twice with an upgrade.

** In a mission with a Time Pod landing, the player is warned that they should save it as soon as possible before the Vek get to it, but despite that, the Vek will never intentionally target it or move into the pod's space. It can only be destroyed by the player knocking an enemy into the tile or getting it hit by a weapon.
* AnyoneCanDie: If a mech loses all its health, it is disabled and cannot be used until the next battle. The pilot, on the other hand, will die if you don't have the Medical Supplies passive ability (or the Invulnerable pilot skill, if you're playing with ''Advanced Edition'' on).

* ArmoredCoffins: Unless your squad has a mech equipped with Medical Supplies, if a mech loses all its health, the pilot will be killed.

* BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame: Most abilities let you push enemies around and make them hit each other, or push them on top of tiles and block more Vek from spawning.

* DegradedBoss: During the Final Battle, one Leader Vek appears in the first phase of the mission, and another appears in the second. Both are optional targets, and will be [[OneHitKill One-Hit Killed]] by hazards.

* DynamicDifficulty: You can play the islands in any order, and they get progressively more difficult as you go. This only changes which Vek you encounter, though, and the complex weather effects of the islands are still present regardless of what order they're played in.

* EmergencyTemporalShift: When the islands run out of power and are overrun, your pilots escape the Vek by opening a breach and going back in time. [[spoiler:Also done when winning the game after successfully defending the Renfield Bomb. There's not enough time to run away from the explosion.]]

** Played straighter as of the ''Advanced Edition''. Several of the new squads, pilots, and weapons feature abilities that trigger when killing a Vek, meaning that if you have one of those abilities, who kills each Vek becomes a much more important thing to keep track of.

* RewardingVandalism: Breaking open glowing mountains makes them drop beacons, which can be stepped onto to call in the secret pilots.
* RobotWar: Zig-Zagged. Pinnacle Robotics missions have you fighting both Vek and berserk A.I. weapons. However, it's implied that the island is mostly inhabited by non-hostile A.I., and the enemy robots are just as likely to target the Vek as they are your units.

* UnlockableContent: Completing achievements gives you coins, which you can spend to unlock new squads. Unlocking every squad reveals [[spoiler:the Secret Squad, which requires you to complete every remaining achievement to buy.]]
** Unlocks are slightly more forgiving as of the ''Advanced Edition'' update, due to the new squads coming with new achievements and the unlock costs of some original squads being reduced. It's now possible to unlock everything while still missing five of the achievements.

* WaveMotionGun: A sufficiently upgraded Burst Beam eventually becomes this, covering the full length of the map and dealing heavy damage in the first 2-3 squares.

** Averted in the Advanced Edition update. The squad in question can now be unlocked at any time, (but will probably still be unlocked last due to requiring 25 coins when the next most expensive squad costs FOUR), and you only need 65/70 achievements to unlock everything.
* AchievementSystem: There are global achievements and squads specific ones. Each achievement earns a coin which is used to unlock new squads.
* AfterCombatRecovery: All damage on your Mechs are healed after every battle, but the [[ZigzaggedTrope power grid's health persists]].

* AfterTheEnd: The world has already been largely destroyed by rising sea levels, but an invasion of building-sized alien insects threatens to destroy everything else that's left. At the beginning of a new profile, the latter has also already happened which prompts the only survivor to go back in time to try again. The entire game is about hopping between various timelines to try and defeat the Vek invasion.
* AllThereInTheManual: There’s a tremendous amount of backstory hidden in the game files that cover the lives of each character before the Vek arrived, as well as the reasons they chose to become pilots in the first place. During the span of the game, however, only a small amount of this information is divulged in dialogue. This is most prominent with the [[spoiler:secret pilots, with all of them having extensive backgrounds that are completely obscured by the alien language each of them speak.]]

** The insta-kill tentacles in the final mission will not spawn on a tile the Renfield Bomb is standing on.

* AnyoneCanDie: If a mech loses all its health, it is disabled and cannot be used until the next battle. The pilot, on the other hand, will die if you don't have the Medical Supplies passive ability.
* ArbitraryMissionRestriction: All battlefields have optional objectives to gain reputation, reactor cores, and grid power. Completing every optional objective you can on an island earns you an extra reward. You can, of course, ignore any of these that are too difficult.

* BigRedButton: The [[SelfDestructMechanism Self-Destruct weapon]] is represented a a red button with yellow and black hazard stripes around it.

* DynamicDifficulty: You can play the islands in any order, and they get progressively more difficult as you go. This only changes the Vek though, and the complex weather effects of the islands are still present regardless of what order they're played in.

** An odd case with the Volatile Vek, which is still hostile, but if it's killed will render an entire area uninhabitable. Fortunately it has a robust 4 HP and only deals 1 point of damage. Unfortunately it can be a nuisance by webbing up your mechs.

* FriendlyFireproof: Averted hard. Your fellow mechs and buildings are not safe from your weaponry, but on the plus side, neither are the Vek from each other. Pushing a Vek into another's attack range is a viable strategy, and sometimes it's necessary to hit your own teammates for optimal play. Some weapons come with FriendlyFireproof upgrades, however.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: Frozen Vek don't count as being killed. However, this means that having only frozen Vek on the map will trigger Vek fleeing lines on a victory, despite being unable to flee.

* GenreDeconstruction: To {{Mecha}} and {{Kaiju}}, especially on collateral damage. The main objective of the game involves trying to avoid damage to buildings (residential blocks and power plants), not only for a sense of morality but also to make sure to have electricity running as destroying buildings will reduce the grid infrastructure that runs your Mechs.

* GuestStarPartyMember: Some missions have you commanding additional units along with your squad, such as a pair of tanks, a terraformer, an ice tank or an A.C.I.D. launcher.
* HardModePerks: The Unfair difficulty in ''Advanced Edition'' is, well, unfair, but all grid restoration are doubled, allowing you to afford a few civilian casualties.

** All Mechs are able to spend a turn regenerating 1 HP, while also removing any debuffs.

* HeroInsurance: The gameplay intentionally averts this as almost the entire goal of the game is to prevent the destruction of various buildings. You often get rewarded for protecting specific buildings and allowing too many buildings to get destroyed will lose the game. You don't even have to kill any of the Vek to win a battle, just last long enough and prevent them from destroying building, meaning it's often worthwhile to let your Mechs soak up hits to keep the buildings from being damaged.

* HoldTheLine: Your only true objective in battles is to survive enough turns and not lose so much grid power that you need to abandon the current timeline. Everything else, including killing Vek, is optional (although killing Vek is a common bonus objective).

** Played straighter as of the Advanced Edition. Several of the new squads, pilots, and weapons feature abilities that trigger when killing a Vek, meaning that if you have one of those abilities, who kills each Vek becomes a much more important thing to keep track of.

* AMechByAnyOtherName: A rare [[InvertedTrope inversion]]: All of your mechs are called mechs, even the ones that are clearly tanks or jets.

** Friendly buildings have a very low chance of resisting damage, but collecting power over the limit and certain pilot abilities increase this resistance. It's very difficult to get it beyond around 30% though, so it can't be relied on.

** The Stabilizers passive allows mechs to completely ignore the damage from surfacing Vek.
** The Armored quality reduces all weapon damage by 1, which is enough to entirely prevent the damage of most basic Vek and many starting weapons. The Hook Mech and Judo Mech start with it, as does pilot Abe Isamu.

* SuicideAttack: The Self Destruct weapon instantly disables the mech using it, as well as [[OneHitKill instantly gibbing any nearby vek.]]
* TechnicolorToxin: The A.C.I.D. fits the bill as far as being "dangerous green liquid", but interestingly it doesn't inherently do any damage by itself - just make anything that steps in it or get covered in it extra vulnerable to damage, since it negates armor and causes all weapon hits to do double damage.

* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Volcanic Hive is the final level of a run, containing lava hazards, a second, underground phase, unique enemies and tentacle abominations.

** Unlocks are slightly more forgiving as of the Advanced Edition update, due to the new squads coming with new achievements and the unlock costs of some original squads being reduced. It's now possible to unlock everything while still missing five of the achievements.

* EmergencyTemporalShift: When the islands run out of power and are overrun, your pilots escape the Vek by opening a breach and going back in time.

* All islands save Pinnacle have a mission where you must protect a train from being destroyed by the Vek as it moves across the map.

In 2022, a surprise announcement for ''Into the Breach: Advanced Edition'' was dropped, a free update adding a whole load of new mechs, weapons, pilots, and challenges. It was released on July 19th, 2022.

In 2022, a surprise announcement for ''Into the Breach: Advanced Edition'' was dropped, a free update adding a whole load of new mechs, weapons, pilots, and challenges.

* LastLousyPoint: You can get 54/55 of the achievement coins on lower difficulties, but getting the last one (and unlocking the Secret Squad) requires a victory on Hard.

''Into the Breach'' is a turn-based tactics game of mechs versus giant monsters from Subset Games, the creators of ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight''.