Borrow or Rob Demo

Hi everyone, I am the solo developer behind BoR. During the demo and Early Access periods, I will be updating the game according to the schedule below. I would highly appreciate it if you could join our Discord to share your feedback on balance, suggestions, and bug reports.

Thank you so much for playing BoR!

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Time is a weapon. And it runs backward — at you.

BORROW or ROB is a sci-fi roguelite deckbuilder steeped in 1990s analog tech — a hand-drawn, '90s-illustration "used future" (cassette-futurism, not neon) — built around one idea: time inversion. This isn't a simple rewind — every boss battle is a palindrome.

⏳ One Battle. Fought Twice.

• Phase 1 (Forward): You fight normally. But the formidable boss enemies are attacking from the future rewinding time backward.

• Phase 2 (Inversion): Get hints while phase1, You can rewind the time and revenge them with your own strategy.

What your enemy will do is already written. The only question is — how will you use it?

🤝 BORROW, or ROB

It's a palindrome.

You can borrow resources from the past of yourself.  -or, your enemy robs your past.

Greed versus survival, every single turn.

🎴 Analog Combat the AI Can't Hack

In a world ruled by the Pantheon AI, the human resistance — The Ghost — fights with 1990s analog tech the AI can't infiltrate. Your cards are software, encoded like punch cards.

• Dual-Lane Tactical Board: Position, distance, and melee vs. ranged all matter on a 1D battle line.

• AP / BA Resource System: Attacks and skills cost Action Points; movement costs Bonus Actions — a dual-resource system inspired by BG3.

• Color Archetypes: Each agent has a unique color identity. Build around synergy keywords — Kinetic, Corrosion, Execute, Override, Sync.

☠️ Bosses That Bend Time

Every boss is a puzzle with one unique time-inversion mechanic. Observe its pattern in Phase 1, then decode it in Phase 2 — one locks your position, one splits itself apart, one reverses its own artillery system. Each boss demands a different read.

🔧 Even Death Is an Asset — the B.O.R.R.O.W. System

Win or lose, every run earns Points. Invest them in a permanent skill tree that raises your baseline power for every future run — borrowing strength from past timelines. The roguelite meta-progression mirrors the game's core theme.

🌐 The World

The Pantheon AI has declared humanity obsolete. Future descendants stole Pantheon's time-inversion tech and sent it back to the past — a device called BORROW or ROB. The Ghost's final goal: reset the Pantheon AI, and end the war between human and machine.

Features

🔄 Palindrome time-inversion combat — fight every boss battle forward AND backward

🃏 The BORROW vs ROB choice — tension on every reversed turn

♟️ Position-driven dual-lane tactical board

🎭 5+ unique agents with distinct color archetypes

📈 B.O.R.R.O.W. skill system roguelite meta-progression — grow stronger even when you lose

Steam Demo Roadmap.

Committed to delivering the following updates:

• Phased implementation of 2.5D combat backgrounds

• 6 new time-inversion boss fights (bringing the final total to 13)

• Sequential release of 2 new agents:

  • Ward: A defense-focused agent

  • Echo: An agent who manipulates time

• Official Discord channel launch for balance and gameplay feedback

• Bi-weekly balance patches (every Wednesday and Saturday)

• Bi-monthly new content drops (twice a month)

• New card additions designed to create powerful synergies across different agent archetypes

• New equipment items

• New random events