Brotato is an indie rogue-lite arena shooter curently in Early Access. This game sees players in control of a fighter potato on an alien planet. Players can choose one of many playable Brotatos, all of which can wield up to six weapons simultaneously to annihilate hoards of enemies that stampede towards them, gunning them down with ease.
Despite its simplistic appearance and mechanics, Brotato can be hardcore. It features some frantic gameplay as the player must fight to survive through several intense 60-second waves to make it to the final boss fight. New players may initially struggle with the intensity, but here are some beginner tips and tricks for Brotato.
Updated July 10th, 2023: Brotato is a deceptively simple release that actually has quite a bit of depth to it once players start to peel back the layers of gameplay. There are tons of items to collect, characters to unlock, and weapons to find. To better help new players and beginners conquer this unique survival game, the following Brotato guide has been updated with even more Brotato tips and tricks to help players complete successful runs. These Brotato strategies are perfect for anyone just starting out that wants to get a jump on the action and set themselves up for success in later waves.
8 Activate Manual Aim
Brotato is similar to Vampire Survivors in that they are both top-down arena shooter rogue-lite games. However, Brotato has one setting that differs from Vampire Survivors. If players glance through the menu options, they will see that they can toggle manual aim.
Brotato's default will see the player firing with an auto-aim. This can be helpful in some situations, but more often than not, the player will end up aiming at a distant enemy or missing entirely. It may be better to toggle manual aiming to allow for more precision and direction when aiming at enemies with the cursor. However, this decision is entirely down to the player's personal preference.
7 Avoid Corners
All of Brotato's maps are square-shaped with four corners. As the waves become progressively harder, players may find it increasingly difficult to avoid the massive hoards of enemies swarming around their position. As a result, players are advised to kite around in circles to avoid getting too close.
That being said, while frantically moving around the small map and avoiding the bullet-hell-style elements, it can be easy for players to accidentally back themselves up into a corner with no escape. This will inevitably lead to death, so players should avoid staying in corners for too long and should keep moving to improve their survivability.
6 Save Any Fruit
Occasionally, an unappealing green fruit will drop from enemies or trees. These are called Life Fruits and are one of the few methods of self-healing in Brotato aside from the Life Steal and Health Regen stats. It can be tempting to pick these up at full health, but players should avoid them as it will be a waste of resources.
If the player is injured, these Life Fruits will magnetize towards the player's position to heal them. It is best to gather and save these Fruits for emergencies, as they don't provide much healing.
5 Pay Attention To Characters And Starting Weapons
There are an array of characters to play as in Brotato, with a small handful that players can choose from at the start. New characters can be unlocked by progressing through waves and beating runs but players still have a few options to sift through when just starting out. It's important to study each character (or at the least give each of them a try) to see which one fits the best. What works for one player might not work as well for the next, so it's important to experiment with playstyles. The same goes for weapons, and players should be sure to check out each weapon, looking at its strengths and weaknesses before undergoing a run.
4 Look For Synergy In Items
There are a lot of random items to be found throughout each run of Brotato but some of them synergize much better than others. New players should be sure to check each item available meticulously and seek out items in the shop that will synergize well with what they already have. While it make not seem like it on the surface, there are quite a few useful combos that can be created by pairing certain items together. Although Brotato seems like a deceptively simple wave survival game from the fringe, it's actually got quite a bit of depth to it and it will reward players who are reading and focusing on each item, stat, and weapon.
3 Don't Underestimate Turrets or Landmines
If players get turrets or landmines as one of their potential item choices, they should make sure to buy them. Both Turrets and Landmines will randomly spawn at the blue crosses at the start of a wave. Turrets are a bonus weapon in the players' arsenal that can help clear the battlefield. Landmines are also an excellent zoning tool. If players are being chased by a massive group of enemies, they can easily kite them into a landmine.
Aside from the default, which is a useful weapon, there are other variations of the turret available to purchase. For example, a Medical Turret is extremely useful for keeping the player topped up with health if they get into serious trouble.
2 Pay Attention To Stats
Like most games of this ilk, stats are extremely important in Brotato. Players must pay attention to their stats and what they are building towards with each item upgrade. Some stats are self-explanatory, while others are harder to understand. For example, players may not realize that the Dodge stat gives them a chance to avoid taking some damage, even if they walk through a crowd of enemies. All weapons and items are one of four rarities: black (common), blue (rare), purple (epic), and red (legendary).
Players can increase their stats by looking at the weapons and item keywords in the shop. Each item will have specific positive stats for the player and sometimes a negative modifier to balance it out. Depending on the Brotato they have chosen, the player must consider their combat build carefully. Some characters are built for melee, while others are better with ranged weaponry. Certain stats will either hinder or help them in future waves. Regardless, Speed is always a good stat to maintain distance from rampaging enemies.
1 Changeable Difficulty
Difficulty elitism is a problem many rogue-like games face. Some gamers that can tackle harder games display degrees of snobbery towards other players who may struggle with difficult games. Luckily, that is not an issue in Brotato. This title features adaptive difficulty adjustments that can be altered to suit players of all calibers.
Many new players may not realize this, but the difficulty of Brotato can be tweaked in the settings — and it's more complex than choosing between easy, medium and hard. The settings featuresoptions where players can change the enemy's speed, health, and damage, so the experience can be adapted to fit the player's individual needs. If the default settings aren't enough and the player wants more of a challenge, they can max out these settings at their own risk.
Brotato is available in Early Access on PC.