Spirit Cleansers

A priest, a warrior, and a ruined estate full of demons

Spirit Cleansers is a free tactical grid-based combat RPG developed by students at Breda University of Applied Sciences, following a priest and a warrior as they battle spiritual demons haunting a ruined estate, alternating narrative dialogue between the pair with turn-based tactical encounters. This review draws on the full English review sample available at the time of research, 16 reviews out of 16 total rated Positive, 14 positive against 2 negative, a near-unanimous sample this review reads alongside a similarly favourable 19-review all-language total.

Praised near-universally for its striking watercolour art direction

The dominant theme across this review's sample is admiration for the game's distinctive visual identity. "If 'Into the Breach' was a watercolour painting, you'd get this game," writes one reviewer, drawing a comparison other reviewers echo independently, while a separate reviewer simply calls it "so beautiful." A third writes "the artstyle is super unique and interesting," and a fourth praises "the amount of research and attention to detail on the art side." This review reads that convergence, reviewers repeatedly reaching for the same enthusiastic language around the art specifically, as strong evidence the game's visual presentation is its standout achievement.

Praised repeatedly for satisfying tactical combat

A second consistent theme is genuine appreciation for how the game's grid-based combat plays. "The combat was strategic, and I loved the two characters and all their drama," writes one reviewer, while a separate reviewer independently notes "some clever combat mechanics" despite finding certain rules initially unclear. A third describes the battles as having "just the right amount of complexity to make them engaging" within the game's small scale. This review treats that as fair, specific praise, since reviewers consistently point to the tactical decision-making itself, not just the presentation wrapped around it, as genuinely satisfying.

A fair, heavily corroborated complaint about the game's very short length

Set against that praise, this review found a heavily corroborated complaint about how little of the game there currently is. "A very short (~1.5 hour) but sweet turn-based combat game," writes one reviewer, noting "the only true downside is that it's just so short." That sentiment repeats across the sample almost verbatim: a separate reviewer writes "my only complaint is that there isn't more of it," while a third independently states "there is so much potential for more scenarios" and hopes to see the project continue. This review treats that as fair and genuinely corroborated: reviewers spanning the sample's full range of enthusiasm all land on brevity, rather than quality, as the game's central limitation.

A fair, corroborated complaint about rough onboarding and unclear mechanics

This review also found a fair, corroborated complaint about how the game introduces its systems. "The combat feels satisfying although a guide would be nice in the first battle to quickly grasp how it works," writes one reviewer, while a separate reviewer independently describes confusion over unclear rules, such as an attack that could hit "enemies" including a bell object, while a different attack that also targets "enemies" could not, alongside confusion about how movement points were spent between the two playable characters. This review reads that as a fair, specific critique of the tutorial and rule clarity rather than the underlying combat design itself, which reviewers otherwise praise consistently.

A fair complaint about minor technical rough edges

This review also found a fair complaint about technical polish. One reviewer reports the game pushing their "CPU to 30-50%," notably higher than other, more demanding titles they own, while a separate reviewer reports the game failing to launch entirely, even after verifying game files and reinstalling. This review's own check of Steam's global achievement data found a comparatively gentle decline from 50.1% of players completing the onboarding tutorial down to 28.6% earning the game's hardest achievement, consistent with reviewer reports of a short experience that most players who begin are able to see through to some meaningful stopping point, minor technical hiccups notwithstanding.

A note on this review's confirmed student project

This review confirmed Spirit Cleansers is a genuine student project, developed by students at Breda University of Applied Sciences and published under the university's name, offered entirely free. This review weighs that context directly when reading reviewer praise: multiple reviewers explicitly frame their positivity in terms of what the game achieves "for a student project," a fair and relevant standard that this review also applies when assessing its short length and rough edges as understandable limitations of scope and budget rather than failures of a commercial release.

Final verdict

Spirit Cleansers is a gorgeous, satisfying free tactical RPG that this review found genuinely impressive for its origins as a student project, credited near-unanimously for its striking watercolour art and well-designed grid-based combat. That praise is tempered by a fair, heavily corroborated complaint about its very short length, alongside fair complaints about rough onboarding and minor technical issues. For fans of tactical combat and distinctive art direction, it's an easy recommendation purely because it costs nothing; just go in expecting a short, polished taste of what this team could build with more time and budget behind them. This review also weighs how many reviewers explicitly wish for the project to continue beyond its current scope, several framing their glowing praise as an argument for the team to find a way to expand it, a genuinely rare outcome for a free student release and one this review reads as a strong sign of exactly how well its short runtime lands with the people who play it through to the end.