If you love games that blend genres in surprising ways, Masters of Anima is an easy recommendation to check out right now—especially at its current price. This action RPG and real-time strategy hybrid is currently discounted by 85% on Steam, dropping it to around $1. The deal runs until January 19, making it a great time to grab it if you’ve been curious about something different from the usual hack-and-slash formula.
Masters of Anima takes place in the vibrant fantasy world of Spark. You play as Otto, a young apprentice learning the powers of Anima. As a Shaper, Otto’s key ability is summoning magical guardians and commanding them in battle. The story kicks off when his fiancée is kidnapped, pushing him into a conflict tied to the golems controlled by the dark Shaper, Zharr. The narrative hits familiar fantasy beats and largely serves as a framework for what the game does best: fast, tactical fights where you’re constantly juggling offense, defense, and positioning.
What makes Masters of Anima stand out is how it merges action-focused character control with strategy-driven unit management. You move Otto directly while commanding up to 100 guardians at once, which can include melee fighters, ranged attackers, and other specialized unit types. You can group units and place them where they’ll be most effective, and success depends heavily on managing your Anima energy and choosing upgrades wisely—for both Otto and the forces you summon. Boss battles are a major highlight, pushing you to multitask under pressure as attack patterns shift and the battlefield turns chaotic.
Visually, the game leans into a colorful comic-style look with smooth animations and unit designs that are easy to read even in busy encounters. While the stages are mostly linear, there are optional routes, collectibles, and light puzzle elements to break up the action. There’s some exploration, but the main appeal remains the pace and intensity of strategic combat.
Reception has been solid overall. A Swiss gaming outlet scored it 75/100, applauding the charming world and engaging gameplay while pointing out weaknesses like the thin story, straightforward level structure, and occasional control clunkiness during hectic moments. Steam user reviews generally echo that balance, with about 79% positive feedback from more than 400 reviews. On Metacritic, it holds a 74 Metascore, while the user score sits at 5.3 based on a much smaller number of ratings.
Originally released in April 2018 by Passtech Games in partnership with Focus Entertainment, Masters of Anima normally sells for around $7 on Steam. With the current 85% discount bringing it down to roughly $1 until January 19, it matches the lowest price it has reached in the past (even though this deal has appeared before). If you’ve been looking for a budget-friendly strategy RPG with real-time action and a unique summoning-and-commanding twist, this is one of the easiest low-risk picks on Steam right now.
