Splatoon 3 Side Order Is A New Roguelite Take On Splatoon’s Splat-Based Shooting

Splatoon 3 is offering players a new way to paint the town red–or blue, or yellow, etc–in Side Order, a new expansion releasing later this month. Nintendo has released an overview trailer on the mode, which introduces roguelite elements into the splat-based shooter on February 22.

Side Order follows Agent 8, an Octoling who finds themselves in the mysterious Spire of Order. The world is devoid of color, and in order to restore it, Agent 8 must travel through the entire tower, with a new sidekick–who claims to be Pearl from Splatoon 2’s Off The Hook–in tow.

Traveling through the tower brings a new roguelite spin to the Splatoon 3 format, with each of the 30 floors offering different challenges with every attempt–and different bosses on every 10th floor. Players will collect color chips during each run that temporarily enhance their abilities, and at the end of each run, those chips will be converted to a currency which can unlock different–and more permanent–upgrades.

We took the Side Order expansion for a spin in our video preview above, which called it “the perfect excuse to jump back into Splatoon.” The preview also says that the “roguelite take on Splatoon ended up feeling so natural, that we’re kinda surprised it wasn’t already a thing,” as “the pieces have always been there.”

Splatoon 3 is available now exclusively on Nintendo Switch. The Side Order expansion will be available February 22 as part of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass.