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I don't usually write reviews, but I saw how many negative reviews this game was getting and had to throw in my two cents, since this is already one of my favorite games I've played this year.
Overland is an excellent rougelike strategy game. It's a blend of puzzle, tactics, and survival, with randomly generated levels and permadeath. It is very difficult, but the mechanics are tightly balanced. You'll encounter many situations seem impossible to overcome at first, but with clever tactics and the occasional sacrifice you can consistently make progress in this game.
At its core, Overland is about risk management. Extremely dangerous enemies and very limited resources and inventory space mean every decision matters. Holding onto this medkit could be invaluable further down the road, but night is falling, and grabbing that flare might make all the difference at the next stop. If I can hold out one more turn I can siphon a little more gas from this generator, but I'll need to make some noise, drawing more monsters out that could block my escape route.
I would compare this game to 868-HACK or Into the Breach. The enemies are very predictable and slow, but arrive in overwhelming numbers. Survivors have random perks, and each piece of equipment has one well-defined purpose, so deciding what (and who) to take with you can have a huge consequence on what situations you can deal with later on. It's all about picking your battles.
Each level is set on a small grid with some monsters and loot scattered around. As soon as you arrive, you are being hunted, and every turn is precious as more and more monsters emerge from the ground. Your goal is to escape as quickly as possible, grabbing as much fuel and useful equipment as you can before being overwhelmed. There are a myriad of different ways to approach any situation--you might distract monsters with one survivor while others scavenge, or try to block their path by pushing obstacles in their way or by setting fire to some brush. If you have weapons you can stand and fight, but fighting is noisy and attracts even more enemies. Two hits from a monster are fatal to any of your survivors and just one will leave them crippled until you can find a first-aid kit to heal them, so be careful.
Between levels, you choose from one of a few nearby destinations to visit. You might go looking for equipment, survivors to join your party, or gas. And gas is everything in this game. Some areas are further away, and consume more fuel to travel to--so as much as you would like to take that side road into the desert to look for tools to repair your car, it might not be worth the cost. If you find yourself in a particularly dangerous area, you can always keep driving without even getting out of the car, just hope that when you run out of gas you're not stranded somewhere even deadlier.
I also love the art direction in this game. The beautiful visuals and animations, combined with great sound design result in an atmosphere that is somehow both serene and unsettling.
The biggest issue I've encountered so far is the lack of a tutorial. The game is pretty confusing at first and gives you absolutely no guidance. The strange inventory mechanics take awhile to get used to, and it's not clear at first which obstacles are breakable, movable, searchable, etc. Fortunately, there is an undo mechanic, so as long as your actions don't reveal new information to you (like searching a container or revealing a dark area of the map), you can undo your move and try something else. In the beginning you will probably die a lot due to misunderstanding the mechanics, but you're meant to die and replay the game many times, so I don't think it's that big of a deal. The game is exploratory in its nature, so I actually like that you don't instantly know exactly what enemies and items do the first time you encounter them--it's up to you to experiment and figure it out yourself.
And yes, the game is very hard and you will die a lot and have to start over. Dying won't hinder your progress through the game though, because after you complete each 2-5 level long section of the game, you can start your next new game from the beginning of that section. There are 7 sections in total (as far as I can tell), each with varying environments and enemies. Personally, I really like the roguelike aspect of the game because it makes sacrifices like leaving a survivor behind that much more necessary and impactful, and the randomly generated levels give the game a ton of replayability.
Overland is not for everyone. If you're not interested in roguelikes or turn-based tactics games, you won't enjoy this game. But I've only played it for a few hours and can already tell that this is a game I will come back to over and over again.