The game's unique properties begin with your cursor, which does not exist in as a pointer icon but as a walking, talking mouse. Stop arguing-you can both have the ferrets Say 'hello!' to the first RTS game that legitimately works with a standard gamepad (and even shines as a split-screen versus battler). Say 'goodbye!' to zillions of hotkeys and skill trees. The resulting game sees players face off in asymmetric explore-and-exploit battles that add speed, accessibility, and surprises (along with cute and, uh, cannibalistic critters) to the RTS world. It's as if three-man studio Pocketwatch Games looked at the mouse cursor in RTS games, made a joke about turning it into an actual mouse, and then called their own bluff. In short, you could click a little less, and otherwise, you were still tied largely to the same gameplay systems and faction differences (aside from some significant rhythm-shifting changes).īut what if a StarCraft sequel, spin-off, or shameless homage took the entire game formula apart, then put its LEGO pieces back together to make a new, more approachable shape? No RTS game in the past two decades has reimagined the genre quite like the incredible Tooth and Tail, a years-in-the-making project from IGF Award winner Andy Schatz. StarCraft II thought it had the secret to delivering a truly accessible version of its predecessor. The original game's troop-management battles are unmatched in terms of balance, so the sequel directed more attention to QoL tweaks like resource management, unit assignments, and movement pathing. Links: PlayStation Store | Steam | GOG | Official website Platform: Windows PC (reviewed), Mac OS, PS4 Game details Developer: Pocketwatch Games

Steam charts tooth and tail