Crush Your Enemies

It's pretty safe to say no one has ever played an RTS quite like this one -- and not just because of its deeply juvenile sense of humor (which, with enemy names such as "Pissy LaPoop," is pretty hit-and-miss). Few -- if any -- other RTS games let players sit down, start accomplishing stuff, and having fun with minimal instruction in only a couple of minutes. In this sense, it has more in common with a mobile game such as Angry Birds than it does something like Command & Conquer. More impressive is the fact that the controls are very simple -- for example, the Nintendo Switch version can be played with one Joycon. It's surprisingly responsive since you don't need to make rapid motions with the controller, meaning that you're free to focus on defeating your enemies instead of getting lost in complex controls. There's a risk early on that this simplicity will negate any sort of satisfying strategy, but as the game moves on, players are forced to work out key strategies, such as carving the most efficient paths through enemy territory and flanking foes with warriors while archers keep them pinned down. Tactical thought is required.

But it does feel at times as though we're forced into a specific set of tactics -- especially if you want to accomplish all the bonus objectives. The small maps, limited unit types, and specific success criteria -- such as time limits -- often conspire to limit our options. You'll need to work out what the game's designers want you to do rather than come up with your own original strategies. Still, there's hardly time to grow troubled by this when most missions last only a few short minutes. It's easy to just keep clicking for the next mission until the wee hours of the morning. It may not be perfect, but Crush Your Enemies forges interesting new ground within a tired genre.