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spiritual-strategy-game-cantata-comes-to-early-access-in-may Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Spiritual strategy game Cantata comes to Early Access in May

March 22, 2022RockPaperShotgun

Cantata, the upcoming game from Afterschool Studio, is releasing in Early Access on the 12th of May. It’s a turn-based strategy game set during a surreal and futuristic war, where, shocker, the aim is to kill your opponent. The twist is that while you’re building your base in each encounter, you’ll also need to manage logistics. The maps in Cantata are bigger than most other strategy games, so you’ll have to construct a supply chain alongside your army to keep your base expanding. And it’s all wrapped up in a unique and colourful aesthetic too. Read more

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mechajammer-review:-a-broken,-brown-disaster Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Mechajammer review: a broken, brown disaster

December 6, 2021RockPaperShotgun

If I had to describe Mechajammer in a word, that word would be “brown”. A second would be the sounds Joe Pesci makes in Home Alone. When the first few dilemmas you face in an RPG aren’t ethical or character ones, but about whether it would be more tedious to continue with this character or to play through the introduction again, you know there’s a problem. By my third restart I’d abandoned all interest in playing any character I wanted, and started trying to estimate whatever would get this over with sooner. Mechajammer is a disaster. And not only because…

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cantata-is-an-absurd,-colourful-blend-of-advance-wars-and-dune,-with-production-chains-and-tree-squid Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Cantata is an absurd, colourful blend of Advance Wars and Dune, with production chains and tree squid

August 27, 2021RockPaperShotgun

I had my first go of turn-based tactics-’em-up Cantata more than two years ago, when it was barely more than an incredibly shaky tech demo. Even back then, with a build so rudimentary I could hardly fathom how to play it, the game stood out thanks to its astonishing colour palette and its esoteric sci-fi aesthetic, which I described as “Advance Wars with an Ann Leckie glow-up“. Now, with the news that Cantata has a publisher in Modern Wolf, whose portfolio already holds a few games that are up my street, I’ve been given a new build. And this time,…

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ostranauts-is-a-hugely-ambitious-space-game,-but-i-think-it’s-going-to-work Rock,Paper,Shotgun

Ostranauts is a hugely ambitious space game, but I think it’s going to work

September 25, 2020RockPaperShotgun

“This is all just an excuse for me to build a universe, right?” says Daniel Fedor, as I settle in for an evening watching him play Ostranauts. And he’s serious. The sandboxy space sim, which hit early access on September 10th, and which is a sort-of sequel to acclaimed oddball RPG NEO Scavenger, has some properly deep worldbuilding. And I don’t mean deep as in “my D&D setting has a map I did myself, and religions to boot”. I mean deep as in “a spreadsheet just to track the product ranges and distribution networks of fifty-odd manufacturing brands”, which is…

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