Game:

BOID (2015)

Category:

Review

Duration: 8:19

326 views

12

I'm playing BOID, a real-time strategy game by Mokus Games and tinyBuild. Online multiplayer and skirmish games are both free; purchasing the game grants access to the fairly standard campaign mode. There is a map editor, but no randomized maps (there are plenty of maps included, though). The interface could be improved: tool-tips appear entirely too slowly, counters are not indicated on the aforementioned tool-tips, the minimap is useless, and you can’t zoom in or out. Units are unique in appearance, although they fall into general categories (fast, ranged, healer). There are hard counters in the game for the basic units (guns beat crabs beat scouts beat guns) and turrets that can be captured to freeze, fight, or revert enemy units to their basic form. Units auto-attack while moving, but do not move as a group, resulting in a lot of micromanagement. Difficulty in managing units is compounded by the fast pace of the game; typically, one wrong move (such as losing a large battle, or losing units to a neutral location) is enough to do you in, as the AI is adept at the mechanics. While the campaign isn’t really worth the cost, those who can handle simplified, fast-paced real-time strategy games have nothing to lose in downloading the free skirmish and multiplayer modes.