Recent reviews by Barcel

On the surface, looks like a lightweight production management game. And it is. But if you are willing to delve deeper (and you kinda have to if you want all the high scores), there are prices to manipulate, side-effect manipulation, income/expense management and more.

Enough to get sucked into, espcially if you are a Factorio (or similar) fan.

Since it was released some time ago, it gets very good deals on sales - grab it, you'll not be disappointed.

(revieved with DLC installed, as it's mandatory in my opinion)

I'm a bit the fence regarding this game, so hear (read?) me out:

For a first time, the game is great. Mech combat is turn based, complimented by initative (smaller, faster mechs act first in a given turn) and is very enjoyable. Weapon selection is appropriate for the time period (with a little variation from weapon quality). There is quite a lot to do between battles - fitting mechs, leveling up pilots and managing your team's finances - and none of it feels "grindy". Campaign & story is also quite decent and long (it's play at your own pace - though there might be some grind, as you need good mechs and weapons for major story missions). So overall, it's a great experience that I would recommend.

BUT.

After over 70hrs of playing (whole campaign, some MP matches and couple failed sandboxes) BATTLETECH starts to get... stale. Missions, while still varied (plain assault, assasination, convoy escort) almost always require to eliminate all enemy mechs. This is not always a bad thing, but gets repetitive quickly. On top of that, later missions go from usual "quantity over quality" to "quality + quantity", which means enemy fields more than double of your mech lance's combat worth. It feels unfair, and forces you to use only the heaviest mechs near the end of campaign, and that in turn gets rid of variety. Overall, the feeling of unfairness is a problem for this game.

Don't get me wrong - it is a very good game and I would gladly buy it again for the first time. Just be advised that it can get tiresome. On the upside, mod support is pretty good, so that may put some spice for you.

Severe case of "out of the box thinking".

It's a mind-bending, cerebrum-melting puzzle game, where the premise is quite simple: every rule that defines the level is also a part of the level itself and can be interacted with.

The consequences of the above are massive - I wholeheartedly invite you to delve into this game and see for yourself (and have your head scorched from intense thinking).

DEFINITELY recommend.

Another great Zachtronics game that - as other people stated - seems to combine Spacechem and Opus Magnum. The DOS-like graphics are suiting the game nicely. But the biggest upgrade since Spacechem is freedom in puzzles - no more broken reactors or waiting 4 levels for sensor tiles - every action is available basically from game start.

Only downside is it looks short - 3hrs and I've beaten half the levels. Though user created content and optimizing your own processes should keep you entertained.

EDIT - Other half of levels is significantly more difficult. And there is another, user-made campaign already, so above mentioned downside about shortness is no longer valid.

Well made little game, very good, stylish visuals. Great for 30, relaxing sesions.

In this MASSIVE strategy, you don't operate with "this unit will cost X amount of resources", you get "this unit will cost X amount per second". You don't stockpile, you just produce and expand - in almost every other game UI tells you how much stuff you have and then how much you get per second/minute, here it excatly opposite.

Then there is scale - half a thousand unit on battlefield is considered normal, even below standards at some times.

Got get this game, get Forged Alliance Forever (community multiplayer service) and get immersed.

Are you sick of being a "natural-born-hero" in every shooter. Do you want to shed the plot armor for some olive drabs? Try Foxhole.

There are no heroes here, just bodies thrown into the mincemeat that is an all-out war. You start with a pistol and a hammer, you drop both of those, get a rifle and try be grain of sand dropped in the cogs of enemy war machine.

Or you grab your friends (or just someone nearby willing to cooperate) and join a armored squadron as a tank driver.
Or grab a bulding vehicle to build a forward artillery outpost
Or get a everpresent truck and run logistic missions to ensure advantage of your team.

Possibilities are almost endless and every action in this game is done by players, for or against players.

Do you know Life is Strange? Did you enjoy it?

If that's the case, then buy this game, you will not be disappointed.

It's a fresh take on "conquer the world" strategy - instead of massive armies, there is capital, instead of tactical decisions you must choose which goverment to pamper to get favours with it.

The dystopian-cyberpunk setting is nice, even with very basic graphics it's quite immersive.

What it lacks is replayability, playthoughs feel too similar to each other. But for this price, it's a worthwhile pick.

Stellaris has come a long way since release, and while it was a bumpy road - current result (I will not say end result, since I hope this game will still be developed) is amazing.

Only few other games can claim the sheer addictiveness, Factorio or Witcher 3 - you can get sucked into managing your stellar empires so hard not only you will miss your bed time, but actually miss the sundawn after a night of frantic overexpansion, ideology wars and crisis management.