BattleTech

What's good about BATTLETECH?

I'd like to think I have good taste, but sometimes it's harder to pin down what makes a game great than it is to understand why it's great. There are so many original IPs which are fine, but it's obvious that BATTLETECH knows exactly what it's doing with its setting, gameplay, mechanics, and STORY! It doesn't take much sleuthing to figure out that BATTLETECH is a tabletop game and has been around for a while like Warhammer. BATTLETECH is a science fiction universe about extra-planetary warfare, but unlike 40k it is not an unending pit of extremism and misery - it's got a generally positive vibe.

It manages to stand out from other strategy games I'm into by its simplicity, breadth, and depth of story. There is a difficulty curve, but the game is not particularly hard and most of the challenge comes from dealing with the consequences of the battles you're fighting. Once you wrap your head around the scheduling system, it's pretty easy to turn the difficulty up (take less money for contracts and run your ship with lower morale). Even then I've been managing to stay operating, complete multiple missions in a row, and not taking long breaks to heal and repair my mechs. Battles have immediate consequences that can be game-ending (I've reloaded a few saves) and the timeline system seems a general improvement over alternative turn-based systems.

BATTLETECH fires on all cylinders. For fans of the tabletop game, this must be a huge success, and I admit that my interest is piqued, primarily by the writing. I'll also admit that I spent a week developing a database to track my company's statistics and financial performance before I even played the game. It's just the right amount of information to lend itself to that type of analysis, and I'm thankful for the opportunity to work with it. There are datasheets available on Reddit and intend to follow up with a post on my progress. I finally took a break to play the game a bit, and I'm happy I did because I'm hooked.