Totally Accurate Battle Simulator

TABS is technically, a real time strategy combat game. At its heart though, TABS is actually a puzzle game. A wonderful, goofy, real time strategy based puzzle game. The graphics are charming and the wacky nature of the combat engine lends itself to laughs. Don't be fooled though, the googly eyed models and simple colors belie the challenge that the game has to offer. The game is seemingly simple, you are presented with a map, an opposing team, and a simple goal of defeating every other unit of the opposing squad.

Each map in the campaign outlines where you may place your units, an overall resource limit for that map, and the available units you may select for battle. The game also allows you to see the enemy force, where the enemy force is placed, and your available placement field. The game does not give you direct control of your units, you place the units and watch them go about their mostly serviceable pathing/combat routines. What the units do/how they fight is largely left to trial and error. Some units like the Archer and the Stoner are easy to intuit, whereas Zeus, the Monkey King, or the Da Vinci Tank take some experimenting.

The challenge of the game's campaign mode lies in the restrictions and changes of each level. Some levels only allow you to select a single type of unit, others only let you pick a certain type of faction, and sometimes you are only given a very limited amount of "points" to build a team to overcome the enemy units.

Sometimes your units will fight on a wide open plain, or maybe there will be a cliff with a single bridge leading to a choke point. Some levels feature a city with narrow hallways and sometimes there's a wide open pit directly in the center of the battlefield.

Often, the battles would go down to the wire, one final unit vs the enemy, leaving me with bated breath as I prayed for a victory. Then I would watch that last unit wander directly into an open hole and fall to their death. After a light hearted chuckle (and some internal screaming) I would restart the battle and try again for a better outcome.

In certain battles my (mediocre) machine crawled to a single digit frame rate which rapidly improved from the demise of my units or the enemy teams. It is understandable, given that the game was sometimes calculating what 100+ individual units are doing, moving, or dying all at the same time.

All in all, the game is satisfying for the same reason that I save scum my XCOM turns. For me, the fun is all about optimizing and maximizing each and every battle. Here are your constraints, here is what you're facing, how will you overcome this situation. It is great fun to poke at the systems, exploit AI tendencies, and figure out what units will get the job done. You look at the pieces of a puzzle that the game has given you, and you arrange the pieces until the picture comes together. Sometimes you get it on the first try, other times you slam your head into a wall for an hour. Once you get it right though, the feeling when the last piece slots into place is incredibly satisfying.

The campaign has multiple "worlds" to clear and some can get frustratingly difficult. But if the robust campaign mode gets too difficult, you can always go to sandbox mode to blow off some steam. Set up a team of cowboys with Raptors then pit them to the death against as many pirates and ninjas your system can handle. The game is a blast and I can't recommend it enough.