Spacecom is a minimalistic game by design. Flow Combine has reduced complicated systems down to their core elements of move, attack, defense, and build. What we’re left with is a lightweight and heavily tactical combat game that rewards and strategy and bravery.

Games consist of battles against up to 5 opponents, where players must gain control over different sectors of the map. Three different types of ships are available for players to build, each with their own unique main function. Battle Fleets launch initial planet strikes and battle other ships, Invasion Fleets capture planets once they’ve been weakened, and Siege Fleets destroy planets to render sectors uncapturable by anyone. Planets may be upgraded to provide a moderate level of defense against future attacks.

Spacecom at its core is relatively simple, it’s possible that players have experienced games of this style before as elements of Spacecom are popular on mobile devices. What sets Spacecom apart from the competition is the vicious multiplayer battles that await those brave enough to venture online. While the campaign missions and skirmishes against the AI will provide most players with an enjoyable challenge, the real Spacecom experience rests in the highly competitive multiplayer lobbies.

After going head to head with the AI for a while, we sat down for some serious space battles against some living opponents. Where the AI is somewhat predictable, real opponents are an entirely different story. My multiplayer opponents were daredevils, kamikaze pilots hellbent on rendering my precious supply lines unusable and undefendable. In 6 player multiplayer combat, battles are happening on all sides of the your base, usually at the same time. Managing resources, defending already captured territory, and capitalizing on your opponent’s weaknesses all seem to happen at an even quicker pace when you’re up against live opponents.

By streamlining the overly complex systems normally found in multiplayer space combat games, Flow Combine has created a game that plays in a very cerebral way. It’s as if they took the best of what makes Civilization so great, and condensed it all down into a much easier to understand package. Don’t let the word Civilization scare you away from Spacecom though, matches don’t last nearly as long as those 12 hour marathon Civ games that you’ve sacrificed so much sleep for.

Spacecom Review Peter Downey November 23, 2014 7 10

Summary: Highly strategic gameplay and vicious multiplayer battles make Spacecom an a challenging experience for gamers of all ages.

The first thing that you must know about This War of Mine is that it isn’t based on any specific real-life war. Instead, the team put in many hours researching various wars in throughout history. Rather than diving into the political debate regarding any specific conflict, 11 bit chose to remain conflict agnostic, and instead tell the human side of war.

Everything began about 2 years ago. Grzegorz Miechowski (founder/managing director of 11 bit) brought an article titled “One Year in Hell” to the office, which was an interview with a man who had survived the siege of a city in Bosnia in the early 90s. That was a thrilling and absolutely moving piece, and a spark that instantly ignited the team to make this game. From then, we’ve done (and are still doing, actually) extensive research on many modern conflicts, looking for memoirs and stories from regular people, civilians. Many of those small stories have been forged into events in the game. Examples are the well-documented siege of Sarajevo during the Yugoslavian war in early 90s; “Robinsons of Warsaw,” which relates to people who survived in the ruins of Warsaw during and after the Uprising of ’44; the great siege of Leningrad; as well as Kosovo and modern Syria.

In addition to the historically-inspired stories, 11 bit studios called upon their own team members, friends, and family to populate the game’s world. Check out this video for a look at how they turned a programmer into a priest.

Additionally, the team has tried to faithfully create a very “human” game, and so have scanned themselves, photographed themselves, made 3D models of characters based on their own postures. The fictional characters in the game are based on them, their friends, wives, colleagues. Anton is based on Mirek, the security guard in 11 bit’s office, who happens to also be a very nice man that became a friend as the team worked on This War of Mine.

Diving into the gameplay is pretty straight forward. I gained control of 3 unique characters (Pavle, Katia, and Boris), all taking refuge from the conflict inside of a war-torn building. Time is quickly revealed to be a very important factor that players must manage throughout the game. Surviving, scavenging, and preparing for the unknown is your goal every single day.

Since daylight is the best time for open conflict between factions, civilians are safest within the confines of their home. Players use this precious time to do the various things that they must, in preparation of a night of scavenging. Early on, I decided the best use of my time would be spent harvesting my own surroundings for precious resources such as bandages, wood, and whatever food was left behind. As the daylight grew dim, I had Katia craft a bed so that at least one of them didn’t have to sleep on the floor.

As night turned to day, I selected Pavle to go out scavenging. Before the war, Pavle was a football (read: soccer) player. His speed on the field might translate into something useful in case things get hairy out in the city at night. As Pavle left for a night of uncertainty, I was left with a difficult decision on just the first night, what do with the others do whilst he was gone. After some thought, I chose to give Boris a relaxing night in the freshly built bed. The other, Katia, was tasked with a long night of keeping watch.

I was offered the choice of a few locations to scavenge for the evening. What exactly awaited me at the building you choose was mostly a mystery. Will there be a glorious stock of exactly what I needed? Or instead, could other, less-than-hospitable, scavengers already be there? As the days went on, I exhausted the resources available closest to me. I was clear that I needed to branch out further.

During one of the nights while Pavle was gone, bad guys broke in and beat up my other 2 characters. They were in pretty bad shape. I needed bandages, medicine, and food. Katia hadn’t eaten in 2 days, not by choice. I had to do something. I gave Pavle as much rest as I could during the day. No matter what, I was coming home with food and bandages for Katia, even if it meant doing something crazy.

That evening, I came upon a quiet house. It looked like this might be a place to get what I needed. As Pavle reached the unassuming home, I peaked through the keyhole for a small glimpse at what might be inside. To my surprise, and elderly man sat comfortably in his recliner. I told myself it didn’t matter. I broke into the house. Alarmed, he rushed towards me, though unable to do anything to stop what I was going to do. As I rummaged through his cabinets, the old man begged me to stop. I had grabbed the last of his food. My bags half full, it was time to head upstairs. His cries continued. “Take what you want, just don’t hurt us” he said. As I reached the upstairs bathroom, his concern became more focused on what I was really after. “Please don’t take our medicine, my wife is very ill”. His pleas were beginning to get to me, but I knew what I had to do. One of mine was sick. Katia would die if I didn’t bring back some medicine, his wife’s medicine.

As Pavle handed out the night’s score and explained what he’d done, it was clear things would never be the same. The food, medicine, and bandages had gotten Katia back on her feet, but at what cost? The guilt of what Pavle had done for her was too much. Katia and Boris were no longer sleeping through the night due to severe depression on account of Pavles actions. Without rest, they couldn’t do what was needed during the day. Any entry in Pavle’s journal reveals his guilt as well. In the quest to stay alive, he and his companions had lost their humanity.

Another night, another opportunity to scavenge. I took Pavle out again in hopes of getting ahead, maybe finding something of value to trade. Instead, as I opened that door, I found my fate in the form of armed Bandits. Pavle never returned home that morning. No food would be on the stove for breakfast, no wood to keep the fire burning. Katia and Boris would never find out exactly what happened to Pavle, he was just gone. Now there were just two of them. Maybe it was better that way, it would be easier with one less mouth to feed.

This War of Mine is easily one of the most powerful and thought provoking games I’ve ever played. Despite this only being a limited preview of the game, I stand here today sending out a simple message to you. Get this game.

This War of Mine is currently in development. The game is scheduled for release on November 14th, 2014 on Steam. Learn more about the game at ThisWarofMine.com

For your PC Master Race purchasing pleasure, click to add the game to your glorious Steam shopping cart. 

SPACECOM tasks players with defending and expanding their territory, all while trying to defeat 5 other players in a duel to the death. SPACECOM features a short single player campaign that also functions as the tutorial. In addition, players may battle against AI opponents in Skirmish mode. The real meat of the game, though, is in SPACECOM‘s Multiplayer mode. Players face off against 5 other opponents, battling against all odds to rule the galaxy.

Rather than dumping all of their resources into creating a game with the most cutting edge graphics around, Flow Combine has stripped down the game to its bare components. The game is decidedly minimalist, though not much as something like rymdkapsel. The beauty in the minimalistic design is that by removing the pomp and flash, SPACECOM‘s focus on deep strategic gameplay is on full display at all times.

Flow Combine has taken a gameplay concept that has been quite popular on smartphones in recent years and expanded upon the basic idea, creating a simple yet highly strategic game. Initially, players start out with a few planets and ships. Each planet may be retrofitted with 3 possible upgrades that enhance its ability to withstand invasions. Planets are categorized as one of 4 different hub types. Some hubs act as mines that provide resources to your empire, others build or repair your fleet of spaceships.

By strategically capturing different planets players can expand their reach in the galaxy and create virtual choke points that block other players from invading deep into your territory. Players have access to 3 different types of ships. Battle, Invasion, and Siege units may used at the players discretion to both attack and defend. Battleships help to offer defense and initiate planetary attacks, Invasion ships act as a planetary strike force to capture the planet, and Siege ships can be utilized to destroy the planet and devalue its worth for your opponents.

How exactly to conquer the galaxy is entirely up to the player, although winning the game will require strategic thinking and a lot of multitasking. Despite not openly displaying damage numbers and other such calculations, SPACECOM still manages to have an air of simulation behind the gameplay. Instead of luck, players will need to depend on their thinking skills to succeed in this corner of space.

With its focus on high strategy, SPACECOM‘s gameplay was impressively addictive. With its launch just about a week away, players will need to wait a bit longer until they can get their hands on the game.

11 bit launchpad took to PAX Prime to reveal their latest publishing project, Jameson The Pilot. Along with a picture gallery, fans can check out a reveal trailer for the game which promises players the ability to be a pirate, miner, trader, explorer, or even something a bit R-rated.

Jameson The Pilot is a space sim offering players the freedom to do almost anything they want. They can be explorers, miners, traders, pirates or even… space bus drivers! Combined with the rich system of customizable ships, guilds and quests, Jameson The Pilot offers a huge world full of endless possibilities.

Everything is served in a beautiful pixel-art graphics and 8-bit music for your visual and audible pleasure. What differs Jameson from other game though, is the approach. The game is all about fun, so you shouldn’t expect huge SAVE THE GALAXY quests. What does it have in exchange? A lot of humor, pop culture references, and cheesy jokes (that’s for sure) while players relax and fly through endless space.

Developed by Rezoner, Jameson The Pilot is coming to Steam Early Access this Autumn. For more information about the game, visit www.jamesonthepilot.com and follow the team on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/jamesonthepilot