Möbius Front '83

TL;DR: "Puzzle" game disguised as a military Turn Based Strategy game. Cheating AI that sees through the fog of war, RNG damage mechanics and imbalanced unit rosters makes the game a trial-and-error slog. Would not recommend. Really wanted to like this game, given it ticks all the boxes for me - Military themed, Grid based TBS, interesting setting about an "unknown" enemy, but I just cant. I even took a year long break and came back to it today, but everything about the game just rubs me the wrong way. Between the omniscient AI that knows where all your units are, at all times (legit makes ambushing them near impossible), RNG based weapons (2-6 damage - you either do 0 damage to the tank, or you one shot it), and a roster that heavily favors the AI (E.g. AI gets a fast moving move-and-shoot Anti Tank Vehicle, all of the player's ATs require setup, or doesn't move as far (the Patton) ), it makes it very hard to want to keep playing the game. Every mission is a slog where you inch slowly, grid by grid, leaving no gaps in your defenses to force the AI to fight you "fairly". The moment you make any sort of mistake in positioning, or leave a weakness in your line, the AI will immedia…

Good stuff, especially if you like slower turn-based strategy games. Moving your units around, figuring out positioning and dealing with different weapons gives you plenty to think about without making everything overly complicated.

My only negative zachtronics review I'll ever give - and actually, it doesn't even look like a bad game! BUT, it's seemingly unplayable entirely on modern macbooks, and because zachtronics is defunct, looks like I wont be able to play

More puzzle than wargame. If you love Zachtronics' other stuff, you'll like this.

this game rocks but abrams tanks are op in multiplayer. if anyone wants to pvp shoot me a friend request

Möbius Front '83 is a bit different from most other Zachtronics games; it's not a puzzle game. That said, it almost feels like one. You're given a great deal of agency: You get to choose which units to deploy and where to place them. By careful positioning and efficient use of terrain you can whittle down the enemy units over time even in a disadvantaged position. Individual attacks often come down to dice rolls that can be quite swingy depending on luck, but the game is balanced in a way that you can make a few mistakes and still come ahead. Most of the time. There's a fun puzzle minigame where you intercept enemy communications as well as Cribbage solitaire, which you have to beat 100 times to get the achievement. Oh joy.