Energy Tanks

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"Energy Tanks" is a badly made 2D minimalist top down arcade tank brawler not that different from that ancient Atari 2600 game. It's from Digipen, the game dev school there, who really should be ashamed of themselves, because they've come up with some really decent games in the past... and this, apparently. I guess if I was teaching game development, the first thing I'd teach them is that in 2023, gaming PCs were considerably more capable than Atari 2600s, so you should make games for gaming PCs, and not Atari 2600s. I guess DigiPen and I will have to agree to disagree on that point. What do you do in the game? Well, in this top down shooter, you move around and you shoot the other tank. Avoid the barriers. Don't get shot. Try to stay awake. Oh yeah, the Atari 2600 game this is ripping off was simply called "Combat" and it came out in 1977, the same year Elvis died and Star Wars went into the cinemas. This game features very lacklustre minimalist "art" for graphics instead of anything remotely contemporary. I'm sure the "developer" thought this would come across as "artistic", but it doesn't, it comes across as "really lazy". Yes, contemporary 3D graphics take a lot of …

Energy Tanks is a compact, arena-based competitive shooter that builds its entire experience around local multiplayer and tightly focused mechanics. Developed by Pawsable Studio and published by DigiPen Institute of Technology, it clearly carries the DNA of a student project—lean in scope, direct in execution, and centered on a single core idea rather than a broad set of systems. That idea is simple but effective: two players in a confined space, controlling tanks, outmaneuvering each other while interacting with defensive systems and ricocheting projectiles. The gameplay revolves around one-on-one matches in small, enclosed arenas where positioning is just as important as aiming. Each player is protected by energy shields that are sustained by generators placed around the map. This adds an immediate layer of strategy, as victory is not just about landing shots but about dismantling the opponent’s defenses first. Players must constantly decide whether to go on the offensive, target shield generators, or reposition to gain a better angle. This structure gives matches a back-and-forth rhythm, where control of the arena shifts depending on how effectively each player manages both off…

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