Möbius Front '83

Mobius Front is a special game, but not everybody will care about it. It's unique. It takes the classic hex-grid Panzer General style of game, which could easily be puzzle-like, and twists that knob far into the puzzle direction. The gameplay is VERY slow and calculated. You will lose units. Recon and caution are crucial. You will get frustrated, but when the game clicks, it clicks. Certain types of units suddenly appear to be much stronger. You realise how much more powerful your arsenal can be to theirs, and you hone strategies on how to crack defensive lines which seemingly appeared impervious. The atmosphere is great. Dashes of Highfleet's diegetic menus, a lurking paranoia and fear, and mysteries that will never quite get resolved linger. It's like World In Conflict's desperation and home turf fears crossed with something like The Twilight Zone. The presentation is genuinely great, such that I would call this artistic in a way that a lot of other wargames aren't. Despite the frustrating shortcomings of the game, it is worth saying that this is a unique product that if you vibe with, you'll really vibe with, and it deserves to exist and especially deserves to be copied and ri…

Somehow, old Red Alert game feel more realistic than this.

Good, basic game. Not to hard. Has mini-games that are fun too.

It's not that I don't like the game, but it's a little too hard for me. I've been stuck on Mission 2-3 and have already replayed it three times. The enemies feel overwhelming, and it almost seems like they're cheating since there doesn't appear to be any fog of war for them. One wrong move can cost you the entire mission. I gave it another try today, but still had no luck. I think this is where I'll end my journey with the game. As for the two minigames, Cribbage Solitaire is difficult but manageable—I was able to win about once every three or four attempts. However, requiring 100 wins for an achievement is just ridiculous. And then there's the Signals Intelligence puzzle, which I never really understood. I had no idea what I was supposed to do or how it worked. Overall, I didn't find the playing experience enjoyable, so I can't recommend the game to anyone else.

A respectable tactics game (hexgrid!), despite being one of the weaker Zachtronic games. On standard difficulty the AI would have generally more resources, so most of the time playing defensively is the best bet. This is exacerbated by the fog of war, doing less damage after movement (not all units can even attack after moving) and random(!) damage numbers. Ultimately, it boils down to deliberate movement and good positioning for a counterattack. I think you can still find enjoyment in this type of "accretionary" gameplay but one particular late game level [spoiler]3-10[/spoiler] really pushes the effeciency you need to wring out of every unit. It definitely can be frustrating at times, especially when the numbers don't roll in your favour, even when you try to play as cautionary as possible.

this game didn't click for me, until I realized that it *is* in fact a zachtronics puzzle game, just with a different language, and switched my expectations accordingly. each level is carefully designed to give you a puzzle, and the tools to solve it. how are you going to hold out with almost nothing until reinforcements arrive? how are you going to blitz through this recon mission before *their* reinforcements arrive? how can I get rid of their artillery so my infantry can survive long enough to ambush their armor? there's a bit of wiggle room to fit your own style, but you *will* need to adapt to each scenario. you need to use all the tools the game gives you, not just what worked last time. the only reason these levels don't have a score tracker like classic zachtronics puzzles do is because maximizing score would involve rng manipulation. the rng is here to shift your focus away from micromanagement, and into strategies that mitigate bad luck. the enemy ai does the same, and you *should* be leveraging that behavior for area denial, baiting, etc. it's a really well designed game, and I wish more people could appreciate it. I don't know if I'm just the perfect target audience…