We all have big dreams of world domination, but not everyone wants to Civilization experience. Sometimes, we just want to take over the planet without trying too hard! For those times, there are The Battle of Polytopiaa scaled-down version of the usual 4X gameplay we all know and love.
After a brief tutorial, The Battle of Polytopia makes players lose confidence when trying to take over a map full of potential enemies. Players take control of one of several civilizations to try to expand their empire to all corners of an increasingly crowded map. You can play against AI or other players, although online multiplayer is not available for us to test before the game is fully launched.
Most of the action that fans of other series in the 4X genre expect is here. You can build a unit, improve tiles, or explore the map, and there’s a tech tree – like a skill tree – that you invest stars in. You get stars from cities, they generate them every turn.
Unfortunately, because each civilization has access to the same tech tree and quickly generates more stars per turn than they can use, the end of the game becomes frustrating as both sides the rest have the same type of equal strength units. That’s not to say the game isn’t fun in these late stages, but the system lacks any real depth to them and we found each loop more repetitive and lacking in gameplay fun. play first.
Battle of Polytopia feels and plays like an introduction to the 4X genre. Even games on larger maps won’t last more than a few hours unless you end up with a protracted stalemate with your opponent. There’s something fascinating about the balance of the game, where the only real difference between the world leaders is what technology they start with, but everyone learns things too quickly to not There is a lot of potential to build an advantage in this way. They lack distinct personalities that would give the game more characters, with no added incentive to attack anyone who isn’t nearby.
The basic presentation of the game, with stylized polygons representing different units and terrain. It worked for the most part, although we wish there was a way to rotate the camera so that units and buildings aren’t hidden behind late-game cities. The map quickly became overcrowded with units competing against each other to overwhelm well-entrenched enemies, and the art style didn’t interest players at the time.
If you’re new to 4X gaming, we might find this a gentle introduction to a genre that’s often overwhelming. There’s certainly enough content here to keep new players interested, though for returning veterans it probably won’t scratch the itch for more than a couple of hours. For them, the Battle of Polytopia would be a brief distraction and little else.
