Gem Wizards Tactics

Game Wizard Tactics is an okay turn-based tactics title. There's some fun to be had with the combat due to fun synergies and environmental interaction. The factions are pretty different and have interesting units and abilities. The main issue is that the game is very one-note: there's basically one map layout, one map goal, and so it's very similar fights over and over. Beyond that, for every good feature there's one that feels half-baked. The combat AI is mediocre at best - the difficulty comes from the sheer numbers of enemies on each map. Leveling your team feels like it does too little, the permanent upgrades are very few, and the interface is not great either. You unlock factions, but also get access to every faction's units in every shop and rescued unit, so it doesn't matter much which faction you pick. Things just don't click together in terms of game design the way that some of the best titles in this space have. If the team re-thinks some of the weaker points for their next game, a future title could be a classic. There is potential here, but it's not entirely realized.

Unique movement mechanics that give a fresh breath of air from games like Fire Emblem. Cool solo dev endeavor, and the polish alone makes it worth the full $15. Infinite replayability with ranked mode as well

This is a short and sweet tactical game. The synergies between the different factions and wonky combinations are the main selling point. That and how short matches are. It is only single player, and not concerning itself with balance. I wouldn't expect much of a challenge either. $15 USD seems pretty steep, as it won't engage tactical junkies for more than a few hours. I'd say get it on sale.

Exceedingly good and long-lasting gameplay value for those with limited time--each match lasts anywhere from 20-30 minutes at most. The player factions are varied and fairly balanced from my limited exposure of each. Gameplay is simple at first glance, but the synergies among units adds deep, tactical and surprising complexity to the Advanced Wars-like formula. About the only thing that would add value to an already enjoyable game would be at least two or three more player factions, but the developer has already hinted that this is a possibility. Could we get a robot faction please? There is something of a story mode in this game, with the world's lore established early on during the tutorial and progressively emerging through story tidbits gained through the collection of "Omni Gems", which serve to fuel player units' special abilities as all as add to the game's backstory compendium. For those who simply wish to play without much storytelling in the way, something of a custom mode exists in Mission Mode whereby a play may customize the difficulty of a match, select their faction as well as terrain and how unrelenting the A.I.-controlled enemy faction becomes in seeing to your defeat. Overall the difficulty curve in this game is quite forgiving. At higher difficulty levels, however, the game scales quite generously for those inclined to a challenge and could be made exponentially more difficult given the player's ability to choose how often enemy reinforcements spawn into the game to hunt them down. Conclusion? A great game for thinking players with limited time to play games.

Wait for a sale. "Into The Breach" if it were far more ambitious but still it is an overall worse game. Did not go far enough to give a game like this a fair thumbs down though I don't expect it gets better. It generally gives you what is advertised and what you expect but none of it was fun to me. Didn't crash or have any issues launching the game or jumping into the action. Also comes with replay value but that would only matter if your first playthrough was fun.

VERY good game along the lines of Into the Breach

The story and theme is about as subtle as a brick but it has a lot of charm and the occasional line did make me laugh. The gameplay is a very interesting mix of traditional hex based unit combat, unit special abilitys and terrain manipulation. Unit placement and ability usage tend to be much more important than unit stats in this game, which tends to lend a more strategic style of play rather than just "Bigger number wins". Also each faction is meaningfully different in both theme and play. The mix of graphic styles is a bit odd, about 2/3's of the game is very well designed pixel art and the rest is mostly high fidelty minimalism. It clashes.