TFC2: The Fertile Crescent 2 - Collapse of The Bronze Age

TFC2 is a narrative-driven RTS set during the Late Bronze Age Collapse, where you guide a small group of survivors from settlement to settlement while gathering resources, building villages, researching improvements and protecting the people travelling with you. Its Early Access campaign currently includes 10 missions across the first two acts, with more planned for 1.0. Pros ✔️ The art direction works really well - I liked the old-school pixel look pretty much immediately. It suits the Bronze Age setting while giving the whole thing that classic RTS feel without looking like it actually came out 25 years ago. ✔️ It is VERY easy to learn - Resources, construction, research and combat are introduced simply enough that I could see this being a really good entry point for someone who normally looks at an RTS and sees a wall of menus and numbers. ✔️ I like the narrative approach - Following a family and the people travelling with them gives the campaign more personality than just jumping between anonymous conquest maps. Having the grandmother, children and other civilians continue with you makes it feel like I am actually trying to keep people alive. Cons ❌ The story moves too quickly - I would finally get a village going and start enjoying what I had built, only for the campaign to basically say, "Cool, time to leave." I like having a story, I just want it to give the settlements a little more room to breathe. ❌ The RTS systems are pretty basic right now - That simplicity is great for newer players, but anyone already deep into the genre may find the current Early Access version a bit bare-bones. ❌ I was not live, laugh, loving the food system - Food affects population, armies and progression, so keeping a surplus is a huge part of running a settlement. I understood what it wanted from me, but the way that economy played just never really clicked. Conclusion TFC2 feels like a good place to start if RTS games have always seemed a little intimidating. It gets you building, gathering and fighting without immediately asking you to learn 40 different systems, while the family gives you an actual reason to care about surviving each move. I just wish history would stop collapsing for five minutes so I could enjoy the damn village I just built. Score 7/10 Fallen Settlements - Every time I finally got comfortable, the Bronze Age found another reason to make me pack up and leave.