In this strategy game not-so-subtly inspired by the Russian Revolution, animals fight one another in order to avoid becoming food. There is a twist, however: You aren’t just a mouse, but the mouse cursor. By waving your flag, you rally your troops, tell them to attack specific targets, or move them across the randomly-generated maps. This is the most major way Tooth and Tail toys with the standards of the RTS genre, but a lot of other tweaks have been made. For example, your production structures activate automatically once you gather enough food, with each acting as a population building and barracks all at once. Instead of matches taking upwards of 20 minutes, the median time is roughly 7, and a starvation mechanic kicks in to make sure things don’t drag on excessively without collusion.

This probably sounds horrible. In practice, though, it’s great. As a veteran of countless strategy games, being able to see what your opponent is focusing their attention on opens up a new and unique level of mind-games, and being unable to effectively manage multiple forces at once allows every unit and tactic a chance to shine. As for the campaign, I cleared it in about 8 hours before a patch reduced how hard some of the most difficult missions were (Howling Veil, The Hungry Face a Stiff Wind, and one of the last missions in the game whose name escapes me being the biggest standouts). It is a story with ups and downs, and while it’s a little paint-by-numbers, the finale is an excellent payout that echoes the reality of civil war. Returning to a hub between missions allows you to gain insight into the game world, a setting which definitely has merit enough to be explored further. When you’re done with the campaign (or choose to skip out on it), split-screen and online multiplayer are available, allowing you to test your mettle in FFA, handicap matches, team games, and traditional 1v1.

With a meta that continues to evolve with several semi-regular tournaments and consistent balance patches, accessible gameplay that can appeal to everybody from those who grew up on Age of Empires to gamers who have never built a base before, and a surprising amount of character, Tooth and Tail really surprised me earlier this year. I certainly got my money’s worth out of it, but if you aren’t sold just yet, it’s probably better to wait for a sale.

In this strategy game not-so-subtly inspired by the Russian Revolution, animals fight one another in order to avoid becoming food. There is a twist, however: You aren’t just a mouse, but the [i]mouse cursor[/i]. By waving your flag, you rally your troops, tell them to attack specific targets, or move them across the randomly-generated maps. This is the most major way Tooth and Tail toys with the standards of the RTS genre, but a lot of other tweaks have been made. For example, your production structures activate automatically once you gather enough food, with each acting as a population building and barracks all at once. Instead of matches taking upwards of 20 minutes, the median time is roughly 7, and a starvation mechanic kicks in to make sure things don’t drag on excessively without collusion. This probably sounds horrible. In practice, though, it’s great. As a veteran of countless strategy games, being able to see what your opponent is focusing their attention on opens up a new and unique level of mind-games, and being unable to effectively manage multiple forces at once allows every unit and tactic a chance to shine. As for the campaign, I cleared it in about 8 hours before a patch reduced how hard some of the most difficult missions were (Howling Veil, The Hungry Face a Stiff Wind, and one of the last missions in the game whose name escapes me being the biggest standouts). It is a story with ups and downs, and while it’s a little paint-by-numbers, the finale is an excellent payout that echoes the reality of civil war. Returning to a hub between missions allows you to gain insight into the game world, a setting which definitely has merit enough to be explored further. When you’re done with the campaign (or choose to skip out on it), split-screen and online multiplayer are available, allowing you to test your mettle in FFA, handicap matches, team games, and traditional 1v1. With a meta that continues to evolve with several semi-regular tournaments and consistent balance patches, accessible gameplay that can appeal to everybody from those who grew up on Age of Empires to gamers who have never built a base before, and a surprising amount of character, Tooth and Tail really surprised me earlier this year. I certainly got my money’s worth out of it, but if you aren’t sold just yet, it’s probably better to wait for a sale.