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Boid

Boid - Early Access Impressions

We've been sampling war on a microscopic scale.

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Boid is a real-time strategy game with a difference. Actually, there's plenty that sets this game apart, from the colourful visuals to the focused combat in the clearly defined maps. Mokus are crafting a game that scratches a very particular itch. If you've been looking for an RTS that prizes simplicity and immediacy above all else, then read on.

There's an aquatic theme that perfectly fits the concept. Players control microscopic organisms that have crashed on a planet, and floating around in underwater cave systems they're scrapping for dominance and survival. There's lanes you might find in a MOBA, and spawn points that automatically spew forth units. It's a game about positioning and pressure, and it's up to the player to completely wipe out their opponent. This can be done by either amassing huge armies, or by a sneaky Zerg rush - it all depends on the layout of the level and each player's particular approach.

The design of the various stages ensures that the combat is focused in certain areas, although there's enough routes through each map that you can't predict exactly where your opponent is going to attack. Dotted around each map there are key strategic objectives that need to be captured. These objectives vary; there's spawn points that give you basic units, and there's plates that, when taken, convert these units into specialist troops.

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It's these different unit types that give Boid its rock, paper, scissors feel; some are slower than others but are tougher in combat, while scouts can really shift across the map, another unit fires projectiles, another injects poison that kills its target over time, and of course there's a healer class. It means that in every wave there's a variety of different considerations, and it can take a while to get used to reading each encounter and acting appropriately. Maybe a bit more differentiation between the units would help with identifying what your opponent is throwing against you, though for the most part it doesn't take long to pick up the basics and read each encounter.

There's a selection of preset levels, each stocked with different unit-converting plates that are placed in specific locations. The lanes that funnel the action give the matches a structure that we suspect they might have otherwise lacked. The capture points, and because every unit that spawns does so as the standard class and needs to be converted, ensures that there's an awful lot going on with players evolving their units and moving them where they're needed. The upshot of this is that you'll spend a lot of time darting around the map trying to put out fires; it's very immediate, but also quite stressful at the same time, because it never lets up.

One issue is that there's no in-game explanation of the more advanced controls, so it took a while to work out that you could drop waypoints, for example. You can group units of the same type together, providing they're on the same section of screen, but as far as we can tell you can't group together different unit types; therefore troop management can be a little convoluted if you're trying to be very specific with your actions, or it just becomes a case of overwhelming your opponent with whatever you have to hand and nuance goes out the proverbial window.

Multiplayer sits prominently on the home screen, and it's obvious that this is a game that has been built around quick and clean online PvP. There's already a ranking system in place, although there's not huge numbers of players on the servers at the time of writing. Given the low numbers you'll likely end up playing against bots at some point, but it's not a problem because the AI seems sound, aggressive even. There's a relentlessness to the enemy tactics that kept us on edge throughout. There's also a level editor, so you can experiment with level structure and build your own arenas (and you can battle both bots and online on your creations).

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Boid is still in Early Access, and while the basics are in place, there is plenty of room for refinement. Visually it looks great, and the water theme is a great fit for the concept. It's obvious that this is a game by a studio that's making the leap from mobile to PC, and there's much to be done if Mokus are going to optimise the experience for their players on the platform, but if they can do it then there's no reason why they can't turn this into a very solid strategy game by the time it's finished evolving.

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