Publisher: W!Games
Developer: W!Games
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Release Date: Available now

One of the retro perks of our newfangled Wi-Fi enabled world is the resurrection of the proverbial “family game night”. Once upon a time, we whiled away our evenings chasing down loot and struggling to build a Monopoly to the detriment of our beloved family members. And then, when TV and console games beckoned, it looked as if the traditional board game was destined to a purgatory of moth-balled closets and dirt mall swap meets. Well, the more things change, the more they stay the same – and as services such as the Xbox Live Arcade and PSN began to flourish, smaller developers realized that they could utilize the instant connectivity afforded by the Internet to breathe new life into faded board game archetypes. The question is, does Greed Corp. have what it takes to take its place on the crowding shelf of new online classics such as Catan and Carcassonne?

W!Games’ Greed Corp. is a turn-based strategy game which could very easily have been played perched on shag carpet. While this title is built from the ground up for the digital domain, unlike Catan and Carcassonne, which found their roots in cardboard, the mechanics behind this game call to mind classics such as RISK. In Greed Corp, players take control of one of four factions in the mythical land of Mistbound. Land is a precious commodity which like those inexplicable mountainous regions in Avatar, is held suspended in the air. The goal of the game is to build and raise units in order to lay claim to adjacent hexagonal tiles – ultimately possessing more land and credits than your opponents. The catch to all of this is that as each turn progresses, the ground beneath your feet is constantly crumbling meaning players need to weigh their desire to mine their tiles for resources while continually staying on the move and grabbing fresh pieces of landscape.

Players take control of 4 units. The Harvesters mine the land for resources necessary for building the land grabbing Walkers, as well as militant forces such as Armories and Cannons. Carriers can also be built which allow the player to airlift their forces to new land. During each turn, players can convert their resources into building more units and decide whether to acquire adjacent land, continue mining the crumbling ground for additional resources or take the attack to their opponents’ land. As mentioned, the entire game takes place on a volatile board – meaning with every action, pieces of the Earth are falling into the mist below. There is a finite amount of time before a tile completely gives way, and any units left on it are lost. Players need to be cognizant of this, as spending too much time in one spot will inevitably lead to irreversible loss as well as expose them to their opponents’ cannon fire. In turn, a player can also choose to attack the neighboring forces through their cannon fire or by engaging the harvester’s unique ‘self-destruct’ ability.

While primarily designed with multiplayer in mind, Greed Corp. has a compelling single player campaign that teaches new players the mechanics of the game better than the woeful tutorial mode that precedes it. I played through the tutorial 4 times and never fully grasped exactly what I needed to do or why, due to its poor design, but by diving into the campaign (which can played under the guise of 4 different factions) I was able to learn from my AI opponent and grasp the mechanics involved in truly mapping out a winning strategy. With four lengthy solo campaigns, there is a lot to whet your appetite with before diving into the main course featured in the addictive multiplayer.

And that’s where games like this shine. With a solid core game concept, being able to take down up to three other living, breathing humans with your own winning strategy is sublime. While the game is turn-based, it is set to a timer, meaning the game moves at a solid clip. In addition, W!Games has included 36 multiplayer maps, which in addition to the 24 solo-maps, provides a lot of value for your buck. This is one of those “just one more game” type games that will keep you up long past your bedtime.

I’ve said this often but it bears repeating. We’re living in a fantastic age where digital distribution allows niche games like Greed Corp. to find an audience and flourish. The concepts behind this turn-based strategy are simple enough for most people to pick up and play (presuming they skip the maddening tutorial and just dive right in) but as the cliché goes, it takes a second to learn and a century to master. Here’s hoping a robust community builds in support as this makes for an engaging strategic pursuit. Greed is good!

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