If you’ve been looking for a light turn based strategy game, a game where you can chill out and play without stress, look no further than Greed Corp. Greed Corp is a turn based strategy game by Dutch indie developer W!Games that centers around the idea of harvesting the game board and pushing your luck. It’s a fascinating little title that might just catch you with it’s simple yet smart premise.
The Basics
In Greed Corp, you take control of one corporation in this resource starved world. The back story isn’t all that well fleshed out but it really doesn't matter. In fact I completely ignored it, the meat of the game is in it’s game mechanics. The game board is made up of hexes that are on these plateaus. You’ll need to the the last man standing and take out all your opponents on the board.
It’s a symmetrical game. Your opponents start off on equal footing and the game board is mirrored. Everyone gets the same buildings, abilities and unit(they only differ aesthetically). You claim hexes by moving your walkers onto them. Your walkers can move across 5 owned hexes and only one hex onto an unclaimed or enemy hex.
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| Harvesting can be suicidal in this game. |
Combat is handled in the same way as it is in Risk(the board game). You just stack walkers together and move them to an enemy hex. If you move in 8 units and the enemy has 7 walkers on that hex, you’ll take that hex with one walker left. Nothing too complicated, just simple subtraction. The bigger number wins.
You can build armories to recruit more walkers, or cannons that you can use to shell enemy hexes from afar(you’ll have to build the ammo separately), transports that will transport a group of units across chasms and of course, harvesters that harvest the hexes it is on and around it.
Harvesting And Risking It
The most unique aspect of Greed Corp is how harvesters work in it. To get more gold, you’ll have to build harvesters. But building harvesters will mean destroying the hex it is on and the surrounding hexes. For every turn, the harvesters will pummel that hex and the surrounding hexes one level lower. You earn +2 gold for each hex surrounding the harvester.
This leads to some pretty interesting strategies and gameplay situations. You will need to move your units out of the hex and it’s surrounding hexes and often you’ll have to plan carefully where you want to place your harvesters. The most interesting bit is that harvesters could also be used as a very powerful weapon that can be used to destroy the enemies hexes(all units on hexes that get destroy get destroyed along with it).
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| The campaign and the storyline is disappointing. |
By smartly placing your harvesters, you could create a chain of hexes that break apart(hexes that look cracked and are close to being destroyed will create a chain reaction when one that is beside them is destroyed) and you can use this to segregate yourself or your enemy on their own island to offer you some reprieve(unless of course they start to threaten you by building a cannon which the AIs do). Since building transports are very costly(50 gold, the most expensive item in the game) you’ll have some piece of mind for a while.
Since in Greed Corp, you wont destroy enemy improvements on a hex if you conquer it, I’ve often placed harvesters on enemy islands(that are left with 2 or 3 hexes) to take down their little island. Even if the enemy takes back that hex, the harvester will remain there. Which means they are screwed either way even if they make extra gold from it, it’s the last thing they’ll get to do. You can self destruct harvesters. When this is done, the hex it is on is destroyed and all surrounding hexes are lower by 1.
Don’t underestimate the AI though as they can turn the tables on you and do the same thing towards you. Greed Corp is a game that isn’t won until one side remains the last man standing. It is possible to make a come back even late in the game. Don’t get too cocky, and keep your guard up. Which gets to my next point about the AI
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| Do not underestimate the AI. It could and often will surprise you. |
The AI Has The Smarts
I was impressed by the AI in Greed Corp. Granted it is not the most complicated strategy game ever made(which makes AI less of a challenge to code for), but the AI does a good job of giving the player a significant challenge. It could be sneaky and place a harvester on your island. Or it could build a cannon and shell you from afar.
Greed Corp is a very fluid game. Thing could go back and forth all the time. Turtling isn’t really the best strategy though as the AI’s(or anyone for that matter) that destroys another side gets all the resources(and even transports) the side that got destroyed has. You’ll have to watch out for these as these can turn the tide of battle pretty quickly. Also a very strong incentive for you to be the one to put the killing blow on an AI faction(or human player in multiplayer).
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| TIP: Press space bat to get an old school top down view. Handy for viewing the entire game board. |
In Conclusion
Greed Corp is a fun and quick turn based strategy game. If you’re looking for a strategy game for quick plays(one round takes about 10 to 15 minutes), this is an excellent choice. The game mechanics are simple but the back and forth in games lead to a very nail biting game right to the finish line.
I felt the single player campaign was serviceable, and felt a little let down that it’s just a series of different game boards on a static campaign map(you finish mission 1 and go on to mission 2 etc). I kept asking myself is this all there is? Also the whole back story of the game is completely passable and a missed opportunity(they could have done a lot more here). They never really do anything more than just flavour text before each mission.
Despite my grievance with it, the core game is still excellent and fun. Multiplayer is really good if you can find other human opponents. It’s a nice diversion from your much deeper grand strategy games. Unless of course, you’re completely hooked on Civilization V and don’t play anything else. If you love strategy games and want something light and quick, get this game!
Pros:
- Simple yet very smart premise with harvesters.
- Despite it’s simplistic system, there is a range of strategy and variation of play style that you can adopt.
- Quite well balanced(in terms of cost of items/buildings), with transports costing a bomb.
- Things crumble and you get to watch cute robots fall into the abyss.
- Playing online with a human opponent is lots of fun.
- The AI is good. It will surprise you at times and will take any opportunity given to it, if you slip up.
Cons:
- Multiplayer portion doesn’t have a proper lobby or in game chat
- Multiplayer only has one free for all mode.
- Not fun when played with three people. It becomes unfair to one player. You’ll have to play with an even number of players to have a fun balanced game.
- Single Player campaign and the back story seem like a missed opportunity. Completely sub par and unnecessary.
- Music gets repetitive. Turn off the music and listen to your own stuff.
Verdict: Quick and fun turn based strategy but single player campaign is a missed opportunity
Gameplay demonstration of Greed Corp
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