PC wargames have become so accurate they’re now starting to replace their professional military equivalents.
In late 2016, two missiles launched by rebel forces in Yemen shot toward the USS Mason, an American destroyer patrolling the Red Sea. The crew picked up the missiles late on their radar and launched defensive measures. The missiles ditched short, into the sea. It wasn’t the first time rebels attacked shipping in the area, but this was notable for a most unusual reason. A PC wargame was able to predict almost precisely the way the event unfolded.
The game in question is Command: Modern Air/ Naval Operations from Slitherine. “Simulations don’t give specific outcomes,” says development director Iain McNeil. “They let you try out strategies multiple times to see what kind of plans work better and what kind of capabilities are more interesting to invest in. They give you estimated probabilities, which is as good as it gets in warfare.” Which makes it all the more surprising that the game was able to model the real-life action with such accuracy.
Slitherine are no stranger to working with the US military. A decade ago, the Pentagon used modified versions of their games Harpoon and Close Combat in training exercises. During their latest review of their training software, they went back to Slitherine asking about these titles. The publisher, instead, showed them Command. They were immediately convinced of its value. “Apparently there is nothing that comes close to Command’s capabilities,” says Iain. “Otherwise they would already be using it. We’ve got a unique product and they know it, so it’s pretty exciting.”
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Special Report- Stacked Deck - Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big.
Monster Train, a deckbuilding roguelike that firmly entrenched itself as the crown prince to the kingly Slay the Spire back in 2020, was the kind of smash success you might call Champagne Big. Four years later, its successor Inkbound’s launch from Early Access was looking more like Sandwich Big.I’m not just saying that because of the mountain of lamb and eggplants I ate while meeting with developer Shiny Shoe over lunch, to feel out what the aftermath of releasing a game looks like in 2024. I mean, have I thought about that sandwich every day since? Yes. But also, the indie team talked frankly about the struggle of luring Monster Train’s audience on board for its next game.
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