Frozen Synapse

Sasquatch76 · 03-10-2011 8:26pm #1

There's a thread for this game in another boards.ie sections, but it really belongs in the strategy forum. Any players out there?

For those unfamiliar with the game, Frozen Synapse is an indie simultaneous turn-based strategy game. The premise is simple; take command of a squad of troops, and during the "planning phase" issue intricate commands for them to follow. When you're happy with your plan, submit it and see how it plays out.

The catch is that your opponent is planning simulataneously, making the game a pure tactical experience - you try to preempt his/her moves, and with no resource harvesting, upgrade trees etc, it's simply down to who has the best strategy.

I'd been watching the development for a while but then lost track of it. It popped up on my radar again because it's currently available as part of the latest Humble Bundle. Essentially name your price for the game, with a percentage of proceeds going to charity, and you'll get Frozen Synapse and another game called Trauma (which I haven't played yet). However, if you offer more than the average price being offered for the game (which currently stands at a paltry $4.65), you get other great indie titles (including Trine and Shadowgrounds) thrown into the deal.

Frozen Synapse itself is great fun. Highly addictive, pure gameplay mechanics but with huge scope for differing tactics, loads of options, neat features and game modes, a great sound track and a futuristic cyber punk kinda vibe. I highly recommend this to strategy fans. The Humble Bundle offer runs out in 9 days, which gives you more than enough time to download the demo and give it a try!

I'm still getting to grips with it (another way of saying I suck), but hopefully there'll be a few of ye already playing, and maybe a few more given the great current deal.... It'd be great to have a few boardsies to play against

cherryghost · 03-10-2011 8:35pm

Awesome awesome game. Have 32 wins against 26 losses so I'm just barely above average at it

Sephiroth_dude · 03-10-2011 10:03pm

looks very interesting.........

Sasquatch76 · 05-10-2011 8:30pm

A head's up; well received puzzler SpaceChem has been added to this bundle. Still a week to buy!

Sasquatch76 · 11-10-2011 11:35am

This offer expires tomorrow at midnight, for those who might be interested.

Anyone else who has the game already, and is interested in playing a complete n00b, my user name is the same as my boards handle

Sasquatch76 · 20-10-2011 9:42pm

Enderman, if you ever fancy a game, I'm Sasquatch76 same as here. That goes for anyone else too - I'm addicted and need opponents

Ape X · 15-05-2012 10:18pm

Just bought this. Anyone still playing?

Sephiroth_dude · 16-05-2012 11:34am

how do you like it?was thinking of finally buying it

Ape X · 17-05-2012 12:42pm

Sephiroth_dude wrote: »

how do you like it?was thinking of finally buying it

Absolutely love it! It's just a brilliantly designed game

Unfortunately, the community is apparently not as numerous as it once was, although I don't think this is a major issue - it's not the type of game you need to sit down with for hours on end. You can do that, but you don't need to, instead logging in when you've been notified of a new turn by email.

There's DLC on the way too which should bolster the playing numbers. This will also include a hotseat mode which will allow PC players to play against iPad players, which again means more opponents!

Gameplay wise, it's pretty simple to pick up, but incredibly addictive. And very rewarding when your tactics bring victory (not that I've felt that too much yet!).

You can get the game for about €20 from Mode 7 themselves, but this includes two copies of the games, and the code can be activated on Steam.

Ape X · 30-05-2012 1:32am

DLC for this is out now, and looks freaking awesome!

- Full co-op (2 vs. AI) for the single player campaign
- A new unit (riot shield)
- A new multiplayer game mode (“Upload”)
- Three mutators (gameplay modifiers for advanced users)
- 15-mission single player campaign
- 10 single player challenge missions
- 6 additional music tracks by nervous_testpilot (2 previously available in the Humble Indie Bundle)
- Original music tracks “Deeper” and “Focus” unlocked during gameplay
- “Impeccable Micro”, a free chiptune album from _ensnare_
- The infamous “Red Mode”: it makes things red….
- All online features, including co-op, can be shared between expansion owners and non-owners, meaning that there is no division in the community

Even if you don't buy the DLC, there are two new features available; hot seat mode, where two people can play against each other on the same machine, and timed turns which basically enforces a time limit on turns á la speed chess.

Frozen Synapse Red (as it's called) is around the €8 mark and available now.

Sephiroth_dude · 30-05-2012 9:09pm

Ape X wrote: »

DLC for this is out now, and looks freaking awesome!

Even if you don't buy the DLC, there are two new features available; hot seat mode, where two people can play against each other on the same machine, and timed turns which basically enforces a time limit on turns á la speed chess.

Frozen Synapse Red (as it's called) is around the €8 mark and available now.

sounds cool