Offworld Trading Company, Mohawk Games’ genius take on martian mining and economic strategy, is leaving the surly bonds of Mars in its latest DLC. The Ceres Initiative takes venture capitalists to the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Besides a palette shift to grays and blues, the new location brings with it new challenges that will force players to change their safe strategies. Since resources can diminish over time on Ceres, companies must be prepared to either modify their manufacturing chains as shipments deplete, or they must seek out new sources of raw material. Wind turbines are not possible on the dwarf planet, meaning that an early source of easy energy is denied. Ceres also presents opportunities in the form of a new building, the nuclear power plant, and newly discovered pockets of uranium.
The Ceres Initiative is available on Steam or through Stardock’s site.
Offworld Trading Company, the economic real-time strategy game from Mohawk Games, is launching on April 28th. Not that it should matter to you because you’ve been playing the game since it hit beta status, right? Soren Johnson’s take on Martian stock manipulation and industrial sabotage has been delightfully playable for over a year, but now with a coat of polish and balance, we can expect even greater things. The addition of a story campaign and daily challenges sound like good reasons to get cracking on shorting stock and making buddy-buddy with business mercenaries.
Four big businesses are vying for all of the resources and control on Mars. Learn about what brought them there and how they intend to drive their competition into the ground and come out on top.
Offworld Trading Company is available on Steam for Windows PC.
I’m not in the habit of recommending, much less playing, early access games. I’d just as soon wait until a game is finished before playing it. It makes no sense to me that I’d jump into some form of entertainment while it’s still being made, any more than I’d eat lasagne before it’s been baked or move into a house before the roof was in place. “Hey Tom,” Joss Whedon might ask, “do you want to watch Avengers 2 now? I haven’t shot all the scenes, and the ending isn’t in yet, and there’s no CG yet for The Hulk. But here, you can watch what I’ve got so far!” What kind of deal is that? Why wouldn’t I wait until the movie comes out? Besides, I have plenty of finished movies I could watch.
It’s no different with games. So why would I play Offworld Trading Company, which enters public beta today and is available for $40 on Steam?
After the jump, it just takes one moment of weakness. Continue reading →
This week Soren Johnson of Mohawk Games sits down to chat about their latest economic RTS Offworld Trading Company. Oh hey, Offworld Trading Company is available via Early Access today! What a coincidence!
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