Offworld Trading Company is a real-time strategy game in which money, not firepower, is the player's weapon. Players lead their developing companies in cutthroat economic warfare against other companies looking to become the dominant economic power on Mars.
Loosely inspired by such classics as M.U.L.E., Offworld Trading Company forces players to make tough choices on what resources to acquire, what goods to build and sell, how to interact with the planet's thriving underworld, and when and what stocks to acquire.
Players compete against up to seven other AI- or player-controlled companies. The game is won when one player ultimately acquires all the shares of their competitors, thereby wresting control of the entire planet’s economy.
For a RTS where you do not attack the other player with units, there is a lot going on here. The raw amount of things to keep track of and options available, are in some ways overwhelming. The core of it all is great fun, and it is completely novel for a RTS to avoid just massing units and rolling out. The amount of stuff happening takes away some of...
If you’re into numbers there is much to love about Offworld Trading Company. It is all about the bottom line and getting those figures to add up. The novel use of money not just as a resource but as liquidity for your company allowing you to purchase all the other resources you require is initially confusing, but ultimately rather wonderful when you...
Most often you'll feel, at best, looming dread or smug satisfaction and only rarely shock or triumph.
Offworld Trading Company is by no means a bad game, it’s just difficult to recommend against the existing titans of the genres it borrows from. Still, if you really like the premise you could pick it up during a sale.
Finally, there’s the simple fact that this is an economic strategy game. As such, it’s automatically going to have a rather niche appeal – but I really do hope people give it a chance. This isn’t a dry and cerebral experience: there’s action, passion and nail-biting tension. Surprisingly accessible and deep as you like, Offworld Trading Company is a...
