Empires of the Undergrowth

Empires of the Undergrowth is not a perfect RTS game, but it's about as close as you can get. With the multiple layers of gameplay and strategy packaged up in this charming and thoughtful box (or formicarium), no two matches or missions feel quite the same, giving you more reasons to return. A modern RTS effort should absolutely incentivize reasons to play the game, ways to discover and implement new things, and avoid the pitfalls of monetization, and that's exactly what we have here. There are moments when things don't feel entirely in your control, and there are times when understanding the minutiae of which side is winning a particular battle can be murky due to the clipping and overlapping bodies vying for position, but they're balanced out by how small-scale those problems are. Like a few bugs in the garden, you really have to pick nits to classify them as problematic. In a genre as diverse, contentious, and beloved as this, I think there are elements here for just about anyone, if they're willing to give it the chance, because Empires of the Undergrowth is a real-deal classic RTS modernized.