Tiny Metal adheres to Advance Wars’ most important feature — math

With the democratization of game-developer tools, we continue to see indie studios reviving ideas that have fallen out of favor with bigger publishers. Tiny Metal is an example of that. This is developer Area35’s attempt to capture the gameplay of Nintendo’s Advance Wars games, andit succeeds because it doesn’t skimp on the underlying math that makes those turn-based tactics games work in the first place.

Tiny Metal is a 3D, turn-based tactics adventure. It has you controlling a small army in skirmishes against a computer-controlled opponent across a variety of missions. Through most of these levels, you will direct rifleman, scouts, light tanks, and more through urban environments. By capturing towns, you raise funds to manufacture new units at factories. Your goal is almost always to eliminate your opponents forces, and that requires you to strategically position your forces in fortified tiles — like on hills or in cities — to give them the best chance to survive fights.