Arco has my favorite game mechanic from 2010
Steambirds has re-entered the chat
At this point in my weekend I expected to be playing Tactical Breach Wizards, a game I am still quite excited about, but starting Arco I have decided to keep focusing on it instead. Arco, a game I talked about last week in the games I’m most excited about this month has finally released and I’m happy to say it’s a gem.
There are so many clever, wonderful details to this game, but the one I want to highlight is the mechanic it uses for tactical battles.
What was Steambirds?
Steambirds was a flash game from 2010 that used an innovative mechanic to tell a story about dogfights in World War 2.
It featured (what felt like) a unique mechanic where you used a drawstring to control the airplane. At the time it was a smart way to simulate the constraints of a World War 2 era airplane. It also felt like a freeing evolution of the tactical format, unconstrained by a grid. I really loved that mechanic because it felt fresh while also reducing a lot of the decision complexity of tactics games by heavily constraining what you could do on any given turn.
After Steambirds Survival came and went, and Steambirds Alliance represented a completely different evolution (more akin to Spry Fox’s Realm of the Mad God), the format and the game style completely disappeared.
Enter Arco
Arco is a western style tactical rpg about revenge and magic. The first thing that jumped out during the game was the tactical mechanics. They immediately reminded me about what I loved about Steambirds while making a number of upgrades and innovations that make the game snappier and more fun.
For one, the drawstring line is no longer completely immoveable. You can point and click a direction you would like to go at any time. A reflection of the change in setting, you’re a dude on the ground not a plane in the sky. It’s also used to good effect, to help slow down the game while accounting for things like bullets.
At the same time it introduces UX patterns that make the game feel closer to a MOBA. You’re not operating in a simple turn based structure, you’re encouraged to move quickly (lest ghosts appear), and you activate various abilities using your number key row.
The result is an experience that feels like a MOBA but slowed down for people (me, it’s me) who don’t have the speed or reaction time to actually compete in those types of games. And where Steambirds could occasionally stall out (pun semi-intended), Arco captures a frenetic pace all the way through the battles.
Arco’s Dialog and Story
Usually for tactical rpgs like this it’s the plot that loses me. Jumping in and out of story mode and tactical mode often feels jarring and out of place, and in most rpgs I find myself getting bogged down by a lot of writing. But Arco sets up each location almost like an adventure style game. A single screen with a few different people, activities, and goals before moving on to the next adventure and story. It does all of this without short changing a power and engrossing story.
And the dialog feel like an old text adventure, straightforward with a couple of options, and outcomes that directly impact what I want to do next. The narrative doesn’t (yet at least) feel so branching and complicated as to overwhelm with options on what to do next.
Excited to Finish Arco
I’m only a couple of hours into my playthrough, but I’m already completely charmed by this game. It feels like a Western, while mixing in perspectives and fantasy that help it feel fresh and like it’s own unique thing. If you’re a fan of tactics games or westerns I really encourage you to give this a look.