Time, it turns out, was my greatest barrier to entry into the real-time strategy genre. More than the complexity of tech trees, the need for fast responses, or juggling an economy, time is what has kept me from diving into the genre. At least, that’s what I’m learning from my time with Tooth and Tail, the new micro-RTS from the developers of Monaco.

I’ve lost count of the amount of strategy games I’ve begun, spent an hour with, and then walked away from before even finishing the tutorials. Then by the time I return to them I’ve forgotten all I’ve learned and have to begin the process again. The genre is simply so dense, so layered with systems, and so reliant on previous knowledge that it can sometimes become too intimidating to parse. Tooth and Tail is the counter to that. A game you can learn the basics of within ten minutes, and then finish a game within another ten. I was even able to teach someone new how to play, and then shamefully lose twice in a short half hour session. Even then it was hard to be upset, since it was so easy to get another game going.

Those short sessions brought into focus another strength of Tooth and Tail--the ease which you can iterate your approach to your opponents. Early on I found myself losing frequently, first to an impenetrable wall of turrets, and after to well timed Zerg-rush style tactics. But through repeat matches I was able to observe my opponents’ tendencies, test out different units, then finally find a counter. Turrets fell easily to the extended range of artillery, and small enemy hordes would easily fall to some well placed explosive frogs or a well deployed flamethrower boar.

Being able to iterate and experiment without high risks allowed me to learn more in a few minutes than most strategy games teach you in an hour. I began to get a feeling for when to direct small groups and when to bring the whole army, realized how crucial terrain can be to creating natural boundaries, and learned when to push and the value of retreating after wounding an opponent. All of this happened through the simple act of playing against others. It reminded me of the what I enjoy about fighting games, and brought a similar joy to controlling space and working out viable counters. Tooth and Tail did all of this, while still feeling like a full fledged strategy game.

That’s probably Tooth and Tail’s biggest surprise. I initially expected a more tactics-centric approach from it, maybe something akin to the combat encounters of Relic’s Dawn of War 2. There’s definitely shades of it, but there’s no mistaking this for anything but a full real-time strategy game. Managing an economy and properly setting up a base is still a major skill that will mark the difference between failure and success. 

There’s a single resource, gained by claiming gristmills and building farms around them, but there’s plenty of other factors that make the upkeep of your army complicated. For one, farms quickly go fallow, making them unusable and forcing you to continually find new sources of materials. As your army grows, you’ll also have to ensure there’s enough material constantly coming in. Each structure constantly builds units up to the maximum they can support, drawing from your resources automatically when they do. If resources become short then production stops and the growth of your army is halted.

This brings the classic RTS dilemma of choosing between growing an economy and growing an army. It also prevented me from becoming comfortable, forcing me to expand and pushing me into conflict to do so. And when I tried to build too many units it quickly taught me the folly in expanding too fast, leaving me with structures that did nothing but take up space while others ate my resources and crippled my economy.

Of course, not even a crippled economy means a loss. Structures can easily be sold back for full price to raise funds for fresh farms or new units. So with enough time and ingenuity you can uproot your base and attempt a new strategy. I used this to my advantage a few times, building a new base on a different part of the map while using my old one as a decoy to draw the attention of my opponent.  It’s another tool that allows you to constantly adapt to the situation, and it helps alleviate the long spiral towards defeat.

This is one fundamental aspect Tooth and Tail can’t change. Defeat will come, and when it does it’ll feel horrible and dragged out. Failure can turn those last minutes long. Worse is the realization that comes as you recall the chain of decisions you made that led you there. In larger strategy games you can make excuses, blame a lack of knowledge. But Tooth and Tail sets out all the information you need in front of you, making it even clearer where you failed. It’s a compact gut punch that can make the failures as demoralizing as the victories are sweet.

Tooth and Tail isn’t going to convert me into a strategy game fiend. It might even leave out long time strategy fans looking for something to play between longer sessions. But for me it provided a genuine alternative to the genre, something less intimidating to play with friends, that still captures the spirit of real-time strategy. It’s fresh, it’s smart, and won’t require me to set a calendar date to get a game in. That’s something worth celebrating.