If giant- killer robots from outer space don’t spring to mind every time you think about the ancient Mayan civilization, you’re not thinking hard enough. Created by the two-person, indie fledgling Sileni Studios, Mayan Death Robots, succinctly connects these dots to present their unique spin on the turned-based strategy genre.
Inspired by titles like Scorched Earth and the Worms series, Mayan Death Robots is a 2D, turned-based strategy game where players choose one of ten giant robots to slug it out on battlefields littered with some very unlucky of Mayan villagers. As always, when robots from outer space descend upon a primitive civilization, their revered as gods and thus the tiny little Mayans actually get involved in the battle, aiding their chosen robot deity by attacking the other combatant. These villagers, whose influence on the battlefield increases as you proceed through the campaign, makes the environments feel more fun, forcing you to take them into account when you make your moves. Plus, annihilating crowds of tiny humans with giant alien robot weaponry never gets old.
While Mayan Death Robots is heavily inspired by titles like Worms, there are several notable things that set it apart. Instead of controlling multiple units and a host of weapons, you control only your single robot with it’s own unique attack. During each turn, you can either use your attack, move, or build land to your advantage. Furthermore, instead of killing your opponent, victory is obtained by destroying your opponent’s power core. Every combatant has infinite lives, but if you die, you lose a turn, which can be very costly. The most notable thing Mayan Death Robots brings to the table is that although it is turn-based, the turns happen simultaneously. Each player decides their next move as a timer quickly counts down. When the timer hits zero, the moves are made in unison. This mechanic makes the game feel exceptionally fast-paced for a turn-based strategy game, forcing you to make decisions and quickly learn how to use randomly dropped special weapons, or die trying.
Mayan Death Robots‘ campaign allows for both one or two players, and includes unlockables, and boss battles against some very jealous actual Mayan deities. If you’re into fast, turn-based combat and brutally slaughtering hordes of confused primitives, sign up for the beta, or check out Mayan Death Robots when it launches on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux this August, with a possible, yet-to-be-named console release to follow. It’s worth playing if you’re into giant robots and ancient Mayans and if you’re not this game will still be fun for you!