Rebel Inc‪.‬ 12+

As a person who plays LOTS of war/strategy games, of them all this one is hands down my top 1 or 2 in my favorites- not only is it extremely fun, but having gotten Escalation as well and here having all the extra levels, every penny is worth it. Overall, the mechanics are well balanced and the game plays out smoothly, and the game really takes a good level of thinking to play. The scenario creator as well is very seamlessly good and is also very well made, and I overall find the whole game very fun, even after you’ve beaten everything. Though for me personally, the best part about the game was when new levels (like Azure Dam or Opium Fields) would drop, as they added a whole new level of gameplay to discover and the playing of them are a lot more fun than the base. The only thing I would overall think would need to be improved in the game is Opium Fields should be slightly nerfed on Mega Brutal, as it’s a big jump in difficulty, and also to have some more new levels would be really great, maybe something similar to Azure Dam. A good idea I had seen as well was of a level where the President is helping the insurgents with military forces, and so you have to plan through initiatives and pop-ups how you would assassinate him. A few suggestions, but overall, really amazing game, and this is definitely a MUST for anyone who’s into strategy/war games, and although a little complicated at first, it’s really fun once you get into it.

Despite the simple interface, there’s quite a lot to this game. Learning it is a real joy as you’re forced to grapple with some real life decisions where the morally “right” answer might cause more problems than a messy compromise. The game’s economy is pretty well balanced too and I constantly find myself wanting to buy two or three upgrades, but only having the money for one. It forces you to prioritize, which is really the meat of the game. The push and pull between the military affairs in the war and the civilian “hearts and minds” is excellently captured, as committing too much to one of the other will result in a mission loss from the other. It’s all about striking the right balance.

That being said, there is an optimal build/tactic order in the game, and once you figure it out, the game becomes relatively trivial even on the hardest difficulty. But, there are plenty of achievements to go after. And, the bonus maps they’ve been adding to the game include extra stressors that can mix it up even the dominant strategy.

Best of all, this is a game with unlocks! You can shortcut them with money, but if you want to see everything for only your initial buy in, that’s possible! Highly recommend on that business practice alone.

This game is very fun and engaging for a mobile game. However I must say that some mechanics in the game are very challenging to deal with and make some matches next to impossible to win. Any match that only allows coalition soldiers is beyond frustrating to deal with since they only have a limited deployment time before being sent home and no reputation can survive more than a few deployment extensions. I find this quite unrealistic considering that I will be engaged in very heavy fighting and suddenly have no choice but to send a unit home, losing reputation from that zone being “retreated from” and now being down one more unit. I know for a fact the United States didn’t pull its troops out randomly when they were needed the most until 2021 when that changed. The other questionable mechanic is the fact that you can have 4 units surrounding an insurgent pocket and yet somehow they can still slip away through the one uncovered zone. I get that insurgents can be very resilient and sneaky, however I think there should still be a chance all are eliminated considering the overwhelming force around them. One more frustrating thing is when you will secure a zone and then randomly the 300 insurgents out of a 20k population zone with thousands supporting the operation somehow establish a camp, forcing resources to be diverted. Beyond frustrating.