Real-time strategy games have been around for an awful long time, and there aren’t too many attempts at breaking the basic formula of the genre. The majority of RTS games are centered around war in some way, and typically you play as some sort of “floating god" above the battlefield as you issue commands and lead your troops and vehicles strategically around the environment. Which is FINE, and there’s a reason that formula has worked so well for so long, but it’s also not exactly the most realistic portrayal of war and effectively means that you yourself aren’t actually playing a role in the war other than being some unseen puppet master. That’s where Radio Commander from developer Serious Sim wanted to differentiate itself. You literally play as a radio commander on the ground during the Vietnam war and you’ll take in situation reports from the soldiers out in the field and then formulate strategic decisions based on them. It’s a really interesting idea, and after launching on desktop last year Serious Sim and publisher Games Operators are set to bring Radio Commander to iOS and Android at the end of the month. Below is a mobile trailer followed by a 3-minute explainer video for the desktop version of the game that gives a better idea of what Radio Commander is all about.

Something that is emphasized in Radio Commander, and something that doesn’t quite come across when you’re just an invisible deity controlling the action from overhead in other RTS games, is the moral quandaries you’ll be faced with during wartime. Frequently you’ll be making decisions that will cost lives, and there’s something about hearing an attack go sideways by way of the horrific events being radioed back to you that hits home a lot harder than just seeing a tiny squad of troops get taken down on an overhead map. It sounds like a really interesting take on an RTS game and one with a lot of storytelling potential. I also think it’ll make a great fit on the touchscreen, so if you enjoy strategy games and war simulations then give Radio Commander a try when it launches on both iOS and Android July 30th, and if you’re on the Android side of the fence you can pre-order in the Google Play Store right now.