Möbius Front '83

Möbius Front '83
N/A
Metacritic
74
Steam
64.853
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$19.99
Release date
5 November 2020
Developers
Publishers
Steam reviews score
Total
74 (280 votes)

Defend America from an alternate-universe America using state-of-the-art 1980s military hardware in this intricate and tactical turn-based strategy game.

Show detailed description

Möbius Front '83 system requirements

Minimum:

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows Vista / 7 / 8 / 10
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Graphics: 1366 x 768
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 2 GB available space
Similar games
Popularity
Reviews
Write a new review
Dther
Dther

I'm surprised that the reviews for this are so negative- I quite enjoyed this game! It's definitely an acquired taste, though. It's not-quite-puzzle, not-quite-turn-based-strategy. While I love puzzle games and have a fondness for turn-based tactics, I can see what the reviews mean when they say it doesn't appeal to either camp completely- this game scratches a very specific kind of itch, and it's in finding patterns in enemy behaviour.

Enemy behaviour is very predictable. I believe this is an intentional design choice, because in every level, you're almost certainly outnumbered, and very definitely outgunned. The enemy's anti-tank weapons are just as strong as yours, and in most levels, outranges yours. The challenge of the game comes from exploiting the fact that the enemy is, generally speaking, terrified of losing units, and this fact can be used to eek out a victory.

I find this gameplay very fun. However, there are two sticking points with it, which I believe have led to the relatively low reviews for what I believe to be a genuinely fun game. One: Compared to most tactics games, victory isn't sudden or complete, it's a slow crawl to the finish line. A level isn't beaten by destroying every unit or forming the perfect, unbreakable line- levels are beaten by gaining ground, inch by inch, as the enemy retreats from your fearless infantrymen. It's a very puzzle-based reward loop, in which incremental understanding of the situation leads to improvements in your chance of winning with each replay. This means that levels often can take a loooong time to complete, since you might get close to winning, make a fatal mistake, and need to try again.

The second problem, and I believe this to be a legitimate crticism: Despite the very predictable enemy behaviour, the game is in the grips of the tactical gamer's eternal foe: The RNG. The most egregious example is with anti-tank missiles, which much of the game's tactics are centered around, because enemy units will flee if they believe they will be blown up in the next turn. Anti-tank missiles all have the same damage range: 2 to 6, cut in half if the unit moved beforehand. Every unit in this game has a health between 3 and 6- anything with more than 3 hitpoints having "armour", which is a threshold that must be overcome for any damage to be dealt. This means that on average, even the toughest tank will die in about 2 hits- but that that number can vary wildly. It might die in 1. It might die in 4. If you're particularly unlucky, (or, if it happens to you, very lucky!) a tank might survive being shot at from all 6 directions by multiple tank weapons, because a tank with 2 armour points will completely shrug off a minimum-damage shell- while possible for a tank of the same build to die in one shot. Most vehicles have 4 hitpoints, and thus almost certainly die if fighting a stationed tank head-on, but have a good chance of surviving a tank shell "after movement"... but a 1 in 4 chance of dying the moment they're even within movement range. The result is that sometimes, the AI, stuck with nothing to do, will roll for that 1-in-4 and instantly turn the tide battle.

I wonder whether the game would be better without the random chance element, because it's very fun from a puzzler perspective: the enemy deploys a certain strategy each level, and the challenge is to figure out what the proper counter to that is. The problem is that the RNG means that it is a very real possibility that you'll be a point or two from victory, maybe with both you and the enemy only having a handful of units left, and the AI, backed into a corner, will take a chance and roll for the 1-in-4 that its missile will instakill your final undamaged tank... and succeed. And now you have to do it all over again. This game is fun, but it's very, very slow.

Cribbage solitaire is fun as hell, though. I can see myself playing it for real on long road trips. As is TIS-330, which, in a sort of reversal of things, the programming game is the minigame instead of the main game. Zach's ability to blend disparate gameplay elements is a real talent that I've seen nowhere else.

ARONIC
ARONIC

Its a really fun game.

But. There is a major flaw, no AI will ever fall into your traps. No matter what. The game also is abandoned, with no updates. However there are 3 factions, 2 in the campaign.

These factions list of:
American - Usage of heavier tanks, and better AT infantry.
Future America - Usage of better APC, and a large amount of futuristic weapons.
Soviet - A lot of cheap equipment, and cannon fodder. Has best infantry in fighting other infantry.

Only buy this game on sale, and if you dont care about the AI & the lack of fog of war. Get a friend to play with you too.

Bush
Bush

Well I've played this game through at least once so let me say, I think the warfare aspect and cool side stuff like the TIS-330 computer and the card game, as well as the TRADOC Bulletin and Soldier manual add cool extra features to the game when your tired of getting destroyed by the AI's luck, (no but seriously the fact that they get luckier is BS); oh and also the story, that is really cool as well!

Fluffy776
Fluffy776

I recommend Mobius Front '83 with some specific notes:
You better like 1970s-1980s U.S. military units as well as NATO/USA mixed-unit tactics.
You better really like turned-based tactics games.
Are willing to overlook any aberrations from a unit's real-world versions.

This is a good, but frustrating, turned-based tactics game. It's really great to see things like the destructive power of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles against armored vehicles or how most of these Cold War eta ATGMs required setup time suiting them more to an ambush than an assault. It's really frustrating to have no artillery that can do damage to enemy armored vehicles or to struggle with the wide range of weapon damage (e.g. 2-6 damage) resulting in lost battles from nothing more than bad luck. The missions switch between capturing points and destroying SAM sites, but the nature of being outnumbered (even on the relaxed difficulty you're likely outnumbered) means you really have to play slowly and defensively. And the unit pool for each mission is different (somewhat by which military unit you're playing as, which is actually a very cool touch) and that often means the unit you'd really like to use isn't there. Each level feels much more like a puzzle of which units to deploy where than each level being winnable with multiple different strategies.

In short, if you are willing to bash your head against a wall playing a Turned-Based strategy game, you will likely enjoy this one. If you are looking for an easy time or a realistic simulator, you need to look somewhere else. (The Cribbage Solitaire game is, however, very good and including some PDFs of US Military handbooks was a brilliant touch)

P.S. The M2 Bradley deserved better. That 25mm Autocannon is designed for dealing with armored vehicles and in game it just sucks in every role :(

Androsynth
Androsynth

I feel really bad for not recommending this, because this is almost exactly what I want. A Cold War themed, hex-based turn-based strategy game. The design of this game is absolutely fantastic. The art, the story, the homage to real-world military stuff, and by god the voice acting is absolutely beautiful. As I am writing this, I've been stuck on C3M9 for a couple of weeks. I find myself constantly booting up this game every now and again, and then ditching it for another few weeks because it is a SLOG. The A.I has total vision over everything you do, and every move you make. Combat is completely tipped against your favor, and not in a challenging way either. Pray to RNJesus and hope to god you will wipe out that M60A3. There is an old game on the old Nintendo almost like this one called Conflict, and this game is harder than that one. Oh, and good luck trying to use any real strategy in the game, because almost every single enemy unit in this game can move and shoot in the same turn, and you can not. The radio puzzle is really confusing and I don't get it at all, and I also didn't pay 20 bucks to play a card game in a strategy game. If the game was going to be stuffed up the butt with artificial difficulty, why not have a quicksave system, or something of the sort? Or maybe atleast have it where you can shoot and move in the same turn with about half of your units, or at least the infantry? The whole armor-HP system is really clever though, and could be really utilized in an Advance Wars type game in the future.

So, would I recommend it to myself when i decided to buy it? Sadly no. The effort that went into everything else is absolutely fantastic though. 10/10 on that front. 4/10 for the gameplay.

droideka30
droideka30

Not a typical zachtronics game, but I quite like it. A turn-based strategy game with some interesting mechanics of choosing which units to spend your deployment points on, and scouting through the fog of war. Nothing revolutionary but it's fun to play and I'd recommend it. Little bits of story between each level (fair warning: realistic amount of cussing from the soldiers) and hidden collectables that unlock levels of a more traditionally zach-like minigame. And of course, solitaire (this one's based on cribbage). Theming is definitely on point.

Aetherskies
Aetherskies

I am only partway through the campaign, but right off the bat I have to say the AI seems much better attuned to the mechanics of the game than easily 90% of other tactical/strategic games I have played. Very fun intro, even if I dislike the writing/story, which feels unnecessary and stilted.
8.5/10

Rubix
Rubix

Long and boring.
It's like chess but with small movements and walls everywhere. There's fog of war and unknown enemy units, which means you play once quickly to see the enemy units, then you play again to crush them excruciatingly slowly.
I tried to play it because I'm interested in the TIS references, but it's just too much a waste of my lifespan.
I can barely even find anyone on youtube who managed to go through it all and stream it so that I can at least see the tiny content. I give up :(

I miss Zachtronics programming games. Who's going to make good programming games now?

niallcro
niallcro

3 hours in and so far, so great. I'm a huge fan of Into the Breach and this scratches a similar itch. You need to get to know your units and their strengths and weaknesses. I read the PDF about Sagger's and that really helped me to understand the philosophy of the game. You need to use range, cover and unit strengths and weaknesses to your advantage. Good planning pays off and is very rewarding.

OneHundredFeet
OneHundredFeet

I had a lot of fun with MB83. It is a genre defying game that may be difficult for some people looking for a straight war game or a straight puzzle game may be turned off.

The presentation is elegant and lovingly detailed. It warms up what is often a very cold experience. The gameplay is deep with only a few mechanics. You can feel that they got a bit stuck on what to do with the end-game, but I feel there's potential to do more with it in the future. They used the classic Zachtronics trope of limiting your tools and presenting you with a problem to solve. For straight wargammers this may be frustrating.

I did find the level of randomness in the anti-tank weapons to be frustrating, but I'm willing to overlook that for now.

The mini-games included are superb. The solitaire is worth the price of the game alone. The TIS-300 minigame is interesting and fun, but wouldn't be worth it on its own. As a mini-game it's excellent.

For a 15$ to 20$ game this is well worth it.

Bones
Bones

I usually like games by Zachitronics and this one caught my interest, but I don't like spending so much time planning my units and attack attempts. It's not fun when it feels like it's all based on luck because the AI plays extremely defensively such that, more often than not, you just sit in a stalemate until one of you makes a mistake or the AI is super confident in a brief moment that it can destroy you with stacked RNG. I'm pretty sure they even have perfect knowledge of where my units are at all times, even though line of sight and concealment are major gameplay elements.

The best part of the game for me is Cribbage Solitaire.

Johnny Rep
Johnny Rep

I am huge fan of Zachtronics. This was quite a departure from the recent efforts but I enjoyed it very much. A lot of effort and research went into the units types and overall the strategy gameplay is very satisfyingly handled. On the downside the mission variety is lacking and ultimately the game can feel repetitive. Good music and great solitaire variant too and the option radio puzzles also great.

legendalpha
legendalpha

I wanted to try this game as It was on sale. I was looking forward to using the hardware of the Cold War. It did not go that way. I will continue to play the game however I am disappointed to find out you are limited to the tactics and units under your control. So far I see no artillery, attack helicopters, mortars, no support or attack aircraft. Recoiless rifles easily destroy M60 tanks and the enemey is better equipped than you on your own soil. I will keep trying to slug through the missions and reevaluate the review.

Yan
Yan

Don't expect this game to be similar to usual Zachtronics games, it is not. (And I'm happy they're experimenting with different stuff.)

This is a very tactical turn based combat game.
- Very hard. This is not your usual combat where you go without strategy and make it along the way. If you do that, you will die. You need to be very careful with which units you choose and how you move them.
- Unforgiving. A wrong movement may mean your last tank gets blown up and you don't have firepower to continue. There are no undos of any kind in a match. It's unforgiving to the point where you get a bit frustrated. It would be nice to have some limited undos like in Into The Breach.
- RNG. There's a reasonable amount of luck involved, as most tank shots have a wide range of damage possible. As you spawn several units and are extra careful, you will minimise the luck involved, but getting your tank blown up in 1 hit by a reckless dumb enemy move is not fun.
- Strategies and AI. I like the AI in the game, it's pretty smart, but you don't feel cheated. It often has more resources than you, but that's clear and intended from the get go. There are several different types of levels in the game where you need different strategies to beat it, depending on your initial resources/etc.

Overall, gameplay is good and well polished, balance is very different from other games, and difficulty borders on frustrating. I enjoyed playing it but by the last chapter I just wanted it to be over, as there was not much variety being added.
The story is there, has some funny moments but not very engaging.

The minigames are super good. TIS-330 is a more zachlike puzzle about filtering "signals", and the solitaire is IMO nicer than other zachtronics solitaires.

Captain Man
Captain Man

This is not a "zach-like" game but I was willing to give it a shot, as I liked games like the "Advanced War" series from Nintendo. I can't quite put my finger on why but I really didn't like this game. It feels super slow paced. A big part is definitely the UI and controls but even if those were different I don't think I'd like this game. It just feels so slow. I'm not suggesting it should be real time.

undee
undee

haaard dont buy

Edit: same ^ but just try harder.

Tomoko Kuroki
Tomoko Kuroki

You wanted new Zachtronics game, you got new Zachtronics game. Why all the hate in reviews?

Listen i'm compulsive buyer on steam - sales time -> i see yet another lewd or cheap or classic stuff -> i buy it with -50% discount and don't feel shame about the fact i won't even install it. Sometimes i reconsider and refund. But then i see mixed revies i just don't buy it. Mixed belongs straight to the trash even for free, right?

Wrong.

Oh noes AI is cheating and know location of my units, how unfair, no other game EVER do that.
Map is using same tiles again and again how boring, better bootup my Battle for Wesnoth instead - it has like montains and water!
There are no RPG elements (imagine no online build planner in 2021) and you can't romance NOBODY. Here goes my main battle tank X gunship fanfiction to the trash, thanks to developers with such caveman views!

That feeling of accomplishment after each mission.
Lucky RND, an loss of single unit resulting in restart.
One more try now with 2 helicopters.
One more try with more infrantry, fill em with trucks.

Is game hard and unforgiving? Kinda, but is war a fair competion? Remember you retaking territory occupied by the foe - they know you coming, they are at best spots available and they are ready to make you learn price of the mile. No undo for the falled and no redo for the glory.

Are some units feel unbalanced? It depends on combat scenario, all units have proper counter parts, i'm sorry not all of them are pleasing to use.
Is AI units are cheating overpowered bastards? No, AI is kinda fuzzy in terms of threat priority and can be outsmarted quite easy. And enemy units is just a little bit different (like gunship can attack your heli but your heli can't attack gunship back). And that's completly ok! At least they not Ivans or other commies!

You see every mission is puzzle (because it's Zachtronics game) and you have some means to solve it. And sometimes you barely make it with 1 tank spending turns just to hit and run enemy infantry. But other time you cheeze mission with just placing your boyz right in the right forest.

This game also features iconic features such as:
- Intense PDF reading (and i think it's "easiest" Zachtronics game as you don't actually need to read PDF to begin playing!)
- Enginering 101 in disguise of radio mini-game
- Cult classic card mini-game invented by the devil himself just to mock you up.

This game is not some kind of "guilty pleasure", it's also not a "niche" one.
Spare mixed reviews for more AAA triple delayed masterpieces.

I wanted new Zachtronics game, i get that i expected.

boonebreaker
boonebreaker

What a nice little piece of software.

This game perfectly catches the vibe of Battle Isle 2 (anyone remember this?) without bluntly copying it. The programmers decided to leave out resource management which fits the setting well and frees the player of some tasks. The addition of some nice mechanics like moving OR shooting for most of the units, makes you think how to use (and position) your equipment. You have no idea, how to use infantry? Fear not, the official US Army field manual (of 1984) is included in the game.

Having to choose your troops at the start of each mission from a selection of units commands some knowledge of their abilities. Also, it really helps to have a battle plan (the terrain is visible before starting a mission, though the enemy units are hidden) before recruiting your men. The strongest units may not always be the best for the task at hand.

As your choices before the mission starts matter, so your decisions while you're at it do. Will the enemy punish you for misplacing a unit? You can bet on it. Your adversaries use their reconnaisance well and you should too. If you just like to rush into foggy areas, you'll probably find yourself restating the mission pretty soon.

So, if you are looking for a nice, challenging strategy game and are fond of hexfields like in the good ol' days, look no further.

The addition of a hotseat multiplayer mode would elevate this game some further *winkwink*

cheers,
boonebreaker

ZiRo
ZiRo

I love Zachtronics. I think what we've got here is a very well designed bit of software. But as a game, it kinda falls short.

So I'm at around level 10.
- The levels are completed by the skin of ones teeth. They do feel like you can win and lose on an RNG.
- The infantry fighting is very melee like - "If you're within 1 hex you can shoot another infantry" is how it works, so you end up basically just trying to gang up on single units. "My 2 hexes defeat your 1 hex, despite the fact you're dug into a forest and mine are in the open fields". Also, my 2 man ATGM squad does as much damage as your general 3-man infantry units.
- You'll never be able to set up an ATGM and actually take out a tank, because the AI will just run away immediately. The ATGMs are only good for area control for that reason. I've never killed a tank with an ATGM. If the AI doesn't run away, it'll just drive up to your ATGM infantry the minute you move them close enough and MG them, then you'll set up and you'll get MG'd again before they get a chance to fire and they'll be dead. Otherwise. like I said, the tank will just run away if that strategy won't work for it. Then you'll chase it several hexes with your normal infantry (equipped with LAWs). And probably never get anywhere close to it.
- Tank combat is very much "advance into range, with enough firepower, as quickly as possible to be the last man standing", which again is rather disappointing.

As a piece of software, it's really well done. Performance and the UIs are excellent. It feels extremely well programmed, and I get that sense from all Zachtronics games. The graphics, the voice acting, the little comic cut scenes are all absolutely beautiful and work really well. But mechanically as a game, it's just not very compelling for the reasons I mentioned.

Presentation: 10/10
Gameplay: 6/10

Sorry Zachtronics! I think there are some fundamental strategy mechanics missing to improve this.

kiowa
kiowa

And so I beat the game, the shriek of AT missiles still ringing in ears. I saved America, whatever that meant. The game is unique in that every piece of its mechanics screams campfest, yet you'll soon realize camping equals defeat, and that's when things become fun. Like with many negative reviews, at the beginning you'll feel that the game doesn't give you the right tools and your unit just sucks, but when you figure it out it'll be truly rewarding, just like with other Zachtronics games.

Seitimaro
Seitimaro

Pretty fun tactics game. Incredibly difficult compared to games like Advance Wars so some missions will take a few tries. Brute forcing does not work here. The AI is not stupid, and if it sees you setting up a heavy weapon, it will retreat. Generally the best strategy is to take it a tile at a time and bait the enemy into traps so you can wipe them out with artillery/tanks or overwhelm single units with infantry.

help
help

What a great strategy game! Great gameplay mechanics, it's very engaging!

brettygud_
brettygud_

After sinking several more hours into the game, and knocking the difficulty down to "Relaxed", I am changing my review from a "No" recommendation to a reluctant yes. This game is not for everyone, and even within the turn-based/wargaming genre is probably a 6/10.

On the Standard difficulty, I found the AI to be unbearably cheap. I am reminded of a GDC presentation by Warren Spector (of Deus Ex fame) - during the presentation, he remarked that forced failure is not a good player experience, and that developers should stay away from that as a mechanic. This game feels like forced failure, and not in an "overcoming insurmountable odds" way, but in an "artificial difficulty" or "the game cheats" way.

Victories are not satisfying because combat always the same repetitive "establish a perimeter, wait for reinforcements" grind. Some of the positive reviewers note that maybe the game is "too challenging," but a challenging game is fun because over time, the player adapts to progressively difficult and new obstacles. The missions feel like all the work of overcoming a challenge without the reward of progression, or the anticipation of a new problem to solve.

There are so many things I find about this game to be exciting - the setting, the unit variety, the simple-yet-deep combined arms tactics - but ultimately it feels like a lazy or half-finished execution of what was clearly a great design concept.

One caveat is that the game's music and sound design is flawless. The music is very analog and 80's sounding, in a good way.

Also played lots and lots of Cribbage Solitaire. LOTS. The Cribbage Solitaire is great.

BarryCarlyon
BarryCarlyon

I love the TIS 330 problems.

Some missions take a fair amount of time to puzzle/strat around.

Worth it for Zachtronics fans.

CHESSFOREVER
CHESSFOREVER

Weird. 8 hours of game play have now elapsed. I'm looking for another thumb to raise. This is a terrific game that will challenge military gamers. Is it unfair or unwinnable? Not that I can see: it simply doesn't play foolishly against you, no matter how much that might be desired by some. It knows the range of its own weapons and of yours, apparently, and seems to take that intelligently into account. As real, professional warriors in the field would. Indeed, this is starting to feel like an unusually solid artificial intelligence is powering its response. When you win a battle, congratulate yourself: you earned it.

Kafaw
Kafaw

A very interesting game. There have been turn-based strategy games that played like a puzzle before, but this might actually be (secretly) a puzzle game for real. Either way, it is a lot of fun, and now has online PvP!

Billy Waugh
Billy Waugh

Really enjoyed this game so far! Money well spent!

Sky_Marshal
Sky_Marshal

This is a very good game, don't understand the bad reviews.

If you liked games like Panzer Generals or even Close Combat, you should like it.
The atmosphere is good, the graphics are good and fun, sound is good too.

About the gameplay, of course it feels scripted during the campaign, but it doesn't really matter, the challenge is there and you will have to clearly understand the pros and cons of the different available vehicles to win each battle.
The campaign is very good too, original, back in the crazy 80' with an interesting scenario.

The new multiplayer mode in fun, as well as the new Soviet Army. You can't have a wargame in the 80' without the commies!

For 15 or less bucks, you will have plenty of fun, some hard times losing and losing before finding the good strategy, and with the multiplayer mode, it opens hours of game!

chri
chri

It is a nice game, while less complex than similar title like Panzer corps or Advanced wars, it still has good and challenging gameplay accompained by an intresting story (At leas more intresting than fighting the Russians/iraqis/generic eastern people for the 1000th time) and a very nice artstyle.

It is clear that despite being far from is usual repertoire of puzzle games, Zach cares about this game, with updates adressing complains on difficulty and lack of skirmish mode (To the point of adding another faction just for it), also is very clear that he is intrested in the time period, which is great since the whole "1980s cold war" setting is painfully underused.

Joker
Joker

This game is really boring, it has nothing to add to the genre. Very very boring

Fluffhead
Fluffhead

This is a pretty fun game if you enjoy a solid challenge. It is punishing, but rewarding.

*Obligatory solitaire reference*

FleshAutomatonAnimatedByCrack
FleshAutomaton…

I think this is my first Steam review; I watched a talk from Zach and he said that he takes feedback seriously so I figured, why not?

I love Zachtronics' coding games, and I also love turn-based wargames, so I was pretty excited for this one. Unfortunately I think they've missed the mark this time. There's a lot to like, but while it has the pleasing simplicity of games like Into the Breach (single-digit numbers for health, damage, range, and speed, grid map, etc.) it lacking some of the elegance.

My biggest complaint is that there's only really two ways to approach missions: the conservative way and the wrong way. As the game progresses you will always be outnumbered, and the enemy will usually have heavy armor and dangerous helicopters before you do. Short fights will likely be fights you lose, and fights you start by pushing forwards put you at a disadvantage because of damage penalties and powerful weapons that require a turn to set up. The only reliable path to victory I found is slow and steady: establish a kill zone and wait for the AI to bait themselves in or carefully study positions to find opportunities for advantageous trades where you can get more shots off than the enemy will have a chance to return. I don't actually hate this play style, but what's stifling is that it's the only way I found to win. I never really saw an opportunity to hop on an enemy before they could set up, or set up a dramatic flanking maneuver, or even strike the enemy artillery. I tried a couple of times, and ended up flying fully loaded choppers straight into enemy AA in the fog of war.

Once you figure out how to play slow and steady, the game is actually pretty rewarding in how you climb the experience curve. First you're just moving and shooting, then you learn to play the rock-paper scissors, and finally you start to manipulate the AI to set up traps and ambushes.

This is all well and good, but the missions themselves leave something to be desired. "Capture 6 points in order" typically means hang on like hell to the first point until the enemy beats themselves senseless on your defenses, then limp your remaining forces over the other 5. "Destroy the SAMs" means "Ignore the SAMs until you've eliminated the whole enemy force, then go take care of them." "Escort the civilians" means "Put the civilians in a corner, then kill every enemy you can find before moving them from it." The AI is ruthlessly objective-focused, which means you will never sneakily accomplish the objective with part of your forces while the others fight a rearguard, the enemy will drop everything to stop you. Of course, if you forget for an instant to protect the last capture point you control, the enemy will immediately kamikaze charge to steal it from you. This is the most frustrating and embarrassing way to lose, and more than once it happened to me just I was getting my phase 3 reinforcements and the tide of the actual battle was turning in my favor. I would REALLY suggest adding some kind of reminder indicator that your last capture point is vulnerable, just a pulsing red light on the UI or something.

There are also some mission balance problems, which it seems like the devs are fixing with updates as they're reported. For my part I'll say that Chapter 3 Mission 10 was very nearly impossible for me, the dug-in tank covering the first point was just so oppressive and the enemy seems to have an infinite supply of tanks, but also so much infantry that I needed two artillery pieces, but ALSO so many AA pieces that my choppers were permanently stuck behind my lines, AND an artillery piece that constantly pecked at my infantry. By the time I won I had multiple attempts that ended with my ammunition totally exhausted, but enemy tanks still rolling. It felt much much harder than the last few missions in the campaign. I also found that in Chapter 3 Mission 8 if I hover a chopper in the single-hex forest clearing the AI will helplessly circle it with infantry and vehicles even though they can't hit it, and without that trick I think it would have been pretty punishingly difficult as well.

Last complaint: I got nothing out of the story. I read the background materials, which were interesting on their own terms, and I watched all the cutscenes, and I'm left feeling like I missed something. The dialogue was good, I think that's a big strength of Zachtronics games, but the characters felt stock and uninteresting, and the plot never seemed to add up to anything. I kept waiting for a twist, and when it didn't come I searched for it, trying to find a secret. Surely the ending is that our world is infected and we have to steal the portal technology to try to escape to our own replacement world, looping us right back to the beginning, right? Hence, "Mobius Front?" Was that implied by Reagan's speech at the end? I feel foolish.

Oh wait, one more complaint: I disabled the music pretty quickly. Zachtronics music is usually pretty flat, I prefer to substitute my own. Not the biggest deal, just kind of unfortunate. I wish they took a risk and put in something a little more distinctive, instead it sounds like something from mobile game that comes preinstalled on a phone.

Hey though, the minigames are total, unqualified successes. I had never played cribbage before and found that it was a lot of fun, and the TIS-330 was the exact right amount of head-scratching for me. I do think it might be worth including in one of the tutorials the fact that you can move the input and output squares, because I struggled with that one for a while, but otherwise it was perfect.

Other good points: sound design is great, voice acting is fine, The graphics are perfect for what they are, and I appreciate the high resolution, but I do think there should be a little more emphasis put on the subtle differences between units. The first time you realize that the enemy has both 6 range TOW armored cars and 4 range cannon-armed ones is jarring; likewise when you realize that some of your APCs can move and shoot and some cannot. Maybe just a reminder at some point to carefully check unit stats before deployment?

As for the gameplay problems I had: I think the game might feel like a little less of a grind if mission objectives were easier to meet without totally wiping out the enemy. I suggest that target priority should be lowered for civilian trucks, and that some new way be added to clear fog of war without risking valuable units (maybe the command vehicle has an aerial intel ability? or you get a satellite snapshot of enemy force distribution at the start of the map?). Giving choppers, at least Hueys, the option to land after moving might also make a more mobile style more viable. Speaking of which, why does alter-Earth get move after shooting infantry and we never do? That would be another way to make aggressive gameplay viable. Finally I think the mission design could stand to get expanded a little. One of my most memorable wins was Chapter 3 Mission 2, which was maybe the only mission I was able to beat without whittling the enemy down to nothing, so it ended with a dramatic final push with my last few living units to take the last point. That was great! But even in other reconnoitering missions I found that defensive play was more reliable for securing the win. I think that type of mission should be more common. Oh, also the enemy's phase 1 deployment numbers are only shown for a second at the start of the map, and they go to zero before the player does anything. Since deployment points are always spent, how about just showing them grayed out after the phase ends instead of reducing them to zero?

Okay out of space, thanks for the game love you bye.

Ben
Ben

A great turn based strategy game. Unlike similar games, most units can't move and shoot on the same turn which makes positioning very important.

I do not understand other reviews which say this game is too hard/unfair. Once I understood the mechanics and stopped rushing into the enemy, it flowed really well.

Very much enjoyed. I'd like to play more, I hope a DLC or something is in the works.

The campaign lasted me 16 hours.

Colonel Poochie
Colonel Poochie

Game is polished and fun to play. Great 30 minute battles and now that it has skirmish and multiplayer, worth every penny.
This is a brawl between 2 armies on a rather small map and placement is everything so ton of strategy involved.
Good game.

TronPauli
TronPauli

It's not fair to be mad that this isn't a puzzle game, so I'm just going to judge it as a strategy game on its own merit. The core mechanics have serious issues (weapons that require setup are nigh useless), and the missions are too repetitive (really either just capture point or destroy the SAM). This had so much potential and didn't deliver because of very simple issues in the most critical parts of the game design. Would not recommend.

FEZ
FEZ

This has to be my number three favourite game from Zachtronics behind Molek-syntez and Opus Magnum for its simply mechanics that are used to create a thoroughly in depth puzzle to unpick. Not only that it is polished to a shine and the typical artistic coherency of Zachtronics.

Madbarron
Madbarron

A satisfying tactics game. Enough complexity to get into things without bogging you down.

annymouse
annymouse

I dunno man. I thought I would love this game but between the uninspired missions, strange AI choices and overall samey stuff for long stretches of time, only broken up by like 2 seconds of story between each 10 - 15 minute mission is just not good.

The game looks and sounds wonderful, and the story seems interesting. I hope the devs try something like this again in the future.

PoetIsland
PoetIsland

A very constrained tactical experience. Missions are structured like puzzles and the outcome of armored unit combat is unpredictable. A lot of play does seem to revolve around exploiting the AI's reluctance to lose armored units and willingness to sacrifice infantry units. If the AI played any better the game would probably be extremely difficult since being the aggressor puts you at a significant disadvantage and the random element. On the other hand, the take on modern cold-war warfare shows how modern anti-tank weapons redefined the battle field. So many strategy games revolve around WW2 defensive trench warfare and armored unit "spears". This shows a little slice of the awkward reality of modern warfare. It's not realistic in many many ways but it does show how tactically challenging managing armored units and mixed small infantry actually is. I see a lot of complaints about how to defeat a battle tank you need overwhelming armored units yourself or you need to use anti-tank units. I don't think that's a flaw; I think that is the lesson. Infantry is supposed to be your preferred method of engaging armored units and armored units are in part for ferrying that infantry around. If you need to mass armored units to attack other armored units the result is going to be expensive and messy. This is why the world is full of land mines, improvised explosives, and RPGs.

Protoster
Protoster

I'll start by addressing something that I often read about MF83:
This is not a typical Zachtronics programming game, and it is not a typical war tactics game like Advance Wars or X-COM.
So if you buy this game expecting it to be just like one of those two, you will be disappointed.

With that out of the way, MF83 is a very tightly designed game, expertly executed.
Fully polished, every aspect of the game feels deliberately designed, it is a focused vision.
Despite the disclaimer, I believe it is more of a zach-like than people think. Be ready to:

    • read manuals
    • play solitaire
    • feel like a genius when you finally get your solution to work
    • soak in the atmosphere
    • read great writing
    • inspect histograms

Give it a try!

MONT.CLAIR.ARE
MONT.CLAIR.ARE

Something doesn’t work here. I wish there was a neutral score but I'll give positive because I like what they tried and in the end I enjoyed it more than not.

The games seems like it should be mechanically sound, it is a Zachtronics game, but somehow the battles flow strangely. Many units are best suited for ambush - High damage but with short range and long setup times – but the AI sees all and will never take the bait making half of the roster completely useless. On many maps the best strategy is to ignore infantry and just rush in with your tanks. This isn’t great for such a deliberately paced game and relies too much on good damage rolls to work.

The game has good atmosphere. The story is told through short vignettes between missions that often have little to do with the larger story instead focusing on the opinions of several soldiers. These were interesting and showed how we can dehumanize anyone, even if they are literally ourselves. There were several really good moments, but none of them hit hard enough to really make it worth it. A really good build up with only a little to say. What it did say was good and I kind of hope I missed something here.

hotdogCrawdad
hotdogCrawdad

To be fair, I have not beaten the game yet, but I have played enough to already feel really satisfied with the purchase. As a fan of Battletech and Advance Wars and numerous other turn-based strategy games like this I have been really enjoying this game and if you're a fan of those games I think you will too. Zachtronics has made yet another game that I am unable to stop myself from devoting every bit of free-time and brain-space I have to. Furthermore, I appreciate that this game focuses on an era of military doctrine and technology that aren't often depicted in games! This game really forces you to ride the line between pushing your units forward and slowing down and setting up advantageous positions. There is a wide variety of units to use and making the best use of each is a fun and rewarding challenge. The mini games are great fun and as addictive as ever and the military documents included in the game really help to put you in the setting which i really appreciate! I will return to this review once I finished the game (which might be very soon at the feverish rate I am playing it) but I definitely think this game is worth picking up!

Euro_General
Euro_General

(Review en Français 2eme partie)

Möbius Front ’83 is a very solid game that put you in charge of diverse military unit when drones and picatinny rail weren’t common.
Its easy to understand what does what and the Campaign give explain you, clearly, what to do against hostile, unmoving soviet cardboards.

Outside of a solid campaign I won’t spoil, the game takes some inspiration of American field manual of this era. But take note it’s not a realistic wargame. Talking about the campaign, the other little puzzle present in game while they aren’t essential are interesting and a welcomed change of pace, and as a bonus are coherent in the game universe.

Units have different movement type and ability. Some vehicles can transport infantry, some can fire after moving, some need to set up before firing... And depending on the country some units are different and require a different angle of approach to defeat them (for example in multiplayer: Unlike the American rifle team that got a AT weapon the Soviet Rifle team can set up a LMG and fire a bit further)

Art wises the game is well polished with an interesting comical art style that can remind of advance wars while retaining attention to detail for units graphic.
The music is fitting for the game and the sounds can be surprising at first with their muffled effect but are otherwise of good quality and are consistent.

The only things that I can reproach to the game is the lack of diversity when it come to maps. And some peoples won’t like the RNG involved when firing with some units.

Revue en FRANÇAIS
Möbius Front ’83 est un jeu assez solide sur plein de point. Le jeu vous met aux commandes de diverse unité militaire a une époque où les drones et les rail Picatinny n’était pas aussi répandue.
Le jeu est assez facile à prendre en mains et la campagne explique correctement comment utiliser vos diffèrent unité sur d’hostile cartons représentant des soviétiques.

Je ne parlerais pas trop de la campagne, tout ce qu’il faut savoir c’est que le jeu prend inspiration de diffèrent manuel américain du début des année 80’s, des petits clins d’œil et inspiration sont visible à certain moment. En parlant de la Campagne, les puzzles présents, même s’ils ne sont pas indispensables pour poursuivre l’histoire sont intéressant à compléter et, chose assez important, sont cohérent dans l’univers du jeu.

Les unités on diffèrent types de mouvement et capacité. Certains véhicules peuvent transporter des unités d’Infanterie, certaine peuvent tirer après avoir bougé, d’autre requirent une installation avant de pouvoir être utilisé… Et selon le pays certaine unité apparemment très proche peuvent avoir des différences, ce qui requière de prendre un angle d’approche diffèrent pour s’en charger (Par exemple en multijoueur : au contraire des Fusilier Américains qui on accès a une arme antichar, l’infanterie de base Soviétique a un fusil-mitrailleur qui lui permet de tirer un peu plus loin sur les unité légère ennemie.)

Question graphisme le jeu reste assez simple mais a un certain charme, certaine fois les véhiculés pourront faire penser qu’il s’agit d’Advance Wars, mais reste distinct, et avec une jolie attention au détail.
La musique sans être vraiment la meilleure du monde est plus que correcte et marche bien dans l’univers du jeu, cela comprend aussi les sons qui sonne étouffer mais reste consistent.

La seule chose que l’on peut reprocher à ce jeu est un manque de diversité au niveau des cartes, et la RNG qui ne plaira pas à tout le monde, surtout concernant certaines unités.

TekF
TekF

Deeply frustrating. The two difficulty settings make almost no difference, as the difficulty is so inconsistent from level to level. I frequently found levels where I'd just get stuck and it wouldn't be clear what I'd done wrong or how I could get past it. I love other Zachtronics games, but in terms of turn based strategy this is nowhere near as much fun as Star Renegades or Into The Breach. It's just a slog, but I kept playing hoping I'd settle into a rhythm. I eventually gave up after failing the same level 12 times with no discernible progress.

Also the story is really generic unpleasant hyper-masculine military stuff, none of the cool clever social commentary from other Zachtronics games.

Voffvoffhunden
Voffvoffhunden

Great turn-based tactics with enough variety in units and battlefields that no scenario ends up feeling the same or encourages you to fall into the same tactics over and over again.
Using the principles of theoretical late Cold War as a design basis also leaves it feeling distinctly different from most other turn-based tactical models. It took me a little bit of effort to understand what kind of tactics to employ, but once I did the battles started feeling dynamic and surprising in a way I didn't expect!

Parabellona
Parabellona

10/10, solitaire cribbage sim and signals puzzle

Also a pretty damn good advance wars inspired TBS

ColonelFlagg
ColonelFlagg

I have finished the campaign and all the Sig Int puzzles, and this is the first Zachtronics game I have finished (I own Space Chem but haven't finished it).

I thoroughly enjoyed this turn-based, scenario based strategy game. The whole atmosphere it creates with art, story (fully voiced), and music is great. I love that they nerded out on actual US military documents from the time period (I read them) and all the different vehicle/weapon types. The missions are challenging and you have to "puzzle out" how to succeed in a mission (you'll learn over time how the OPFOR reacts to certain situations, just as you discover more about their backstory). The Sig Int puzzles were interesting, and I love love love the solitaire cribbage game (I found and bought from army surplus a deck of the Visual Aircraft Recognition playing cards they used).

It seems like the complaints from professional reviewers were regarding:
- Frustrating that your infantry cannot attack after moving
- Randomness of weapon damage
- That each mission feels like a puzzle rather than a strategy game

My responses:
- Reading the supporting documents, you can see that infantry doctrine was typically defensive (where they would dig in after taking a position and setup ATGM positions), so I understand why it's designed this way.
- I'm a board gamer, so I'm used to dice rolls simulating the effects of combat on the soldier (don't always operate at peak performance). It also gives you emotional highs and lows during the campaign.
- What turn-based, scenario-based strategy game doesn't feel like a puzzle? I've played Panzer Corps (and WH40K clone), Unity of Command, Battle for Wesnoth, Into the Breach, Robert E Lee CWG and many more, and they can all feel like puzzles when you lose and are trying to find the right "solution." You begin to learn to not blunder into FOW areas where ambushes are likely.

My negatives:
- I do think the "puzzle" like feeling of the missions would be reduced if the mission briefings were better. Every briefing is basically the same out of a few mission types with very little information (maybe intentional to make you feel like you don't know what's going on?): if you knew the important points to defend or the differences between alternate routes upfront, it would feel less like trial-and-error experimenting.
- I've read the AI may have perfect vision without FOW: this seems likely since they almost never blunder their vehicles into an ATGM ambush (they can be loose with helicopters and infantry). So you have to use your weak ATGMs to setup denial zones until you're setup to attack with your offensive units (basic infantry are also helpful because enemy vehicles don't like to get hit by LAWs by staying still).
- Maps look samey with green grass/trees/roads/water.
- While there are many different vehicles/weapons, there are very small stat differences. It is good that each unit in your/enemy battle group feels like it has a distinct role, but it's definitely not a simulation war game.

Overall a great game that I'm glad I purchased and enjoyed its content.

Goob
Goob

I am not the usual fanbase for a Zachtronics game however I found the setting and aesthetics to be very interesting so I bought it. What followed was a rocky road filled with frustration but also much love for this game.

I think Mobius Front '83 is a very special game. If you come in here expecting an Advance Wars or other similar turn based strategy game, you will follow the same path of not understanding and frustration that I did. The success of Mobius Front is, through a relatively simple (compared to other strategy games that attempt this) set of mechanics, it captures very well the tactical and strategic thinking of the US in the late Cold War. It models through mechanics and the campaign missions the shaky position tanks and other armored vehicles occupied as ATGMs of all sorts presented a clear edge on the battlefield. Mobius Front does not make tanks useless however. They still occupy a powerful battlefield role but through mechanics the game teaches the importance of supporting them so that they can live long enough to do that role.

Mobius Front wants you to play defensively, or if you must be on the offense (as in the recon missions) to do so smartly and with intelligent planning and placement of units to provide covering fire. On a purely "fun gameplay" level, Mobius Front does let down at times because does not have any of the options or mechanics that players might expect from other turn based strategy games. However, I think Mobius Front's "fun" comes from learning how the game wants you to think and watching as success pours in a bit more easily.

Combine the all star mechanics with excellent visual design (though I wish the multiplayer had alternative color schemes for the factions in case both players wanted to play the same faction), an amazing soundtrack and audio, and what is now my favorite form of Cribbage Solitaire and you get a pretty good game that is well worth the 20 dollar asking price, provided you are willing to let the game teach you how to play.

Quarkschnidde
Quarkschnidde

really excellent tight little wargame. I can see how it might not be the right thing for some players, but I think if you go in with the right expectations you can get a ton of enjoyment out of it. The main thing to wrap your head around is that this game wants you to play slow and deliberate. winning engagements isn't about throwing your units at the enemy, but instead about clever maneuvering, setting up killzones and carefully picking fights you are sure to win while avoiding the ones you can't. Sometimes you also have to deliberately sacrifice units or designate some to a minor front in a holding action so that your main force can push the objectives. Winning is always about completing the mission, no matter how many losses you take along the way, so don't get too attached to your troops. This game definitely feels more like chess than something like xcom. sure, it has some RNG, but the randomness can always be mitigated, and an important part of the game is learning to always plan your attacks with bad luck in mind - you need to create situations where even if all your units only deal minimal damage, you still come out on top.
if that doesn't put you off, you are looking at a real gem!

Blastom
Blastom

Not a good game, but worth to have a look. Probably a "wait for a sale" for some players.
The major problems of the game to me, was lack of a multiplayer server to find a match for pbem game.

On single player side, the ai just acted weird, which made me unable to play the game for long.
The ai had full-map version, which is ok to me, but I couldn't stand its threat judging algorithm.
It determined the threat range of a unit only by weapon range, instead of move + weapon range for unit could move and attack. So it could avoid all ATGM and all Laws, but also easily got caught by tanks.
So the meta game on single player was heavily offseting to tank superme.
Move and attack, while threating the target with a mobile ATGM vehicle could easily get free attacks.
For some more weird play, mount infantry on tanks with ATGM would make ai consider they couldn't shoot for the next turn and easily got baited into missile range.
Cheap mortar vehicle were too cost-efficient on clearing infantry units that moving slowly.

After a little while, my strategy in single player was easily formed as delay enemies with ATGM threat and then bombard all its infantry with mobile mortars or artillery and then hunt its vehicles with the move & attack + ATGM threat trick. The depth of game easily shallowed by the weird behaviors of ai.

Still the basic rules of the game was pretty to me.

Floop
Floop

The mechanics of the game to favour a conservative, defensive, position jockeying playstyle, as other reviewers have said. However, saying the game is bereft of opportunities for bold flanks is exaggerating. It is very rewarding to figure out the outlines of what this particular hex warfare game wants you to do and push the limits within it.

The presentation is top notch, as zachtronics games tend to be. Think of it as a tactical puzzle game and it shines.

TFJ
TFJ

Mobius Front 83 is a hard game to review. At a first glance, it seems to be a standard wargame quite similar to Advance Wars or Panzer General. Except that it plays quite differently, and it tends to leave a bad first impression. But the more time you spend with it, the more you might come to appreciate the design decisions and nuances of the rules.

The game tries to emulate the war doctrines of the cold-war era, where the once unstoppable tank met his match in long distance, portable anti-tank guns. As such, the gameplay will feel much slower and contained to similar games, since mindless aggression is heavily punished. Battles feel like a game of cat and mouse, where each opponent tries to set up kill zones and bait his enemy into it.

At first the unit balance will seem completely lopsided, since only a very small number of vehicles, such as tanks, can move and shoot at the same turn. Add the fact that most anti-tank weapons need one turn of setup, it seems to be a common occurrence that new players will think tanks are the best and only viable strategy. Which is quite far from the truth.

Tanks, while very powerful and versatile, can easily be destroyed in one or two hits. Also, the game works on a limited point system, and as you might guess, tanks are generally quite expensive when compared to infantry or APCs. The player is rewarded for having a mixed, balanced force to handle multiple different threats.

That all said, there are some grievances. The AI ignores Fog of War, which can be aggravating sometimes. It's also not very bright. I will say though that the campaign is balanced around those limitations. There's not much variance in the maps in terms of visual or terrain. And as said previously, the game is quite slow paced.

Besides the campaign, there is a surprisingly good multiplayer mode. Three factions to play, each with different army compositions.

Unfortunately you can only play against the AI or a friend, since having some sort of public lobby system would be less troublesome. Though it seems very hard to find another human player willing to spend the time. From what I've seen in terms of reviews, the reception to the game was quite lukewarm. The same can be said of the sales, since this is by design a niche game.

In any case, I would recommend this game for wargame / turn based tactics fans that do not mind slow paced, challenging and nuanced gameplay.

Pusalieth
Pusalieth

Good game. It's kidna of an interesting mish mash of games. Little bit of; Panzer General, Axis&Allies, and something unique mixed together. It's not the best game, but it's not bad either. There's a hidden puzzle in the TIS-330 modules you recover. I suspect there will be a merge of the TIS-100 game, and this game to make a unique universe. Would be pretty neat. Kinda would be cool to have physical units that mimic these behaviors.

The only bug I've run into thus far is when you kill all the enemy team units, you still need the command points for victory, seems pointless.

For features, it would be nice to play multiplayer on a central server so you don't need friends... ;(

General Curmudgeon
General Curmudgeon

Just came back to this game after a long break. Regretted it enough to decide to leave a review.

If you're looking for a casual beer & pretzels war game. Don't. Just don't.

Many of the other reviews have talked about the shortcomings of the combat system in the game so I won't belabor them here. It's just so wrong in so many ways, it's painful to play for me.

If you're looking for some fun Zachtronics puzzles, they're in there, but you have to slog through the combat scenarios to get to them. So just don't.

Yossarian
Yossarian

Clearly inspired by Into the Breach, Zachtronics have done something really special here--and have kind of missed the mark. I'm recommending this because the presentation, art, sound (music especially!) and overall the whole experience is finely tuned--but there's some aspect of complexity in its wargaming mechanics that's just missing. Maybe the over-reliance on different kinds of AT weapons (inspired as it is by AT manuals from the 80s)? I'm excited to try the multiplayer, and I hope you give this one a chance--just don't expect it to be perfect.

double xp weekend
double xp weekend

the best tactics game i have ever played. you must be conservative, cautious. wait for the right moment to strike. once you understand that, the game becomes one of the best.

Cult of Cthulhu
Cult of Cthulhu

I want to like this I really do. I played a lot of Battle isle growing up and all sorts of tactics games so this looked like a great buy but the first clue that this one may overstay its welcome is that less than 6% of owners have even beaten the campaign, and after finished chapter 1 I know why, its just so samey. Every mission looks, feels and plays the same way. The fog of war means you need to play once sending your troops to their death to know what the enemy has and where it is before being able to play again and use strategy. On the base setting its almost impossible to survive a misplay as every unit can be one shot by its counter piece in a sort of Rock paper scissor rule.

And dont get me started on how slow troops move 1 hex?! it means you know you've won on turn 5 but must play out 20 turns moving troops forward on hex at a time because if you load them into a truck it will be one shot killing all occupants.

Artillery seems to fire pillows often direct hitting a unit and doing so little damage it is not worth using. In one mission I loaded up with 7 mortars and some spotter troops but after 7 rounds of shelling Id only killed one unit. sure I was going to win no doubt but I was not going to lob shells for another 100 rounds just to prove my strategy worked.

And finally the achievements... why would you have a mini game that is so boring its not worth mentioning and then tell me I need to win 100 times if I am a completionist

Oh and the AI cheats. It obviously doesnt suffer from the fog of war as when you select anti tank units to deploy they never push and if you bring no anti tank they blitzkrieg you

Squiddy
Squiddy

Fun middle ground of these sorts of strategy games, feeling like some mix between Advanced Wars and Panzercorps that's given its own gameplay systems. Has a lot of restarting that isn't helped by RNG damage values, but it mostly just feels like each level is a puzzle to figure out.

vitalik1700
vitalik1700

I like Zachtronics and their programming games. But every now and then they try to create something else than programming game, and they usually fails in a weird way. Ironclad tactics bored me to death in a few hours despite nice art style. Mobius Front... well, playing Mobius Front is like herding cats - generally it works, but it's much more tedious and time consumong that it should be.

The problem is simple - game tells you that it's built around rock-paper-scissors scheme of "infantry vs ATGM vs tanks". Except it's not, since all AI units perfectly know where your ATGM are and never come in range. So it's actually tanks who destroy tanks, and do it in a tedious, RNG-based way. After tanks are done - you just go and complete your mission objective, mopping infantry on the way. And biggest challenge in the game are deployment conditions which don't allow you to spawn enough tnaks.

So, gameplay is seriously screwed. Everything else - everything else is great and made with great love, like really huge (300+pages) "supplementary documents" or solitaire with actual aircraft recognition card scans. That's why I'm givin this game "thumbs up" despite those 27 hours I spent on it weren't so great.

Recursion
Recursion

Unfortunately, this game lacks diversity; not necessarily unit diversity, but game play diversity. There is one game mode that you play throughout the entire campaign and it feels stale after the first two missions.

Mabry
Mabry

Extremely well made top down tactics game. Deploy your troops and hope for the best!
This isn't for the weak minded however, expect to be frustrated because this is a challenging game that is very rewarding when played through.

Profile
Profile

I miss the times of l33t things like Shenzhen I/O and Exapunks...

That Scar
That Scar

Amazing tactics gameplay with an untasteful wrapper around it.

The missions have a poor format, there's additional useless Zachtronics additions that only dilute the game and the tutorial is _absolute garbage._ But when it clicks, the tactics gameplay is so unique, there isn't quite anything like it in the video game world. Every move is a calculated decision, defensive play is king and you are always trying to get that tiny bit of edge or surprise that barely tips the scales in your favour (except for the fact that the AI is cheating but that's alright, IMO)

I recommend trying out multiplayer; since there are few players, you might have to join the official Steam group chat and play around timezones.

Vortigaunt Steve
Vortigaunt Steve

Overall, Mobius Front is a decent turn based strategy game that accurately depicts combined arms combat, has a great atmosphere, and comes with a relaxing little Solitaire mini game. However, the game suffers from terrible level design, and the fact that most of the game's combat is over-reliant on RNG. Expect your well-planned attacks to fail because your tank only did one point of damage while the enemy was able to one-shot you on the next turn.

It's definitely worth a buy when it's on sale, but be warned that later levels (especially the escort missions later in the game) are so unfairly difficult that they're almost unplayable.

captainwolfs
captainwolfs

Ultimately this game looks good at a glance, but falls apart due to missions being very repetitive, and the fact that units that have to be set up are fairly useless, as they generally need two turns before they can fire, but the AI is excellent at staying out of reach of your set up units and prioritizing the squishy anti-tank.

Parasauro
Parasauro

This game is incredible. All the people saying it isn't good either don't actually understand gaming, don't like a good story, or would rather be playing a real time strategy game (which this game isn't). If you love hex and turn-based strategy with lovely art and a great story, then give it a go.

Garmuth
Garmuth

You have to approach this game without trying to fit it into any specific genre. If you only like puzzle games or only war games, you'll be disappointed. It's definitely somewhere in between.

There is stuff to investigate and learn, so if you like doing that in general, you'll enjoy it. Also, don't overlook the multiplayer mode's singleplayer component.

lnxpnk
lnxpnk

I usually don't like puzzle games, but this is great.

Thanks for supporting Linux.

CMDR Psychic TV
CMDR Psychic TV

Cribbage solitaire with a real deck of cards! 10/10

fdeth
fdeth

Pros
- the core tactics gameplay is pretty nice, it gives an interesting approximation of Cold War era combat
- great visuals
- great audio
- good mini games

Cons
- the story is very thin and slow

mrLman
mrLman

This game provides a unique experience - a fun and original mix of genres. I especially like the defensive aspect of the game. Digging in with an outnumbered force and finding good defensive positions is something I've rarely found in other games.

KappaZo
KappaZo

Overview: Mobius Front ’83 is an okay war game. The game story progresses kind of slowly (I am on mission 10), but is interesting. It is definitely for casual war gamers and not anyone with a serious interest in detailed combat simulation. I have not seen engineering units yet for minefield clearance and bridging and do not know if those types of units will be included. Though some units are under-strength and others lack the variety of weapons or ammunition, so far it has been fun to play and I recommend it – if it is on sale.

Pros:
- Moderate realism and variety of units is consistent with early-1980s US Army.
- Some units require resupply, like mobile ATGM teams – that is a good tactical problem to present you.
- Set-up requirements make sense for units like anti-tank teams.
- The signals intelligence mini-game was enjoyable (I have found two teams and solved those two puzzles besides the tutorials - I am looking forward to the rest).

Major Cons (negatively affect game play):
- The AI knows how to sit just outside your range and in general just sits there. It is not particularly aggressive and so far has not been much of a challenge.
- Mortars and long-range artillery units are under strength for weapon damage. If you hit tanks with 155mm and 4 x 106mm mortars (5 hits), the tank receives no damage, which is unrealistic. You should be able to at least immobilize or destroy outright after making multiple attacks.
- Tank and armored vehicle repair points give Patton tanks and the light-armored vehicles unrealistic survivability. A repair unit would make more sense.

Minor Cons (issues with realism; I think adding these features would also improve playability):
- All types of artillery can only fire HE rounds and not FASCAM (family of scatterable mines) or smoke, which limits their employment options.
- Infantry squads only have M-16s and LAWs, but no M-60 machine guns or M203 launchers, which would have comparable range to vehicle-mounted machine-guns. The issue here is that is you are defending in a tree line, enemy infantry advances to pointblank range and there is nothing you can do to engage them until then. Infantry advancing against defensive positions would be cut down quickly.
- Units cannot dig-in and prepare even minor fighting positions. Most of the engagements are the meeting type rather than attacks against prepared positions, but for some of the levels it would add some variety.
- Units will not ambush. Units must be told to engage, so if your well-placed Dragon team is found, the enemy quickly rushes multiple light vehicles forward to engage and sometimes you never get a shot off.
- Infantry units do not have a smoke option.
- I understand the game is designed around an I GO-U GO system for movement and combat. However, an ability to pool artillery fire and cause a greater effect would be nice.

AeroArchonite_
AeroArchonite_

A very good Zachtronics game, but not in the classical Signals/Computing/Systems sense. You'll be solving puzzles, except these are made of men and steel, not electromagnetic waves or bits.
If you're into the military, particularly the United States Army (especially during the Cold War), you'll find a similar level of intricacy with U.S. Army equipment as you did with computers in TIS-100. For example, multiple TRADOC bulletins are included as installation-located PDFs for 'immersion', in a similar style as the TIS-100 manual.

This is not a turn-based strategy game, it's a puzzle game. It took me a minute to realize, but each level has optimal (and correspondingly sub-optimal) unit compositions. You could see this as a positive or a negative (and it's not entirely a puzzle game, either), but it makes for more interesting gameplay in my opinion: there isn't one overarching strategy for every level. No armor-recon groups, no mass infantry assaults, no mechanized offensives. Your strategy has to be tailored to the enemy's unit composition: large amounts of tank destroyers mean less armor and more anti-tank infantry on your end; if the enemy has a large number of air assault units, you'll want machineguns that can take out those helicopters.

Some asides:
- The music is very good and immersive, and there's a much more fleshed out story than you'd see in earlier Zachtronics games.
- This is possibly the cleanest looking and smoothest hex-based strategy-esque game I've ever played.
- The "TIS-330" in-game is your Zachtronics computing fill, since the game doesn't have a whole lot of it otherwise; it's a non-essential lore/story thing.
- If you like history or alt-history, you'll at least find a passing interest in the plot. Disclaimer: I've not yet even finished the first chapter of the game, but to my very limited extent of playing, the game is very good and I've been on the edge of my seat.

Also, the Solitaire minigame may as well be its own game. It's very good, and very frustrating, etc. etc. etc. If you've played TIS-100, expect the Solitaire to have a similar difficulty level.

Artem
Artem

Отличный пазл-тактика, по ощущениям от игры похоже на любимый Into the Breach.

Kapouille
Kapouille

I'm going to give a positive review because it's been an enjoyable experience and I did finish the game to the end and enjoyed it greatly.
This game has great production values, and the game system is well designed.
The AI is decent, although it clearly sees beyond the fog of war, which can be frustrating at times

However, there are a few annoying flaws that make this game not as great as the usual Zachgames:

- Some units have absolutely no value. In fact with experience only a handful of units end up being truly useful. So much so that any mission type can be solved with the same builds. It's very unlike usual Zachtronics games where everything is almost mathematically built and measured!
- There's undeniable sameness in the game structure.
- The added skirmish mode could benefit with a random adversary selection.

All in all, it's has some elements of greatness, but doesn't quite reach it, but in my opinion has been an enjoyable play through.

I would really like them to give it another try and eventually

Nilop
Nilop

textbook foxhole shakespearian dialogue right here guys

nah but seriously these guys know how to make a game, like holy smokes

come for the golden 80s experience, stay for the fact that not only do they have a fucking perfect, near indiscernible whistling sound when the mortar drops as a detail but also has an AI that actually feels like it wants to prioritize staying alive

also the game is not that easy - the AI does not follow the same rules you do and will exploit every mistake you make and it will do everything in its power to not let itself be exposed to your attacks, you learn very quickly that the AI wants to make the least bad moves and you need to bait it into making those moves to score hits, which is genuinely thrilling

buckle up for a 20 turn match and hope you dont make a single mistake

this is the puzzle game of turn based strategy and it feels so fucking good to outsmart the computer

Iksu
Iksu

A good puzzle game with a fun variety of units, but the best thing about this game is CRIBBAGE SOLITAIRE

King Link
King Link

This game is currently in the Humble Choice for November 2021. If you are interested in the game and it's before December 7th, 2021, consider picking up the game as part of the current monthly bundle.

Zachtronics meets Advance Wars, and I’m loving it.

Mobius Front is a hexagon-based tactical shooter. Your units can move and shoot, as can the enemy, but there’s a ton of information on display and decisions you have to make based on what you can see. Even this game, which is not a puzzle game, can feel like a puzzle game when Zachtronics gets their hands on it. It has the most amazing feeling when you make a plan, execute it and suddenly everything goes your way.

This is a slow-paced game though, you’ll move your units and then have to wait to see what your enemy responds with. It’s extremely tactical and plan-heavy, where you’re going to study the situation and can use logic and reason to find strong and interesting moves. Like most Zachtronics games this is going to appeal to… well people who like Zachtronics games, like Magnum Opus, Exapunks, and Spacechem. Even when this is a completely different genre, it still has a similar feeling.

Pick this up if you like Wargroove or Advance Wars, this is very similar to both of those titles, while still feeling fresh and new. Personal opinion, I love Zachtronics games, and I picked this one up at launch because I’m a huge fan, but I also fully recognize this is still a game that’s pretty much made for that programmer part of my brain.

If you enjoyed this review or want to know what I think of other games in the bundle, check out the full review on or subscribe to my youtube channel: https://youtu.be/UKM-SE5rW3E

Vectis99
Vectis99

Decent strategy game that provides a solid challenge. I only played the single-player campaign.

TimeZeroHour
TimeZeroHour

Its a marathon not a sprint also you will learn how to play cribbage solitaire.

thewifiwhisperer
thewifiwhisperer

The '80s! turn-based wargaming on a hex map! Zachtronics! On paper this should be a very cool game for a specific audience.

In practice, the gameplay has a tendency to be somewhat tedious. The tutorial was straight-forward enough, but once I started the first real missions, quickly I was overrun. Or at least, felt that I was definitely not in grasping reach of winning.

This was mostly due to two gameplay design flaws. First: only very, very few units allow you to move and shoot on a single turn. This means that units will have a tendency to 'stand off' just outside of range of each other, waiting for the other to move first.

Secondly: the AI seems to be all-knowing. You won't be able to ambush him with a well-placed trap. He knows the position of your troops without scouting. You, however, suffer from fog of war visibility limits.

The first flaw leads to "trench warfare", where it's often better to wait for the other to move, leading to a lot of idling, the second very much adds to that.

You end up with your coolest, heaviest hitting units doing rear-guard duty, basically denying access to your enemy by sheer being, rather than "recon&rush" maneuver warfare. Instead of scouting, probing and then trying to exploit a weakness, the majority of engagements are infantry units rambling through the woods at slow speeds with the occasional snipe shot, while your armor units hang back and guard bottlenecks.

Especially since the enemy has more units, you're very rarely rewarded for bold, aggressive moves, but rather for slow careful plodding, slowly pushing the balance of power forward.

At least, that was the majority of the first chapter, after which I gave up, simply because the game, however much I wanted to like it, was no fun.

As typical of Zachtronics games, there is a solitaire (Cribbage solitaire), which was entertaining enough. Surprisingly, there's also an additional signals puzzle side-game you'll unlock, that's a bit reminiscent of Shenzhen I/O. Solving the signals puzzles generated more sense of achievement to me than completing a mission in the main campaign.

Prospero666
Prospero666

Remember Military Madness on TurboGrafx-16? Yeah, it's that.

Rip
Rip

I really wanted to like this game, as the visual style and Cold War theme really appeal to me. But like many others have said, the game is frustration more than a fun. The fact that the enemy AI knows where all your units are all the time means that no matter what, you can never, ever, ever set up a successful trap of any sort. The AI will never fall for what you're trying to do. So what you end up with, is a campaign full of the same-ish missions which are really just puzzles meant to be solved pretty much one way. This is essentially a puzzle game disguised as a strategy game. Such a shame.

dave3000
dave3000

This game's story line reads like a good sci-fi novel. Whether or not you spend the time watching it unfold or just dive right into the fight, I think you'll find it compelling. Yes, the hex grid pattern for moving can be frustrating but after playing for awhile, it made perfect sense to me. Especially as the game seems to be designed to resemble games from many years ago. The radio puzzle side quest, daunting but worth it. I love the card game cribbage so I found that to be a massive addition!

jdinthe503
jdinthe503

On the surface, this game is really cool: military-style strategy game on a hex grid, turn based, a bunch of different units, it has a lot of the elements of a fun game.

In practice, every fight ends up being a fairly boring slog. You'll spend five turns setting up your units perfectly only to miss the single cell where the enemy can't be hit, and they'll move there and one-shot your units. This game punishes you for any manner of aggression. Unfortunately, there's also just enough RNG to feel like the game is designed to screw you over, but not enough to add any meaningful variety to battles. The enemy seems to have a full view of the grid, meaning they will never accidentally move into your line of fire; instead, you have to corner most of the powerful units, meaning each fight takes significantly longer than necessary. Health points are also at a premium, and a number of units can one-shot other units, which worsens the problem.

There are a variety of units. Instead of that being a feature, you'll often settle for a small subset of units that aren't hard-countered by a majority of the enemy composition. Some units can shoot after they move, others can't (there is no reasoning or consistency to this). Tragically, there are only a few unit archetypes, and the units within each archetype look nearly identical, meaning you'll spend a huge amount of time clicking your units just to figure out which one has which perks. You can gather enough information to take your turn, but the game obscures it and makes it a pain to deal with.

The story, writing, and characters are terrible. The story is drip-fed through 30 seconds cutscenes with no clear purpose or reason. All I can tell from the story is, "enemy bad".

The music and overall graphical style of the game are superb. These are easily the highlights.

Honestly, I could see a variation of this game that's an easy Recommend, and if it's on sale, give it a shot and maybe you'll have a different experience than I did. But for me, this game had one too many flaws in the core gameplay loop to make it worth continuing to play.

入 人 λ³ AVL3 גスℵ
入 人 λ³ AVL3 גスℵ

What DEFCON was to real-time strategic games, Mobius Front is to squad-level turn-based tactics games - in a way. I mean to say that like DEFCON, Mobius Front is easy to pick up and play, challenging to master, offers a fantastic skirmish mode and is arguably a simpler game than some of its more hardcore wargame brethren.

But it's a great starting point for someone new to tactics gaming and a fun romp with an interesting story and the classic Zachtronics extras (technical minigames; real squad doctrine documentation)

A key element worth noting is that the enemy AI has perfect information. This means that the enemy AI will never fall for any of your attempts at traps - the AI will literally never advance into a killzone. This encourages static, conservative, piecemeal play. As such it's worth noting this is also arguably a puzzle game.

Bernie
Bernie

This game really needs a lot more development before I can recommend it. Right now it's playable, and parts are even enjoyable, but there's too many things that set your teeth on edge and frustrate you as a player. Too often the player is left in an unrealistic position, such as having landed to drop troops and being unable to take off again immediately and losing that sense of full immersion that a good game keeps you suspended in. Instead, your mind wanders and you find yourself wondering why it was done that way and did the developer consult with any actual vets? Don't get me wrong, the game has a lot of potential and could easily become one of the classics that players 20 years from now will remember fondly and boot up to play now and again, but first it needs more fleshing out, better documentation (an in game unit list would be nice), some off-screen support such as artillery and air strikes, and a lot less "enemy turn annihilation" of units that move next to a powerful enemy but can't attack that turn.

✠DFSpecter
✠DFSpecter

That single-player cribbage is addictive.

dietrich
dietrich

https://scientificgamer.com/thoughts-mobius-front-83/

I SOOOOOOOOOOOO wish I had read this article before I wasted my money. I made it to the second battle in Chapter Two. The article I posted is right on; you are massively outnumbered and your skill as a tactician matters very little. It's all about tricking the AI into making a mistake. That's not a battle; that's a con.

Just like this game. Don't buy it. Which I say with a very heavy heart because the story seemed really neat. I would like to have finished it.

RobOda
RobOda

4/10 Weak.

A dull turn based tactical game, with a fairly thin story stretched like weak margarine over bread, so it doesn't even incentivise you to keep going for the plot.

The war gaming itself isn't difficult, it's just crap. Units are fairly straightforward, but the way HP works, the onus is on whoever gets the first strikes on key targets to win. This should, in theory, encourage tactical gaming, where you need to plan ambushes, and exploit range and hard counters in order to succeed. This would also mean that with every new unit (air, land vehicles, whatever), you'd have a new thing to counter, a new tactic to employ.

And in any other war game you'd find that. But here, the AI doesn't appear to be restricted by Fog of War, so it knows exactly where you've placed all your sexy ambushes, and it will place everything one hex out of range, so it can rain on your parade. This isn't 'difficult', it's just lame. Anyone with a brain can counteract this, just being a little flexible in the tactical battle lines.

But the end result is generally the battles descend into wars of attrition, as you sit on the Maginot line waiting for the enemy to relent and move into a position you can actually shoot them ~ because the alternative is for you to move into their lines and get shot up, which, duh, you won't do either. So, this is almost a phenomenal '1983 war of attrition' game, with imaginary trenches and dull combat. There is little in the way of dynamic movement, outflanking an enemy with finesse, all compounded by the very ambush mechanics in place and the fact that half the unit list can't even move and shoot in the same turn anyway.

Ultimately; A poor war game, boring in its mechanics and one to avoid. It also, quite frankly has a snoozefest of a plot, delivered in three-four lines per battle ~ woohoo, illuminating! So, even that can't pull its weight. On the bright side, there's a game of military cribbage bundled in here too, but you may as well get a free programme online and play there instead of wasting money on this.

rwitalka
rwitalka

A lot of the reviews are critical of the game AI. The Game AI is fine, I think the game is just different from what many expect of a military strategy game. If you think of it as more of a chess or other board game it is very good. Challenging, but fair. It's a Zachtronics game - solve the puzzle. How can I use the pieces I am given to achieve the goal - which isn't necessarily to wipe out the opponents pieces. I think it is a lot of fun and not as different from the other Zachtronics games as some people here seem to think.

Leonardo
Leonardo

Once you get the EXA, the game completely changes.

Colony
Colony

Story is good, had some laughs, the VA is great. Art is really good, although I had some trouble distinguishing some of the infantry and vehicle. A zoom function would've helped. The puzzle minigame is definitely a challenge.

Gameplay... could've been better. I LOVE Advance Wars. This is something similar to Advance Wars, but your units aren't expendable. There are definitely some unique and interesting mechanics in the gameplay, though it doesn't always mean fun.

The 'armor' mechanic is really cool and unique. It's basically bonus HP for armored units. It prevents weak/lower tiers units from dealing any damage if they can't 'break even' with the armor. And if they do, the armor will just regenerate. So you'll have to keep 'breaking even' with this next element.

The RNG combat is hella frustrating. Most units can deal a random amount of damage, while a few can deal exactly just 1 damage. With some of the higher tier units, they can guarantee to deal >1. But those units rare and expensive to deploy. Mix RNG with this armor mechanic and it's complete chaos. You can either do nothing to the enemy or OHKO. You'll need to group your tanks together and focus fire the enemy's tanks 1 by 1. Meanwhile the AI seems to have the most insane beginners' luck and deal >1.

There is no save & load function, only save & exit, so you can't really manipulate your engagements for the best outcomes. This RNG element becomes very frustrating when it comes down to a clutch.

Most vehicular units can move and attack from a distance. Others would require you to spend a turn 'setting up' or just remain stationary their weapon.

Some units have limited ammo, for infantry, they can be resupplied by a few vehicles, with very limited supplies of their own (1 time thing). Vehicles have no way to resupply or repair themselves.

The infantry gameplay is hella slow. They can either move 1 space or attack, but at the not same time. Vehicles can easily dance around them if they're not positioned in forest, which allows them to be only be attacked adjacently, but the AI will simply avoid them. And avoid any other defenses you've set up and completely stall the mission even more.

Luckily, there are no timed missions. Only capture the 'control points' in or out of sequence (and a couple escort missions). After a few missions, they all play the same. Just hunker down at the first control point and wait out the enemy reinforcements and for yours to arrive, while zoning them out. Pray that RNG will be on your side when defending because there's no reason to encroach the rest of the objectives when they enemy has a bigger predeployed army.

TL;DR Gameplay is heavily RNG and slow paced

the anallyzer
the anallyzer

It's a game where the dev essentially is sucking off the AI.