The sterile roshambo of simpler titles is almost completely absent here. It demands a level of agility I’m unused to in strategy games, and that’s exactly what makes it exhilarating. You know that certain advanced goods generally sell at higher prices, but the circumstances leading to that point change in every game. No two games play the same, and it’s only predictable in an abstract sense. It’s built on a system that’s endlessly evolving, reactive and intimidatingly smart. Truthfully, ‘skirmish’ doesn’t do the competitive game justice. It’s fun, but somehow less rewarding than a skirmish without limitations. Many of the games I played came down to desperate, last-minute purchases of shares, racing to sell enough stock before the final buzzer. It forces you to play to each faction's strengths over a limited period of time, and it’s replayable in the same way as something like FTL: a self-contained, three hour story that’s different every time. You’ll have to invest money in engineers to build certain advanced structures, and every challenge is different. There are nine CEOs from different companies, each with their own identity and limitations. The campaign is an extension of the tutorial, and it offers a different way to compete. You’ll inevitably have to skip some resources and rely on your opponents for certain essentials, but it’s coexistence, not cooperation.
You have a limited number of claims, and only ever control part of the market. Building every type of building is rarely an option. This is the foundation of Offworld Trading Company, and the thing that initially took me a while to understand.
If your opponent is has a surplus of water, the price will drop and you can invest in farms, producing food you can sell at inflated price. You have to watch what other factions overproduce, then exploit them. That might sound like work-or worse yet, like something an awful investment wank with four phones attached to his face would love-but it’s one of the most immediate, intelligent strategy games I’ve played. Every resource has a fluctuating cost, and it’s your job to play the market, manipulate prices and ultimately put your rivals out of business. These resources are then used to create valuable secondary materials such as glass, chemicals and electronics. Your company requires essentials such as food, water and power, and you can mine metals and quarry chemical elements. You take control of one of four factions, founding a business dedicated to supplying new human colonies. Create and share your own mixed maps via the Steam Workshop.It’s a strategy and management sim based on the beige planet.
Frozen terrain with easy access to water can exist directly beside hot volcanic terrain - you will need to choose your HQ placements strategically! Explore custom maps with a variety of terrain types.Play on one of the new included maps Sandstorm, Phoebe Station, or Three Plateaus, or choose to play on a random map for a new game experience every time.Play on mixed worlds with multiple different rules, buildings, and resources in play at the same time.Note: The Ceres Initiative DLC, Jupiter’s Forge Expansion, and The Europa Wager Expansion are not required to play this DLC. Face them head on and drive your opponents’ businesses into the ground in Offworld Trading Company - Interdimensional! On these maps, you’ll have access to buildings and resources that were previously only available on certain worlds - you can harvest energy using a Nuclear Power Plant on the uranium-rich fields of Ceres and harvest water from the frozen tundra of Europa, all on the same world. Plan your business’ expansion carefully to get the most out of the resources surrounding your base. The frozen tundra of Europa could exist right beside the hot volcanic surface of Io on these worlds - you’ll need to choose your HQ placements wisely! Explore custom maps with a variety of terrain types. In Offworld Trading Company - Interdimensional, you will vie for economic dominance on mixed worlds where the rules of Mars, Europa, Io, and Ceres are in play all at once. Discovered between Saturn and Uranus, this mysterious portal leads to a host of brand new challenges and opportunities. A perturbation in space and time has unveiled a dimension that is a distorted echo of reality.