Strategy game Circle Empires from Estonian developer Luminous and Iceberg Interactive offers a simple and unique take on the strategy genre. In addition to the Linux release, the game is also now on GOG.

Note : Key provided by GOG.

Features:

Fast-paced real-time strategic gameplay with large-scale battles

Expand your empire, circle by circle

Units can gain XP and level up

Procedurally generated worlds containing unique flora and fauna

150+ different creatures, buildings and resources

18 Different faction leaders, a variety of bonuses

12 enemy boss monsters

A magnificent treasury that grows with each battle

The Linux version does seem to work nicely, it's optimised enough to run on my quite rubbish laptop so I don't imagine anyone having any major issues with it. It offers three different game modes: One that will have you search for a boss to fight on a specific tile and two other modes that have you conquer the tiles (It's not exactly clear what the difference is in the other two modes).

I have to admit, I really love the idea of it. The gameplay doesn't have a huge amount of depth to it, but it still remains quite a fun back to basics strategy game. You claim tiles, get workers to gather resources, build some defences and an army and move onto the next tile. The mechanics and units are simple enough, that anyone should be able to grasp it pretty quickly.

I hope they continue to expand the game, especially as it's single-player only. It would probably be even more interesting if it had online play. Don't let that put you off though.

If you're after a real-time strategy game that isn't too serious, that will run on low-end hardware this is likely a good one to take a look at.

You can grab it now from GOG, Humble Store and Steam.