Wireless wargame Radio General launches on Steam By Sean Martin

Radio General, a game by developer Foolish Mortals, has released on Steam. We've had our eye on this one for awhile, which is why we placed it in our list of the best upcoming wargames of 2020. The game is essentially an RTS strategy set in WW2, but the kicker is you can't see any of your units.

As you might imagine from the name, you instead communicate with your units via a radio set, receiving reports and issuing orders. But as you might expect in the fever pitch of battle, things get garbled, and reports are confused. The game's real challenge isn't simply issuing orders, but as a good general should, reading the undercurrent, the subtext of what is happening, and acting preemptively. It's a super smart concept.

In an extremely flavourful touch, Radio General also features voice recognition, meaning you will actually be ordering units around in the game. It's makes for a great element of roleplay for anyone who's ever fancied stepping into the shoes of a field commander. The game also features online co-op.

But that's not all you'll be doing, considering the depth of information that the game also contains.

The game features 100s of historical documents including both pictures and video. There are also a number of in-depth factors that will affect every engagement: morale, bullets, elevation, camouflage, terrain. All of these elements will come into play as you work behind-the-scenes to ensure your troops' success.

We've got a lot of time for Radio General, a smart game that not only creates a fun twist on the wargaming formula, but still retains tactical depth, and adds an element of roleplay to proceedings. On top of that, playing the game really does help demonstrate the true challenge of radio communication in warfare, and the fortitude it must take for commanders to act decisively in spite of that chaos. If you fancy it, you can find Radio General on Steam.