Xenonauts
Xenonauts is a strategy game in which you control a multi-national military organisation defending a Cold War-era Earth from alien invasion, using small squads of persistent soldiers to eliminate the extraterrestrials and recover their technology in turn-based ground combat. A detailed strategic layer allows you to co-ordinate the defence of the planet, using your interceptors to shoot down UFOs and researching captured artefacts to learn about your foes and unlock new combat equipment to use on your missions.
What it feels like
Constant threat of loss—soldier deaths, failed interceptions, resource shortages—maintains sustained pressure throughout play.
What it's about
Alien invasion and extraterrestrial threat form the fundamental premise and narrative drive. Multi-national military organization, armed forces, and coordinated defence operations are the setting and framing. Cold War-era Earth setting grounds the sci-fi in a recognizable near-contemporary geopolitical context.
How it plays
Grid-based turn-by-turn tactical combat is the core moment-to-moment gameplay, positioning and range determining outcomes. All combat unfolds in discrete alternating turns between player squads and aliens, foundational to the experience. Constructing and expanding a multi-national defence organization with facilities for research, manufacturing, and interceptor basing is central to the strategic layer.
How it looks and sounds
Fixed three-quarter isometric perspective defines the visual presentation of both base management and tactical combat. 3D rendering of the tactical spaces with 2D-plane grid-constrained gameplay.
How it's structured
Designed as a single-player experience with no multiplayer component. A bounded narrative arc where you defend Earth from alien invasion with a definite progression from early resistance to technology unlock and final victory. Strategic management layer of base, interceptors, research, and resource allocation wraps and feeds into tactical ground missions.
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