Battle Bugs

Instantly bought this for the nostalgia. If you like pause-and-play strategy games even a little and aren't afraid of dated interfaces, you'll love Battle Bugs. It's one of those rare gems that comes along with charm and humor while also having amusingly challenging mechanics. Even the music is well-composed and super fun to listen to, though obviously limited by MIDI. One of my favorite games to this day and the cartoony style helps to mask how old it is. Well worth $5! I hope the exposure on Steam inspires someone to make a sequel some day. Oh, and if this isn't enough to get you to buy the game, it works flawlessly on Steam Deck when you choose original or 720p display, as long as you don't mind using the touchpad or right stick as a mouse. I honestly didn't expect a DOS box game to behave well on the deck.

This is more a tactics puzzle than a strategy game, though that should not take away from how amazing it is. The attention to detail and the love poured into this game is staggering, and all this is on top of a solid base game that gives you a few hours of thorough joy and, occasionally, keyboard-biting for a few of the more frustrating levels. The replay value is limited but there - some levels allow multiple paths to victory, but in general, you should only boot it up again after a decade or so, when you have forgotten most of the optimal solutions. UI is very precise and granular, which makes the required micro a bit tedious in bigger battles, but without any actual random chance involved, overall this is a plus, if not a necessity. A strong recommend, though admittedly tinted by nostalgia; one of my first games, I spent a whole summer vacation with a buddy figuring out how to get all the medals...