Happy Monday, folks, and welcome to the Weekly Video Games Thread! And in honor of Age of Mythology: Retold‘s new Heavenly Spear DLC, which adds the Japanese as the sixth faction since the original Mythology‘s release in 2002, let’s talk about real time strategy.

I loved RTS as a kid. I never played against other players and pretty much always on the lowest difficulty setting, but what was special was the process of Age of Mythology, Age of Empires II, and Starcraft (all of which are now owned by the genocidal, environmentally ruinous, games industry-destroying Microsoft, so that’s… fun). You start out with little, usually just a couple units and a main base. Each of the units goes off to collect resources, maybe food or minerals or magic space gas, and all the while you’re deciding how to use them. Maybe make a bunch of villagers to make the resource collection faster, or build soldiers for self-defense or exploration. As you do these, you also have to dance around the population cap while also making upgrades, controlling choke points, and finding cool trinkets or tools. Plus, you’ve got the opponent, who’s as clouded by the fog of war as you.

Heavenly Spear, naturally, features all of these. The Commoners collect Food, Wood, and Gold, accumulating resources before constructing buildings. A Kitsune scout dashes through the fog of war, while a Miko grabs relics and collects Favor. Soldiers – infantry, cavalry, ranged weapons, strong but expensive myth units (including Kamaitachi and Tengu. The former especially are really cute. They make adorable weasel noises!), and even stronger and more expensive heroes – patrol, expand, and defend. The major and minor gods of each deity give God Powers, like summoning a swamp of kappa or the sword the size of a city. And there are a few unique gimmicks to the faction, like an EXP meter that can automatically upgrade your military units through fighting and some more blandly functional basics. Plus, there’s a campaign, but I assume it lacks the gloriously asinine crossover camp energy of the original Age of Mythology, which the story of the Immortal Pillars expansion largely sidelined.

So it’s about process, as you go through a route that’s somewhat defined but has so much room for small complications. It’s about dominance, as you potentially build up a massive army and fight to control a large map; unsurprisingly, I love the largest ones, which allow more units onscreen at once. It’s about logistics and details and management, all things that are often overlooked as mechanics in game design. And I’m sure there’s more stuff I missed, so let me put it to you: what’s your experience with real time strategy? Which games have you played? What mechanics are you interested in, either as a player or just viewer? And remember, Pikmin counts! It’s totally an RTS!

And, as always, what did you play this weekend? EDIT: Of course, also make sure to read Lily-Bones’ “Game News Roundup!”