Battle Brothers cover art
Pure Optimizationtactics roguelike

Battle Brothers

Mercenary band tactics with brutal permadeath and emergent campaign storytelling.

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Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE6 /10OPTIMIZATION9 /10

the cheat-test profile

The four axes - the argument

Each axis is rated on its own - how far one cheat would trivialize the game here. They don't trade off; low on all four means the game is an experience, not a contest.

  1. Execution

    cheat: Aimbot - perfect inputs

    1/10

    Turn-based, no input precision.

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    Enemy AI follows scripted heuristics.

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    6/10

    Procedural contracts, recruits, gear dominate runs.

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    9/10

    Build crafting and positioning is deeply solvable.

How to read this

Each axis is named by the cheat that would break the game along it. Execution is the hands. Reads is out-thinking an adaptive opponent. Variance is hidden information & RNG. Optimization is the solvable systems layer. A game's region is the top one or two axes.

These four aren't one rating split four ways - they're independent 0-10 questions. A 9 on one axis takes nothing from the others, and a game low on all four isn't missing data: it's telling you there's no skill here to cheat.

The basis is how the majority actually plays this game - not a niche mode or a personal run. For a game with very different modes (a story campaign versus ranked multiplayer), that's the version most people mean.

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Ranked by shared genre first, then by how closely the cheat-test profile matches - a cross-genre tag means a pick matched on skill profile alone.

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Game details

Released
2017
Developer
Overhype Studios
Platforms
PS4, PC, XONE, Switch
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
80/100
IGDB users
79/100
Role-playing (RPG)SimulatorStrategyTurn-based strategy (TBS)TacticalAdventureIndieActionFantasyHistoricalOpen world