Wasteland 2: Director's Cut cover art
Pure Optimizationtactical RPG

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut

Tests squad-build coverage and turn-based tactical optimization across a branching wasteland.

On Steam ↗On IGDB ↗
Here's the argument for where this game sits - disagree freely.
Match your experience?
EXECUTION1 /10READS0 /10VARIANCE3 /10OPTIMIZATION8 /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 commands, no physical demands

  2. Reads

    cheat: Out-predict an adaptive opponent

    0/10

    Enemy AI follows fixed tactical scripts

  3. Variance

    cheat: See what's hidden / map the RNG

    3/10

    Hit rolls and unexplored content add noise

  4. Optimization

    cheat: A perfect solver / coach

    8/10

    Squad builds, skill coverage and positioning are 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.

Game details

Released
2015
Developer
inXile Entertainment
Platforms
PS4, Linux, PC, Mac, XONE, Switch
Modes
Single player
IGDB critics
80/100
IGDB users
80/100
Role-playing (RPG)SimulatorStrategyTurn-based strategy (TBS)AdventureIndieScience fiction