Mechabellum

Mechabellum to me is currently the most strategic, skill-based, and rewarding of actual intelligence and knowledge turn-based multiplayer game on the market right now.
There is no other multiplayer TBS game right now that will reward you so handsomely for your time and investment into learning and mastering it.
So the ONLY bad thing I can say about it is that the amount of time and investment required to become one of the best players is immense. Easily thousands of hours to understand all the intricate qualities, details and matchups necessary to be the best. Luckily, you do not need this kind of investment to simply enjoy the game :)

I got this a week ago and totally adore this game. I don't know if you have a "meta" here but for me the biggest plus is that the game forces you to try many different things so every game looks different.
On the other side a big minus is tutorial. I don't play many similar games to this and I really struggled with the basics at the beginning. On youtube is a really good video for beginners made by Grubby. Why isn't something like this implemented in the game?!
But once you get the basics, my god you get so much fun with this. Plus it's imho really cheap for what you get!

I wish there werent as many fortress/vulcan counter atm. I want my titan powerfantasy goddamn + please please please give me a warhammer 40k crossover skinpack for the units. I would take a loan from the bank just to get that. Besides that sometimes I feel like I am pushed to hard in a build direction (Aerial units and Melting Point very strong imo). Id like more flexability there, maybe some new units or a bigger variety of upgrades for the existing. Other than that really great game looking forward to season 3!

Me and a friend both bought this last night and dove head first into PvP without any tutorials or anything.

We're not 3:3 out of 6 matches and plan on doing a "best out of 10" run.

There's certainly a competitive angle to the game but it's very casual too. Good game to play with or against friends that won't ruin friendships.

Picked this up on a whim and didn't put it down for nearly 4 hours afterwards. The tutorial is worthwhile and covers all the info you need to be able to make informed decisions. Both sides have access to the same things so predicting your opponents choices becomes a fun layered mind game while still allowing player expression with similar forces.

A couple notable things stood out that made the game more engaging than I expected from 'place robots and watch them fight each other'. The formation of your units being fixed after the round you placed them leads to countering your opponent's last round placements, predicting the next round in advance, or even bluffing a flank by sacrificing something in their rear sides to provoke them spending resources to deal with that or make the choice to improve their other units while allowing that flank to attack their base.

The tech upgrades allow the same unit to behave differently and allow a level of reactive upgrading to respond to your opponent. Maybe your giant melee robots are dying as soon as they get in the middle of the enemy's forces. Spend 400 (the cost of one of those giant melee mechs) and now all your units of that type will explode for big damage when dying. You can't change where those mechs were placed in previous rounds but by upgrading that type, you utilize the existing units to function in a new way, which in turn opens up your other units to more opportunities.

Let's say your opponents uses a Marksman to hit your high-HP single units from long range. You can use a cheap crawler squad to melee swarm the enemy Marksman before it can hit your giant robot. When the enemy answers that crawler swarm in the next round, you can still upgrade that existing swarm to have a new effect, like leaving behind acid puddles where they die. Even in death, your units can serve.

Every loss is an opportunity to learn and then later use that same strategy against a future opponent. Every victory is the result of superior planning and the learned experience coming together. It's a great brainscratcher and fills the RTS need while playing at a nice turn-based pace and auto-battles letting you sit back and study the fight rather than worry about micro-intensive battles.

Best 12 bucks ive spent in a while, fun auto battler.

This is by far the best blend of RTS & Autochess, it removes the constant APM grind from traditional RTS games while keeping the unique feel of each move mattering. If your a fan of RTS but hate the constant attention needed this game is for you.

WARNING!!!! You will most likely need to spend some time learning the game it isn't one most will be able to sit down and pick up especially without the training! It's a Grind, but it's been a blast for me so far.

Great game, RTS without the RT part. Reminds me a lot of the Direct Strike custom map for wc3/sc2 but with its own unique differences.

Wonderful game incredible value for money, really scratches the RTS itch without silly APM reqs. Community is also pretty good. Just turn of the global chat feature as you would always

I enjoy this game because it is clearly skill based and the better player should win overall however it does require a lot of time investment to really get to grips with the different units and mechanics. I do consider that if you position poorly (whether unintentionally or not) on turn 1 can and usually does result in dire consequences. This generally happens when someone is aggressively positioned. If you're fairly analytical and want a sink a tonne of hours into a competitive game then this isn't a bad one to go for.

There isn't really any single player element to this game so if you have ladder anxiety then this game isn't for you because you will be playing for MMR whenever you play unless you want to spend your time in the testing grounds section.

There also seems to be a bit of an online following although I'd say watching game play from streamers is pretty boring for this game and it can be quite hard to follow what a player is doing if you are watching a replay.

You used to like competitive RTS games but your bones are too old to keep up... This game is for you.
This game really blurs the line between an auto battler and an RTS, With a pretty large unit roster to deploy, a variety of upgrades and battlefield powers and improvements.
Easy to learn but hard to master, with multiple game modes that are all fun in different ways.

Honestly this is just a quality product with a dev team that is very involved. I can't recommend it enough.

I was able to play at release. Now I can not get passed the second round without disconnnecting on any settings or configurations of all internet and graphics. 3080 video card. i9, 64gig ram

During 20 years here on Steam, I never felt so much obligated to make a review, in a positive way that is.

This is basically a masterpiece of a tactical mindgames.
Quite easy to get into, I've got even my "no strategy/no tactics" players play it and enjoy it fully to their hearts content.
Yet... a deep one, with just enough room to outplay, outsmart your opponents with satisfaction level rarely seen in computer games.

Community is passionate, helpful and open minded. You will find plethora of videos, guides, challenges (community in game build scenarios) and help on Discord to ease your way in.... and oh bot what a joy awaits you...

1v1, 2v2 and FFA (4player) modes each good on its own which you can sink into.
You can also play with bots, save replays and replay those recorded matches from any round you wish trying to change the outcome! Very good learning tool.

Developers are active, they are playing their game and are good at it. Understand the meta, how and when it should shift and actively work in order to keep the game fresh and exciting. Game is being regularly patched and updated with new content.
When the game was in predictable meta - they introduced card system, letting a bit of chaos into perfect rock/paper/scissors game which only inspired more mindgames among the playerbase and to this day, every match is different and exciting.

I truly cannot get enough of this game and there is a huge chance, even if "autobattlers" aren't your thing, that you may love it as well.
This game needs more recognition, more buzz.
Thank you Game River, you truly shown that small team of dedicated and passionate developers may bring people hella lot of joy.

Amazing game, one of the best in the genre. Game play is deep, fun, and replayable.

I love this game, but it needs undo button before I can tell people to buy it.

The amount of times I've misclicked and just been out of luck is insane.

misclicked the wrong tech? Congrats, you lose.

misclicked the wrong unit? Congrats, you lose.

There is no reason it shouldn't have one.

A good auto battler, it kind of reminds me to the "Desert Strike" SC2 custom maps, but with quite a few twists too - not the same game, but it's close enough for me to say that if you're familiar with that you kind of know the general idea... build units every round and they go attack on their own. They behave a certain fixed way, so you have to position them with that in mind. This game has flanks, which takes some getting used to. The devs are involved tweaking the balance from time to time to keep things interesting (it's really hard to balance something like this). Level ups feel a bit too powerful, but I think it's designed to play that way - getting a rank is a big deal. Overall, I really enjoy this kind of game.

Remember playing random Use Map Setting or Custom Maps in StarCraft, StarCraft 2 or WarCraft 3?

Remember those tug of war games where you'd put a unit down, it walks forward, then you felt great joy (or sadness) as it murdered the opponent's unit?

This is the above type of game, and it has the exact same effect those kind of games had me 20 years ago: JUST ONE MORE GAME AND ILL GO TO BED!!!

Except I'm nearly 40 now and when the above happens, I call in sick to play more Mechabellum.

Get this game! Better than crack!

Every single unit feels like there is a specific purpose for it. While many of them fill a specific purpose, like anti-swarm, they all have their own counter-play, which gives the game so much strategy. Don't listen to the reviews that are like "you have to play the meta", I have no idea what the meta even is and I still win most of my matches. Every single match feels different and unique, and its very often that somebody comes back from almost total defeat, especially in multiplayer. The graphics are just there cherry on top too, insanely detailed yet perfectly fine to run even at high on a decent laptop.

Its hard too learn but having fun meh but if you learn counters and formations its fun 8.5/10 am still play its fun

The game used to offer creative solutions to win, now it's a game of predicting your opponent with rock paper scissors and hoping your units lock onto the right things before they die.

Utterly frustrating and sad, because the game used to be more fun and strategic! Now it's just a pretty auto-battler.

I never write reviews but I had to for this brilliant game. fantastic auto battler with very deep gameplay. strong tactics required to play at a high level. Make sure to play through the tutorial missions and don't give up when you lose the first few battles. Once your in, your in. Loving it

This game is a delight. Constant decision making keeps each match feeling fresh. The unit variety is wonderful, and the intricate rock-paper-scissors playstyle is perfectly balanced between fun power fantasy and crunchy numbers game. Most positions are recoverable with the right unit pick/positioning/calldown/upgrade, and the possibility of a come-from-behind win is ever present, keeping each round feeling significant and fun.

What do I like about the game?

I started playing online card games at the genesis of them, which was basically Hearthstone, and then kept playing every new one that was released such as Duelyst, Faeria, Eternal, MTG Arena, Shadowverse, Gwent, Runeterra, Elder Scrolls Legends, and a million more.

Inevitably, these games, as cool as they were, would be infested with power creep, slowly ruined with each expansion, and ultimately became so pay to win that they're not worth playing. There's a similar story with every autobattler I've ever played, starting with DotA Auto Chess, then TFT, DotA Underlords, and a bunch of others.

Mechabellum to me is the answer to this horrible f*cking genre, somewhere between a roguelike card game and an autobattler. Though there is some chance, it's very very small and 99% of this game is just understanding every unit, all of their strengths and weaknesses, and most importantly how to position them to win each battle.

Mechabellum to me is currently the most strategic, skill-based, and rewarding of actual intelligence and knowledge turn-based multiplayer game on the market right now. And the model is designed in such a way that it's unlikely to ever get ruined with expansions, DLC, or future updates like every other game I've played in this genre or a similar genre.

There is no other multiplayer TBS game right now that will reward you so handsomely for your time and investment into learning and mastering it. In fact, nothing else even comes close. I say that having already played all of them.

Best of all, it's futureproofed, as far as I'm concerned, meaning there's little to no chance it will become ruined with greedy monetization and shady business practices that have ruined almost every other game of this or similar genres.

So the ONLY bad thing I can say about it is that the amount of time and investment required to become one of the best players is immense. Easily thousands of hours to understand all the intricate qualities, details and matchups necessary to be the best. Luckily, you do not need this kind of investment to simply enjoy the game because it will automatically put you against people of your own skill level.

Source: 1900+ player with over a thousand hours of playtime.

Good level of depth, while keeping nearly all concepts easy to understand.

This is the best strategy game I've played this decade. The first two hours are tough. The onboarding is bad. The UI is confusing. But if you can make it over that first hump, what your left with is an infinitely replayable, strategically rich, and completely unique autobattler unlike anything else in the world. I've got over 1000 hours in this game and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.

I absolutely LOVE this game, there is simply nothing else like it on steam. Calling it an auto battler while true is an oversimplification. It is more like rock paper scissors mixed with chess. Every unit has a counter and every battle can be turned around. Battles consist of small units to giant titan units. But the titans can be overwhelmed by many little units which can then be countered by something else etc. Incredibly addictive quick multiplayer battles. I highly recommend for anyone looking for a new twist on the strategy genre. The developer while small, continues to add new units and balance fixes for an already pretty balanced game, keeping it fresh. I just hope this game gets the attention it deserves.

Fun game, but it has a pretty big learning curve, each round your going to have to counter their counters, it sounds weird but that's how the game works. Its very fun tho and it's enjoyable to test out different combos and play styles that will vary every game, no match up will end up like another, every game will be unique. I'm at around 1600 MMR so I still have a lot to learn, but the biggest tip I can give to new players, experiment different combos in solo and always make sure to have plenty of chaff for your units, chaff being crawlers and fangs. I would absolutely recommend to those wanting a futuristic strategy game, very fun!

Seems like a simple game, but there are so many possibilities. It's been like did I really play 317 hours already.... It's a game I can enjoy with my frenchie sleeping / sitting in my lap. Wish they had a 3v3 mode, Would be great if this came to consoles, might bring in more players.

As an avid RTS fan, this game doesn't make me sweat as much as AoE, AoM, CoH, SC:FA, etc. because you spend half the match just watching and studying how the battle goes. There's no unit micro, just strategy and tactics. You'll get sweaty late game when you're trying to plan and execute your strategy within 90 seconds, but you can still cruise and listen to YouTube/podcasts on the side.

It's by far the best auto-battler I've ever played, with just a dash of RNG each round. If your opponent gets lucky with a unit or ability that hard-counters your units, there are plenty of ways to adapt. At first, you'll get units based on what your opponent beat you with in the previous round, but as you play more you'll start adding on counters to the units+upgrades you predict they'll add next.

Just layers and layers of depth to the strategy, and the devs adjust balancing and add new content pretty regularly. Other auto-battlers just feel shallow or gambling-reliant after playing Mechabellum. Absolute steal for how inexpensive it is.

This game is fundamentally good. The mechanics on paper are very strong. The unit designs and aesthetics are it's strongest point. They make you want to play them because some just look so cool. I really want to 3D print some of them just for my desk at work.

However the ceiling for fun is very low. You step too far out of meta, you're punished. You try to get creative, you're punished. You try to do something fun, you're punished. The comeback mechanics are non-existent so unless you're opponent makes a severe misstep you can be out of the game round three and it's just another 3-10 rounds of getting your teeth kicked in. Or it can be 5-6 turns of you trying to get footing playing reactionary while your opponent gets ahead. All the while feeling very not fun. It's just a not fun repetitive grind. Even when I do win I don't feel like is was very fun. Usually it the opponent's tech's didn't account for X so Melting Points just ate everything because they didn't build chaff. It never feels earned.

I really like this game, I want to enjoy it more, but I just don't this it's very fun.

The game does well in providing you with a puzzle, if you find the right solution you win. The RNG feels minimal so that it's nice but you don't feel like it's the reason you lost. For the price it costs definitely value for money and visibly pleasing. My favourite thing is the majority of the time you can feel behind and still turn it around with the right decision or a fortunate slip up by the opponent, some games like this can feel like once your behind you are done.

Definitely deserves more love than it gets as a niche market but a very good game for relaxing and killing and hour.

The game is fun and easy to pick up. You can be as competitive or casual as you want. The mech theme is awesome and devs are actively making balance changes and adding new units, modes and other stuff to the game.

this is an all time fav for me.. This game is made soooo good. they are always adding to it and its not pay to play... keep up the great work !!!

Really fun autobattler. Feels satisfying to choose the right unit that can punch through the enemies defenses.

I like the survival mode. I do wish there was a way to play it where the difficulty felt right. Hard feels good but insane feels too hard. I just wish that mode had more replayability.

This has to be the finest game i've played in 2025.
It works up my gray cells, and since i'm over 40 year old, i don't have dexterity to click 200 times per minute to be good in modern RTS games, so this is modern RTS, WITHOUT need to click.. only think!

So good!

Anyone who loves outwitting his opponent / predicting / reacting / and simply planning for your victory - this is the best game so far.

Reminds me of games such as Minion Masters and Teamfight Tactics, but MUCH more refined, stylish, tactical and thematically superior.

Very well rounded strategy game. Development team has been doing a fantastic job with the updates and changing the game up just enough to keep me coming back. Would highly recommend

This doesn't feel like an auto-battler, but instead genuinely evokes the feeling of an honest-to-god RTS. Sure, it's not real-time, but even so. If you've always loved RTS but can't keep up with the micro, this is a must-try. It's snappy, and has enough variability in the setup and turn-to-turn choices to ensure that games don't get stale either.

Great, great game for any strategy fan.

Direct Strike’s quirky little brother

Mechabellum started as an incredible army-building strategy game, but it's slowly being overshadowed by the overwhelming influence of RNG. The power spikes from randomly offered cards, like Nukes and Storms, often dictate the outcome more than actual strategy. Certain army compositions are inherently much weaker against these effects, making them feel like an automatic loss when the opponent gets the right card, especially in the later rounds when counterplay becomes nearly impossible. These options tend to serve as a win condition almost every time they appear, shifting the focus away from skillful play and more into a game of luck.

You'll have fun with this game if you approach it casually, but if you're looking for a more balanced competitive experience, you're probably better off sticking with the original.

I would say this game is 50/50 at best. I had fun playing this game however the lack of meaningful content and updates ruined this game. Meta builds from the EA of this game are still viable even though they have added 8+ units to game, so the basic counters build are still effective which results in the default builds still. This game had good hype at launch and had a good amount of player but now it can barely break 2,000+ players, worldwide, in given week (look at steamdb on this game player count); which results playing against the same players round after round.

The devs tried to save the game by adding by adding 4 player brawler which was fun but the way it was set allows the player leading the match can still lose. They added more content for the store page, which was the main focus for the devs which resulted in units skins that cost $10 and other things like emotes, avatar borders and emojis which were $5+. You can earn store credits by maxing out your tech level, leveling up your account that and daily log ins. They have a free season pass but you can find the same items on the pass as in the store.

The game still has optimization issues for late game rounds which makes the fps dip to sub 10 for some reason. I would say this game was good but now it dead auto battler due the lack of devs updates and meaningful updates.

The game offers satisfying customization, stunning visuals, and rewarding tactical gameplay, where every match feels like a cinematic showdown. However, it’s also brutally unpredictable—just when you think you’ve mastered the game, an unexpected counter or random twist will wipe out your efforts. Sometimes, even the best strategies can’t save you from bad luck or an opponent’s perfect move. While the game is endlessly engaging, it’s also frustratingly tough, reminding you that you’re never truly in control. It's thrilling, but be prepared for those gut-punch losses.

Very cool game. Can't think of anything negative tbh. Maybe they can find ways of adding some variations to maps, that is about it.

great game, love the 2v2 with my buddy and now the 2v2 tournny.
devs are constantly doing updates and balancing

This is kind of my first experience with auto-battlers, and I have to say I really dig it. The gameplay is simple enough to learn as you go, but deep enough that there always seems to be potential for new and interesting tactical choices. It's also one of the few games I have where you can sit down for fifteen minutes and actually have a full game play out in an interesting way. If you're looking for a game that can keep you engaged with fun mechanics and minimal hand-holding, this is a damn good one.

1.3 Update made changes that made that made the game feel longer and less interesting

awesome game over all, basically robot chess with some RNG. a few hundred hours i can tell you it has one single flaw. the hacker units ruin the game. top tier hot garbage unit only used by the weak. if you use them i hope hope your hot pockets are eternally cold in the center and cant find the strange smell in your car.

Dope futuristic auto-battler with multiple game modes, great visuals, and an amazing variety of units, abilities, and tactics.

There's lot of great things to say about this game, but I'll keep it short.
In its essence, Mechabellum is a fantastic PvP Strategy game, where each match requires a different strategy. What sets it apart is that it does not require the stressful multitasking and APM that RTSs do. Instead, Mechabellum is also an Auto Battler, but reduces RNG to a minimum. Each round you and your opponent are provided with exactly the same options, so it is completely up to you to outsmart your opponent.
Each round you can only place a limited amount of units, each having their own distinct role. Once placed, a unit can no longer be repositioned in later rounds (with rare exceptions), so you have to really think about how to position your units to build a frontline and a backline.
Certain units can counter certain other units by design, so you can prepare and surprise and overwhelm the opponent at the right time. But you always have to keep your board composition and possible counters by the enemy in mind!

A very nice game overall! For now, it is ruined by one Unit - Raiden! Unless it massively reworked, all you need to do is spam raidens! Very balanced./

Unfortunately, this game is unplayable for me due to a widely reported but still unresolved server issue that has been happening for ~5 months at time of writing. I am unable to load any online match (or even the Store content) and get a unstable connection > reconnecting loop that prevents me from joining any games, navigating any menus, or even closing the game without a force quit. The devs have rarely responded to posts about this issue in the forums, and their responses have generally been 'Try the game again after each patch and see if it's fixed'. It is disappointing to see a $15 game become totally unplayable after ~65 hours, but I guess I got my money's worth so they can keep it.

When I was able to play the game earlier in it's life-cycle, I enjoyed it quite a bit, even if the unit balance was mixed and the same handful of units clearly overpowered everything else. I hear from other players that the new units are fun and balance is improved significantly, but I wouldn't know, as I haven't been able to play a match since September.

It's a formalized tug of war game. It doesn't have the variety of the various WCIII/SCII maps that do the same thing but the design has solid and it's put some thought into how to make that basic setup more interesting