Bad North is a small, procedurally generated, minimalistic real time tactics and turn based strategy game. Yes, a real time tactics game. Let me explain.
What makes it different from normal RTS games is notable.
There is no group select, or rather, each unit is a squad, and you can only select one squad at a time. Time slows down if you select a squad to order them considerably.
Battle maps are small, even bite-sized. You can see everything in one glance, except for the parts hidden by cliffs, which makes the camera rotation mechanic vital and replaces the fog of war concept.
The rock-paper-scissors balance is also very apparent and significant, and will punish you if you aren't careful. Archers beat pikemen and swordsmen without shields, until they are close enough to damage the archers. Pikemen beat any melee units, like swordsmen with shields, except when they are moving, so they must be prepared and grounded in a position to be effective. Swordsmen with shields beat archers by shrugging off their arrows. Swordsmen, the "weakest" unit in the game, wins through overwhelming and outnumbering numbers, and also used to rush archers and moving pikemen. You can upgrade swordsmen's class to archers, pikemen, or swordsmen with shields.
The strategy layer is turn based. Here, you can choose which next location to defend. Then you can also choose your commanders, which command your squads, and upgrade them to different unit classes. You can also further equip them with skills and items.
You only start with two commanders/squads, however, and you must pick up new commanders along the way. There is a limit of four squads per island.
There is permadeath, so if you make a mistake, your squads die, all with its upgrades. You can replenish your units in battle through the houses you defend in the midst of the skirmish, though this takes considerable amount of time.
Once al your commanders are dead, it is game over.
One of my problems with the game is that the interface when selecting units is farther down the screen, and it is not really that noticeable. So to replenish or flee, you must go all the way to the bottom.
Other than that, Bad North is enjoyable. I really like the "time slows down when giving orders" mechanic. It seems to hearken to my previous post's point about orders having a pause: Possible Solutions For Preventing A "Clickfest" RTS
