This game is set on various moons where you have purchased a mining franchise from the MegaBucks Corp., who owns this moon. They don’t care how you go about paying off your establishment loan, but pay you must!
You can’t holler for the sheriff if your opponents start to play dirty, so you have to write your own rulebook as you go…
Each of the moons is composed of different materials, but to you they’re all just ore. In your Tick – that’s your mining vehicle – you mine the ore using Cutter Orbs and then process the Orb contents in your factory to make either loan repayments or other useful items, such as defense installations, weapons or Tick performance enhancements. Your opponents will not hesitate to steal or destroy your manufactured items, and you too, if they can!
The race is on to see who can pay off their loan first, then discover and access the wormhole out of this moon which appears only after the first player reaches that stage. To suggest that the normal ethics of mining might be a little bent is an understatement…
The complete version of Luna Ticks allows for single-player games, with “Robo-Ticks” as opponents – up to the full complement of 8 players, or two-player games using a Serial connection (modem or cable), or full network games using the standard IPX protocol.
In any game, Robo-Ticks may be used to fill empty player slots, and these are provided in several play-strategy types.
The shareware version of Luna Ticks does not include the IPX network play, and has fewer moons. The even smaller internet version available here does not include Serial play, and has only two moons.
The fluid and, er, unorthodox nature of the gameplay changes with player’s input. Changing your game strategies will result in an immediate reaction from your opponents. Competing with Robo-Ticks in a single-player game can be a big challenge, but nothing compares in perversity with playing other human players!
For this reason the Serial and Network play modes of Luna Ticks really offer a completely different game. Forget about re-writing the rulebook – you’ll need to throw it away!
Is this the high-flying job for you? Can you be a Major Miner – or just a Minor Miner? (Morris Minors need not apply)
Another thing that really makes Luna Ticks Demo enjoyable for me is how it manages to stay interesting even after playing it multiple times. Many games feel repetitive after a while, but here, the experience still feels fresh because of the small details and different ways you can approach the gameplay. As you continue playing, you naturally start improving and understanding the mechanics better, which makes everything feel more rewarding. I also appreciate the balance the game maintains—it’s not too difficult, but it’s not too easy either. You can play it casually for a short break or spend longer sessions without getting bored. That flexibility is one of the biggest reasons why I keep coming back to Luna Ticks Demo. Overall, it’s the kind of game that doesn’t just entertain you for a moment, but actually gives you a consistently enjoyable experience every time you play.
