After a decade of stale turn-based tactics, Menace is a breath of fresh air

Menace, the new early access game from the creators of Battle Brothers, blends campaign strategy and platoon tactics into a quicker-playing take on Jagged Alliance and X‑Com with tabletop and board wargame sensibilities. Your expeditionary ship half-explodes after a malfunctioning faster-than-light gate, most officers are dead, and you end up leading an under-resourced peacekeeping force through the Wayback system.

The core strategy pares down dense wargame crunch into faster play without losing simulation: individual to-hit rolls and multiple assault rifles remain, but many calculations are automated or combined into accessible systems. Suppression and morale matter—soldiers can panic, become pinned or retreat under heavy fire, and squad effectiveness drops when members are lost; some foes, like swarming bugs, ignore suppression entirely.

Teams are squads of three to nine or single vehicles centered on leaders with personalities, barks, and inter-personal relationships that emerge in combat and between missions.

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