For the last week or two, the main game I’ve been playing has been Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, recently released on Nintendo DS.  Especially with GDC all last week, it’s been easier to slot in a War here or there than to dive full-steam into a big PC or console game.

The thing I love about Advance Wars is how simple and elegant it is, and how those elements along with its excellent balance create a deceptively deep overall experience.  Still, many of the objective-driven single-player campaign battles do feel like “puzzles”–often it is less an issue of dealing with evolving tactics, and more about figuring out the one overriding tactic necessary to beat that particular battle.

There are also a number of optional battles that are evenly matched on either side, allowing for more of a straight-up tactical battle than the puzzle-esque flavor of the main campaign missions.  It was in one of these battles that, for the first time, I experienced gameplay that could actually be remotely compared to “war” in an Advance Wars game. (more…)