Metallum

Metallum is a strategy game for two players who take on roles of corporate pilots charged with the task of directing their factory ships in order to construct a more efficient mining network on the system’s planets than their opponent does. Each round consists of three main phases: Programming: Players simultaneously create a program by composing puzzle-like subroutines that activate various systems on the factory ship (engines for moving, production for deploying Extractors, etc.). Some of the more powerful subroutines take more time to execute and hence impede your ability to react to the other player’s moves — and they might even prevent you from activating other ship systems. Action: Players execute programs composed during the programming phase. Since the order of execution of subroutines is decided by the player, the same program can yield vastly different outcomes, which leads to many interesting tactical decisions. During this phase new Extractors are also deployed on the system’s planets. Profits: Players earn credits for the planets on which they have their Extractors depending on who has more of them. After nine rounds, the pilot who’s earned the most credits for his corporation is declared the winner. Will you be able to cover the planets of the system with a network of your Extractors and at the same time disturb the plans of your opponent? Although the conflict is officially only an economic one, the successful pilot needs to know when to strike at a rival’s mining infrastructure or make “slight modification” to it. When all is said and done, nobody will remember the details of the struggle — only the name of the greatest pilot in the history of the galaxy.