

One core aspect of the game that becomes increasingly important as players progress is ship design. From the start it’s clear to see that the game offers an unparalleled amount of detail and depth in its many battle instances that can easily allow players to flex their strategic muscles. The gameplay loop is clearly what drives players to Rule The Waves. For example, hovering over Great Britain will show what starting technologies they have, what faults they have, as well as what perks they have to aid them in battle.

Here players can also view the characteristics of each individual nation. Starting the game, players have a choice to play one of several nations. While to a lay person this might not seem like a particular bustling period of naval warfare, the game offers a massive amount of content to sift through and experience that history nerds will certainly love. The game is focused on the years between 1900 - 1920. The whole game takes a stripped back approach to its management system, avoiding flashy visuals (there’s not a single 3D model in sight) and instead opting for basic spreadsheets and windows that look like they’re ripped right out of a Microsoft Excel file. The real draw to a game like Rule The Waves lies specifically in this intimidating amount of management. While this might sound like a lot of jobs for one person to handle, it’s because it is.
