Harvest Massive Encounters: Real-time Arcade Strategy

It’s fast-paced and at times frenetic, with the aim of the game to balance management of the harvesters and defend the base utilising rocket launchers and laser turrets. The game takes place on three planets, the Earth-like Hephaestus, the ice-covered, wind-swept world of Poseidon and the cavernous, canyon-pocked planet Aries.

Published and distributed online by Oxeye Game Studio, Harvest Massive Encounter puts you in charge of a small base with a range of basic buildings at their disposal. With solar collectors (the “Astrum Power King”), energy links (effectively power lines), harvesters (known as the “MinMeister Harvester” used for mining and generating credits for other buildings), rocket launchers and the superb laser turrets all available, a small map in the upper right corner of the display can be used to aid planning and organise the energy links and harvester units, as well as determine the best placing of defensive installations.

 With minerals generally grouped together, it’s a simple task of linking up solar collectors with energy links and harvesters in order to generate credits. This can be done by encircling the mineral groups with energy links and dropping a couple of harvester units within the circle. Throughout the game, messages come from the base commander making suggestions in early stages and later on updating on harvesting progress and alien presence.

As credits roll in, the target number of credits is usually within reach when the aliens attack – and the trick with the game is to protect the generation of credits, which means defending the whole base. The rocket launchers (“Hareman Evenglists”) are good for this, as are single laser turrets – but the most impressive way of dispatching with the alien aggressors (which attack both on the ground and in the air) is by linking up a series of laser turrets to create a "Star Wars Death Star" effect – many lower grade lasers combining into a massive, super powerful beam capable of knocking out any attacking unit.