One of the things that scares people away from the RTS genre is the amount of macro- and micromanagement that needs to be done. To name just a few, there are things like troop management, strategically placing the bases around the area, learning troop abilities, and learning the map. The popularity of the genre means a number of players have mastered the basics, so it is far from niche. However, there are an equal number of people who find these things to be complicated and daunting, despite some interest in the genre. Boid takes on the task of bringing new gamers into the fold by simplifying things, and our time with the Early Access build shows that it has the chops to do just that.

Boid has you playing as green organisms waging a war of territory control and domination against your red counterparts. Each side starts with a spawning area that constantly makes organisms. The basic organism has rather normal attack and defensive capabilities. You can send a large number of them to special spots which, when taken over, transform them into different organisms with special abilities. Scouts, for example, sacrifice some defense but are the fastest units in the game. Crabs have higher attack power, and the Guns can fire at enemies from a good distance. Venom units poison enemies, Leeches drain enemies when in a swarm, Medics heal anyone in the field, and Bombs blow up both friend and foe when detonated. Aside from those units, some of the transformation fields also grant abilities, like warping to different areas of the map or freezing all units in an area. You can even build turrets to protect constantly contested areas. The goal is to take over all of the opponent's spawning structures to prevent them from producing units.

The simplification comes from the streamlining of many basics in the RTS genre. Bases never move, and you don't have to worry about creating buildings or where to place them. There are no resources that need to be gathered, since base units are automatically created at spawn points. Upgrading the units into different organisms only requires you to send your units to a transformation center, so tech trees aren't needed. Though there is a fog of war, it only applies to enemy movement, so you always have a layout of the map available. You can still set waypoints for selected units, but otherwise, this is the RTS genre stripped down to its core.

The simplicity of the mechanics is rather appealing, even for veterans of the genre. You can now focus on tactics rather than learning how the multiple systems work together. This also allows the game to be rather fast, as matches last around 10-20 minutes for skilled players, a fraction of the time it takes for similarly skilled matches to go in other titles. Aside from the simplicity, the presentation is also appealing. The music is rather relaxing, which you don't expect from the genre, and the effects are the least threatening thing in the game. The graphics are simple but bright, since the brightly colored organisms are reminiscent of Lightfish or flOw. It's rather inviting and makes it easier for people to get interested in the title.

In addition to the tutorial, Boid currently only features two modes. The online multiplayer is relegated to one-on-one battles and a large map selection. Though the title just came available on Early Access, the population is fairly decent, and the online performance is quite good. There isn't any lag in a match, though it needs to be seen how the performance fares when more people are searching for games. The other mode is offline multiplayer against the CPU, with three variable difficulties per map. Despite what the labels say, fighting against the computer on the easiest difficulty is tough because the AI is relentless with its attacks. For someone using this as a starting point for getting into the RTS genre, that level of difficulty can be tough to overcome, though it's a good primer for online play.

So far, the only thing people may complain about is the difference between online against humans and offline bot play. The online multiplayer mode, for example, has plenty of maps — close to 20, by a rough count. By comparison, the offline play against bots features roughly a quarter of those maps. There seems to be no reason for the lopsided count, especially since there isn't much for the solo player to do, but the hope is that the map count will even up soon.

While this may seem rather paltry, the developer has laid out a plan for how the game will progress during development, and it's laid out for all to see. The current focus is on getting multiplayer down, working on balance and ensuring the net code stays stable throughout the process. Later on, the game will move into Linux and Mac while allowing for modding via Steam Workshop, though we don't know the full extent of that. Finally, the launch will come with the campaign mode, though it also isn't known how long that mode will be.

Boid is currently in Steam Early Access, and it arrives with an interesting price plan in tow, where the cost increases when more major features are added. This means that the current price is 70% off what it will be when the game finally makes it into its final state. For those interested in starting off an RTS journey with something easy to grasp, Boid comes recommended if you're willing to wait for a proper campaign mode and you're betting that there will be a sizeable multiplayer population to engage.