For a certain group of real-time strategy fans, hunkering down and fending off enemy attacks using a strong army and sturdy fortifications brings unparalleled joy. Solo developer Rongcon Games’ love for this very playstyle – and genre classics such as Age of Empires and Warcraft III – led to the creation of Flow of War, his debut title, which adds a wave defense element for good measure.
A classic-style RTS in which “base building and defense are the core focus from the very beginning,” Flow of War does things differently than its main sources of inspiration. It removes the need to constantly manage workers by automating them and assigning different priorities to key tasks, so that you can focus on the actual strategy.
“The highest priority is retreating from danger, followed by constructing buildings,” the developer explains. “After that, they gather resources that involve waiting times, such as gold, food, and iron. Chopping wood has the lowest priority.”
With each task having its own place in the hierarchy, workers don’t need babysitting to ensure your base has a steady flow of resources coming in. Instead of quickly issuing individual commands, having an efficient base layout is much more important.
The developer admits that mastering the latter will take some time but, once achieved, “the workers can handle almost the entire economy without any manual input.”
Although this simplifies one side of the RTS gameplay loop, Flow of War “starts simple but gradually becomes much deeper economically,” according to its developer.
“Players need to carefully balance how many wheat fields they build, since food production directly affects the balance between gathering meat and assigning workers to chop wood.”
Your base’s irrigation system is also vital to ensuring your economy stays healthy. “Water Wheels generate water power, while Water Towers distribute it throughout your base. Many advanced buildings rely on this system, so planning and upgrading your water network is very important.”
Then, there are “many specialized economic buildings such as the Forge, Tree Replant, Lavender, Blood Shrines, Undermine, and Everfruit,” each focusing on a different resource while having dedicated production methods. The pressure of increasingly powerful enemy waves also encourages constant optimization as your base grows.
Flow of War contains a mixture of handcrafted missions and procedurally generated enemy waves, despite originally only having “a random map mode planned.” The developer changed course because exposing players to the “huge amount of content” available at once could have given them a hard time.
That’s where Flow of War’s campaign comes in. Inspired by Starcraft II, although focusing entirely on gameplay rather than story, each of its missions introduces just one or two major mechanics or units through “a unique gameplay scenario” that enables players to gradually get used to small pieces of the bigger puzzle.
Early campaign missions “typically last around 12–15 minutes, while later missions usually take 30–40 minutes,” according to the developer, with 30 handcrafted levels planned for release.
This bodes well, due to the inclusion of a traditional RTS control scheme that lets you order military units individually. Micromanagement is, thus, “extremely important” thanks to how strong counters are.
Assassins make short work of ranged units but fare pretty poorly against heavier soldiers. Making sure each unit has an advantageous matchup “can dramatically improve your chances of survival.”
Unit upgrades span five levels, but foes like Boomers, which explode upon reaching enemies, add additional variables to the mix. Rather than having a dedicated counter, they’re best dealt with by pulling higher-level units out of their way and sacrificing less experienced troops.
These high-level units “fight at a very fast pace,” and can have multiple abilities, which is why “all abilities activate automatically and are based on cooldowns rather than requiring manual casting or special resources.”
Flow of War’s general progression revolves around four categories – resources, production, defense, and unit recruitment – each with four upgrade levels.
The approach was inspired by the age system in Age of Empires, but rather than sticking to a linear path, developer Rongcon Games opted for separate branches that allow players to prioritize the area that best suits their needs.
“For example, if a mission encourages heavy army usage, investing in Unit Recruitment upgrades makes the most sense,” the developer notes. “If the mission focuses on defending with towers and walls, Defense upgrades become the better choice.”
Flow of War’s aforementioned randomized map mode “includes 16 customizable settings, covering map layouts, warfare rules, enemy wave behavior, and economic settings.” Size-wise, these levels can range from “enormous […] to extremely small battlefields” while also allowing players to customize the types of enemies encountered.
It also launches alongside the same editor used to create its campaign missions, promising lots of flexibility.
“Players can design map layouts, place resources, define enemy attack routes, and configure which buildings, units, towers, and upgrades are available in each mission. They can also customize treasure chests and place fixed enemy groups throughout the map,” according to the developer.
Its automated worker system and combat elements in tandem with its campaign thus make Flow of War the perfect pick for a newcomer to real-time strategy games, since they can “learn naturally without feeling overwhelmed.”
If your curiosity is piqued, you’ll be glad to know that Flow of War is currently set to release on PC, via Steam, on August 3, 2026.
Given a warm-enough welcome, its developer would also like to bring its blend of RTS, wave defense, and automated workforce to consoles in the future.
This sponsored article was published on behalf of publisher and developer Rongcon Games.
For the latest gaming news, follow GameWatcher on BlueSky, check out our videos on YouTube. We sometimes include affiliate links in our posts, which grants us a small commission, thank you. Please support independent Games Media. ❤️
Loading comments…