Crush Your Enemies! from Vile Monarch is a minimalist lite-style Strategy game on Nintendo Switch. Learn more about it in our Crush Your Enemies! review!

 

The basic gameplay loop is simple: use your troops to defeat everything on your path as you try to conquer all structures, making the most of their specific bonuses so that you can get the upper hand and annihilate your opponents. Depending on how you’re playing the game, you can use control inputs to select units and set their warpath, or you can also touch, tap and drag units to move them towards your short term and long term objectives. Along with winning, you can also complete secondary objectives to get a three-dismembered-head rating. These are used for marking your progress and opening new stages to complete.

Once you’ve select the path your troops will take, you can use the banner to select how many of the troops in that group will be sent forward. Sometimes you’ll need to send all troops in your group, and other times you’ll need to split your forces so that you can keep some of them behind to defend your structures or to keep your enemies from drawing a path that can catch you by surprise. Each square on the map is orange (yours), green (your enemy’s) a neutral color, and there are also structures that you’ll need to conquer. You can’t go over your enemy’s territory without first claiming it, and the same applies to your enemies. The more troops you send to conquer a field or a structure, the faster you can claim it. The exception are swamps which can’t be claimed and slow all units that cross it.

Huts are a big part of the game’s strategy since sending at least one troop there will allow it to recruit new units to your cause. Your enemy will also have huts – or will claim them – so you’ll need to see if you should focus on getting more troops or on conquering the hut to cut your enemy’s supply. Barracks are also important since any units that enter one will change their profession to what the barrack has to offer. Regular units are your bread and butter, but specialized units are the ones that will separate the winners from the worm food. For example, changing units to the warrior class will allow them to considerably increase their attack power, which is definitely a good thing, but it might make those troops weaker against another type of specialized unit.

As you explore the overworld map you’ll get the chance to conquer towns. Towns under your control will reward you with beer from their brewery after every new stage you conquer. Some towns are just begging to be conquered, while others will be guarded by your enemies and will require you to win it in battle. Beer is very important since it’s used to pay for upgrading the supply you have of the special items that you can use to gain a boost or advantage on the battlefield. The first upgrade is the least expensive one, and trying to get more of the same item will cost a ton more.

Overall, Crush Your Enemies! is a fun minimalist Real-Time Strategy release on Nintendo Switch that is fun to play in short burst here and there as well as for longer playing sessions. There’s a ton of levels to complete, and your time playing the game will be increased considerably if you aim at completing all extra objectives so that you can 100% all stages. Are you up to the challenge?

Disclaimer
This Crush Your Enemies! review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by Vile Monarch.