Just in case you thought today would be devoid of some kind of fun, developer Hexage decided to release its latest game, Robotek. You play as the last human holdout on a robot-conquered Earth, slowly working from one base to take liberate nodes, countries, continents, and eventually the planet back from your oppressors. Combat plays out in a strategic, turn-based style, but there's a bit of a twist to it.

You fight your robot enemies by spinning a virtual slot machine from which you gain bonuses, drone units and special attacks based on the outcome. This mechanic adds a bit of unpredictability to the game while still allowing you to plan your next move: the first tumbler moves slow enough that you can choose where it lands, but the second and third are more of a crapshoot. Matching more than one symbol awards you with powered-up versions of that outcome, while matching all three tumblers gives you another turn.

Combat is a bit hectic, but fun. Because the enemy has the same abilities you have (with the same degree of randomness) it's important to balance offense, defense and utility skills in order to achieve victory.

I was a big fan of Hexage's earlier title, Radiant, for the same reason; Robotek, like Radiant, is very easy to learn, hard to master and wrapped up in an intelligently-written package. I'll have a more in-depth review for you guys tomorrow, but for now I've recorded a video with a quick look at the gameplay and initial impressions.

[EMBED_YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tPqQ9I5B8M

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The app is a free download for its full version; in the past, Hexage released "Lite" versions of its games, but that doesn't seem to be the case this time. The game was tested on a Motorola Atrix, so I'm not sure how well it runs on older systems. Scan the QR code or visit the market links to pick it up, and see if you agree with me tomorrow!

[EMBED_APP]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.hexage.robotek.hd[/EMBED_APP]