Circle Empires: Rivals has something for everyone. For beginners is a straightforward approach to the RTS that’s full of options. For experts is a faster RTS that streamlines the process. While personal biases might prevent me from enjoying it as much as other genres, there’s plenty to love if you wanted Circle Empires’s unique charms with friends.

Everything in Circle Empires Rivals’ combat and circle-capture loop fits perfectly, it feels like a streamlined base-building RTS, although the absence of a campaign and staggered unit unlocks means that there is definitely some learning to be done before braving online play beyond co-op. While there’s only a finite amount of biomes and CPU enemy types, the procedural generation means that maps can feel fresh after dozens of matches.