A fluid enemy, not an army
Creeper World 3: Arc Eternal is a top-down 2D strategy game where the enemy is not a set of units marching toward you. It is a fluid-like substance that spreads across terraformable terrain, driven by cellular automata. The behavior is theoretically predictable but still surprising to engage, so your base, your weapons, and your strategy all have to adapt as the substance flows over the landscape. The simulation scales across tiny maps and large maps, five minute missions and five day missions, so the same core rules apply whether you want a quick round or a long session.
Playing together
The Steam feature Remote Play Together is listed for this game, which lets a group join in from their own setups. Beyond that, the store text describes the game as Singleplayer and Real-Time with Pause, so the shared experience centers on taking on the same missions, comparing approaches, and working through the campaign or custom worlds side by side. The game includes a story arc with unique enemies, hundreds of hand crafted missions in the Alpha Sector, and Prospector missions that explore hundreds of star systems with thousands of worlds.
Building, terraforming, and shaping your own missions
You build fortifications, manage resources, and can terraform the landscape during missions to take the higher ground. Experimental weapons are available to devastate the enemy, and you can play for domination, quick strategic kills, or huge resource stockpiles. The Dial Map Device (DMD) lets you dial up worlds and tweak dozens of constraints, then share the addresses through an online database. The built-in map editor lets you create and upload your own maps, and the built-in CRPL scripting language exposes hundreds of engine commands for making new weapons, units, enemies, or effects. All of the built-in story missions were written using the editor and CRPL, so the tools are the same ones used for the campaign itself. The game also features an original soundtrack.