What Special Tactics is
Special Tactics is a top-down tactical shooter where every turn happens at the same time for both sides. You pick a loadout, set your soldiers' moves, and the round plays out live. Each turn runs on a real-time connection with 50 seconds on the clock, so you plan under pressure and then watch the result unfold. Matches are about planting or defusing the bomb, and the combat system is built to support both aggressive pushes and careful defensive holds. Peeking and gathering information matter as much as raw damage, and the time-to-kill and damage model are tuned so engagements stay readable. There are eight maps to play across: Construct, HQ, Rail, Rush, Gallery, Iceworld, Fall and Home.
Playing together
Squads are the core of group play. You can team up with a friend to form a squad of two and take on 2 vs 2 or 2 vs 1 matches, or go at it in 1 vs 1. Before the match you both pick your weapons for each class and choose four soldier classes between you, so a squad might run two Snipers and two SMGs. You can also set custom match rules together, such as snipers-only or hardcore mode, which keeps rematches fresh with the same group. Outside of multiplayer there is Survival mode, where the bomb lands in a random spot each round, enemies get smarter and more numerous as you go, and your run ends when a defusal fails. Completing a round challenge, like using all Shields or killing two enemies with one sniper shot, doubles your points for that round.
Classes, gear and loadouts
Five classes cover the range of playstyles: Assault for medium range with a large field of view but weak damage, SMG for short range and fast movement, Shotgun for very short range with splash damage, Sniper for very long range with narrow vision and splash damage, and Shield for fast movement, 50 degrees of cover and melee. Each weapon has tradeoffs. Silencers hide where you fire from but cut damage and/or range, foregrips raise fire rate at the cost of time to first shot, and sights extend range while shrinking your field of view. Weapons unlock with Gold earned in multiplayer and Survival.
Every soldier can throw two pieces of equipment per game from a pool of Smoke, Frag, Flash, Fire/Incendiary, Sonar Detector and Throwing Axe. Smoke blocks line of sight, Flash blinds and stuns, Frags give focused splash damage, Fire slows and blocks paths, Sonar spots enemies through walls in a radius, and the Throwing Axe needs precise aim but kills hard. You also get one booster per turn to hand to a soldier from Armor, Range, Damage and Speed, so decide who needs it most.
Controls and progression
Movement is built around Focus Points. Setting one makes a soldier aim down sight and move slowly while rotating around that point instead of sprinting, which lets you peek corners without committing, strafe, throw grenades around cover, move one way while looking another, or backpedal. It is a simple input that opens up a lot of tactical options. Trophies track your rank from Recruit up to Masters, and the Replay Analysis System lets you go back over matches to see what happened.