Relaxing Combat? Auralux Makes it Happen

What’s one word you rarely see sitting next to “RTS”? Could it be, “simple”? To some, that sort of pairing is nonsensical, but bringing sense to it all is War Drum Studios’ Auralux. This game proves that strategy can be simplistic, and believe or not, relaxing.

Released late last week for Android, but also available for Windows, Auralux aims to chill you out with its mix of simple graphics and relaxing, mesmerizing audio. Though I’m taking a quick look at the game here, I’d recommend checking out the official trailer as text simply can’t do the game justice for those aspects.

Taking on the role of a blue planet, your ultimate goal is to dominate the universe and wipe the grins off of green and red’s faces. Your planet produces a constant army of units, the rate of which depends on how many times a particular planet is upgraded. These units, regardless of their number, can be moved at any time. You can use them to inhabit an empty planet or go to war with the opposition (they will fight automatically when danger nears).

There are no advanced stats to worry about here; a single unit going head-to-head with an opponents unit will result in both perishing. The higher your unit count, the better, and that’s where the strategy comes in. Do you send only a handful of units to the next planet, keep most of them near you for defense, or go directly after your opponent?

As simple as the gameplay is, it can at times become rather intense, especially if both of your opponents decide to make a bee-line towards you. You have to be smart about your next move, and don’t expect to beat all levels on the first go. Relaxing, yes, difficult, very yes.

Catering to the completionists such as myself, the game also includes a handful of challenges that you can work to unlock, and as you might imagine, most of them won’t happen by accident.

Auralux is free as a demo, which includes three levels. Level packs can be purchased for a few dollars along with a Speed Mode that cranks up the pace. For those with a Tegra tablet or phone, there’s a special pack just for you, offering huge levels not possible on other devices.

If you want to chill out but still feel the satisfaction of domination, Auralux is well worth a try.