Terranny traces its lineage back to the 1995 PSX strategy game Carnage Heart. That game put the player in charge of a group of mechs over which they had no direct control – they could only follow pre-programmed commands.

Terranny functions the same way, with the player designing and programming a fleet of drones and then sending them into battle with fingers crossed.

Build your own fleet of drones

The hardware design of the drones is fairly straightforward – you simply select components and then attach weapons at hardpoints – but the software design is another thing entirely.

The player can’t command the drones once a round starts – the machines can only follow their programming. Each functional part (engines, weapons, special devices) has its own program nexus that can communicate with the others, reacting to the drone’s surroundings and the proximity of enemy and allied drones.

While programming a drone requires no knowledge of actual computer languages, it’s still very complex. Simple drones made for simple tasks – such as combat over clear terrain – can be programmed with minimal effort.

As the battles and the machines get more elaborate, the programming demands get more difficult. Tasks such as maneuvering through obstacles can require dozens of commands and multiple variables to execute, something made even more complicated by the need to avoid hitting your own drones.

Creating content with Terranny

Terranny offers a single-player campaign with various short missions that can be used to unlock new hardware components, but the more interesting part of the game is its asynchronous multiplayer.

Because combat is automatic, a player doesn’t need to be online to participate in a PvP match. This opens up opportunities for multi-creator events and ensures that fresh content is readily available.

Overall, Terranny is a game that’s going to appeal to more technically minded creators and audiences. Have a background in software engineering? This is probably right up your alley.

However, due to the harsh difficulty curve, it is strongly advised not to present this game blind. If you opt to use it, do yourself a favor and play it for a few hours in advance. This will save you some awkward moments when you have an audience.

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Drew Johnston

ANDREW JOHNSTON is a teacher, writer and journalist based out of mainland Asia. He is a regular contributor to Superjump Magazine, where he specializes in independent video games and the gaming culture of East Asia. He has published short fiction in 30 markets and anthologies including Daily Science Fiction, Nature: Futures and the Laughing at Shadows Anthology.