MINI BREAKS

MOONBREAKER feels pure tabletop, but on your PC

- Fraser Brown

Videogames owe a lot to their tabletop counterparts, especially when it comes to turn-based strategy and tactics. But one of the best parts of fielding armies of little warriors often gets overlooked in the digital realm: model painting. Moonbreaker, from Subnautica studio Unknown Worlds, has rectified this frequent omission and then some, giving us something that feels pure tabletop on your PC.

Moonbreaker is a sci-fi-fantasy tactics romp in which you build a crew of unique characters, paint them just like you would real miniatures, summon them into 12-minute battles, and try to defeat the opposing crew’s captain. Your goal is simple, then, but beyond that is a whole lot of complexity, drawing from sources as diverse as Warhammer, the board game Cosmic Encounter, and Magic: The Gathering. And the moment you look at it, you’ll know you’re staring at a tabletop game. The way units move like they’re being picked up off the board, and the way the terrain looks like something built for a Warhammer 40k tournament – it’s unmistakable.