A New Kind Of Strategy

It’s a bold move to open a press release about your new game with a quote about the failures of the games industry, but that’s how developer Rami Ismail introduced Australia Did It to the world. “I believe the games industry has been failing at supporting developer innovation and experimentation,” the quote begins, going on to state that investors are obsessed with safe bets, leading to creative stagnation. Ismail’s new game was made in defiance of that trend, and it’s refreshing to hear him speak about it.

To Ismail’s credit, Australia Did It is certainly an experiment of a game. He calls the new genre “tactical reverse bullet hell,” though he also considers it a “thinky shooty.” The first phase is a grid-based tower defense game as you shield your train from an insectoid onslaught. The second phase has you watching that train ride away while unleashing an overwhelming barrage of bullets, lasers, and explosions to repel incoming forces.

What, exactly, did Australia “do” in the game’s story? Ismail explains that the country is the current scapegoat for the mysteriously dried-up Atlantic Ocean, now home to the game’s post-apocalyptic railroad system.