Iron & Amber

Iron & Amber is real-time strategy the way it was played in LAN houses: gather, build, train, attack. Drag a box, right-click to order, groups on the number keys, minimap in the corner.

On top of that, two things the classics did not have:

Your headquarters moves. Your base grows around it, but it is not bolted to the ground. If resources run dry or an unbeatable army is on its way, unanchor, drive off and start again somewhere else. The match only ends when the HQ falls — losing your base is not losing the game.

The terrain can be destroyed. The enemy walled in behind rock? Cannons and drills open the way. Forests come down, ridges turn to rubble, and the invasion route is the one you dig.

Three factions that play differently

• Order of Steam — heavy machines and strong defense. Buildings depend on the Fortress steam network.
• Techno-Shamans — a cheap, fast swarm. Everything regenerates, and living buildings work with the Brood Mother away.
• Crystal Ancients — few and costly, protected by an energy shield that recharges by itself.

Every troop has a special ability, troops that survive become veterans (up to three chevrons), and before the match you pick a doctrine that changes how your faction plays.

What there is to play

• Campaign: 13 missions across three campaigns, one per faction.
• Skirmish against the machine on five maps, 1v1 or 2v2 (you and an ally), with its intelligence adjustable from 1 to 10.
• Online multiplayer with an open-rooms list: 1v1, co-op (two players commanding the same base) and 2v2 with up to four players — the machine fills the empty seats.
• Second base and depots: raise outposts anywhere on the map and put drop-off depots right next to the deposits.
• Replays of every match, from 1× to 8× speed, and an end-of-match scoreboard.
• 14 achievements.

For newcomers

• Workers that manage themselves, an optional base assistant and a production panel to train without hunting for the building.
• Rebindable action keys.
• English, Portuguese, Spanish and Italian.

Demo and full game

The browser demo on this page is free: Order of Steam, skirmish on the Ridge map with the machine up to level 6, and the first two campaign missions. The full game is the Windows download: all three factions, the three campaigns, doctrines, five maps, multiplayer, machine levels 7 to 10 and saved games.

Windows may show a SmartScreen warning the first time you run it, because the program is not code-signed yet: click “More info” and then “Run anyway”.

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Em português

Iron & Amber é estratégia em tempo real do jeito que se jogava nas lan houses: coletar, construir, treinar, atacar. Por cima disso, duas novidades: o quartel-general anda (se a guerra virar, desancore e leve-o embora; a partida só acaba quando ele cai) e o terreno se destrói (canhões e brocas abrem caminho na rocha e na floresta).

Três facções diferentes (Ordem do Vapor, Tecno-Xamãs e Ancestrais de Cristal), 13 missões de campanha, escaramuça em cinco mapas (1 contra 1 ou 2 contra 2) com a inteligência da máquina de 1 a 10, multijogador pela internet com lista de salas e até quatro jogadores, segunda base e depósitos, replays, habilidades, veteranos, doutrinas e 14 conquistas. Em português, inglês, espanhol e italiano.

A demonstração roda aqui na página, de graça. O jogo completo é o programa para Windows.

InfoCutter · Walter Güntzel