I was already looking forward to upcoming tactics game Australia Did It, but now I've got another reason to do so: a hilariously expanded new name.
In a fun turn of events, designer Rami Ismail has revealed a new subtitle has officially been adopted. Back in August, he posted a suggestion about the name that had been made as part of a localization report that turned out to be incredible.
"One localisation report for Australia Did It returned with a note that the game's title won't work in their territory & suggested to instead use 'Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defence Business' and now I want that, like, globally," he wrote at the time.
He subsequently asked fans to express their support for the name, in the hopes he could use it to convince publisher Mystic Forge to actually adopt the subtitle. And with this week's announcement of a release date, the news was confirmed, and the game will officially be called Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defense Business.
The original, subtitle-less name was certainly memorable. Despite a sea of games coming out at all times that seek to push everything more than five seconds old out of my brain, it was the rare game whose name actually stuck in my head since it first caught my eye last year. That said, there is something about the combination of proper hyphenation and the almost-sarcastic precision of this new subtitle that I just love.
Australia Did It: End-of-the-World Railway Defense Business (sorry, I just wanted to write it again) releases on Steam on November 10. A demo is still available, and I highly recommend it--the game has a fun blend of genres going on. To simply call it a roguelite tactics game sells it short from what I've played. Half of the game sees you defending a base in the style of tower defense, while the other has you managing units who defend your train once it finally gets on the move. What I enjoyed most, though, is a fun system that lets you combine distinct units in order to create new ones that blend their abilities together. (There's a great dash of manipulating enemy and unit positioning, too, which I'm always a sucker for.)
We'll see next month if the quality of the demo can sustain itself in the long haul, but whatever the case, at least it'll do so with a kickass name.