Three Moves Ahead Three Moves Ahead 643: 2025 Catch-Up
Dec 13, 2025
Nerium Strong, a seasoned game developer and panelist, joins to dive into highlights from the year’s intriguing games. They discuss the mechanics of *Nova Roma* and the RPG brilliance of *Look Outside*, balancing emotional depth with body-horror themes. Nerium praises *Phantom Brigade*'s revamped mech combat and chats about the strategic intricacies of games like *Total War: Tides of Torment* and the immersive *Skin Deep*. The conversation even touches on the legitimacy of sports management as strategy. A lively mix of insights and recommendations awaits!
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Episode notes
Gravity-Based Water Adds Strategy
- Nova Roma mixes standard city-building with realistic aqueducts where gravity matters, adding a meaningful design constraint.
- Small UI quirks and odd tech-tree links need polish but the aqueduct system gives it standout strategy depth.
RPG Maker Surprise Became Top Pick
- Nerium called Look Outside their personal game of the year after a long, dense playthrough and a major 2.0 patch expansion.
- The RPG Maker title surprised with custom art, dozens of party interactions, and an empathetic take on apocalypse storytelling.
Small Items Drive Big Narrative Variation
- Look Outside blends body-horror mutation with empathetic human moments and many branching party recruitments.
- Objects and relationships (e.g., a teddy bear) change through choices, creating deep emergent narrative variety.
