Burntime

Year 1993, it's raining outside, the monitor is humming, and I have a map in front of me where every tile could be the last. Burntime from Austrian studio Max Design grabbed me by the throat back then and didn't let go until I'd ransacked every ruin and lost my last water supply in a way that can't be excused by any decent tactics.

The game throws you into a post-apocalyptic world without explanation. What happened, why everything is in ruins — the game doesn't care about that and neither should you. You're here, survive. The world is divided into locations connected by roads, each hiding supplies, enemies, or potential allies. The goal is to control the entire map by subduing or eliminating rival survivor groups. Simple premise, but beneath it lies a layered system that will let you make mistakes for hours before you understand what you're doing wrong.

Burntime combines turn-based strategy with RPG elements. Each member of your group has attributes, needs to eat and drink — and water here is rarer than decent treatment. Supplies spoil, characters get sick, and when they run out of patience or food, they simply leave. Battles happen on separate screens and are straightforward, but decisions about when to fight and when to retreat are what really matter. Overlook logistics and three turns later you've got a starving group in the middle of the desert. This isn't a game that forgives you.

What set Burntime apart in 1993 was that feeling of a living world with limited resources. Not dramatically, not with cutscenes — but quietly, through the pressure of numbers and character status. The graphics went the isometric tile route with striking portraits and a color palette that holds up visually even today. The music was remarkable for its time: atmospheric loops that matched the world's emptiness better than you'd expect from someone used to PC speaker beeping. What aged worse is the interface. Information is hidden where you'd least expect it, and the game never tells you what exactly went wrong — it just does.

Today Burntime will appeal to those who love strategy games where every decision about supplies weighs as much as a military move. It's not a game for people looking for a story or hand-holding. But if you crave that feeling of survival in a system that plays by its own rules and doesn't wait for you to understand it — this is exactly your game. You can fire it up in the browser via DOSBox without any problems, and you'll spend the first hour discovering just how much you underestimated water.